Need advice...

Hey there,

So I found out today that I have herpes. I am unsure on what strain it is and I’m trying to get over the initial shock

And start to change my life from outbreaks.

I was just wondering if anyone has any tips or supplements they take to minimise the outbreaks? And do you take

Anti virals daily or is it just for when the outbreaks occur?

I was also wondering if anyone had any advice on how to make this process easier..

Rationally I know that it’s not a big deal and not life threatening and probably not going to affect me

Every single day of my life but I can’t help feeling so lost and down about it. So if anyone had any

Tips on how to start looking at this in a more positive way that would be so helpful.

Thankyou

Hello and thank you for sharing!

Firstly all this is so so common...

Then, please provide some more information...where is the outbreak located? how did you get tested? swab from a lesion and/or IgG blood test? Also, when did the exposure occur?

To answer your questions, it is important to know the above information.

For instance, if it's genital HSV-1, it rarely recurs. Also, most adults already have been exposed to HSV-1, so there would be no issue with transmission if your partner already has + IgG antibodies for HSV-1. So, taking antivirals to prevent transmission is not common in that situation.

If it is genital HSV-2, the recurrences are more common, transmission to a spouse is easier and taking precautions to minimize the risk for transmission (condoms at all times, and antivirals) is common practice.

Antivirals are used for 2 different reasons: 1

1. when having an outbreak to decrease the duration and intensity of the symptoms if you are bothered by it

2. to prevent future outbreaks if they occur frequently or are bothersome to you (this applies more frequently for HSV-2)

3. to decrease the risk of transmission to a spouse negative to the subtype of the virus that you have (along with condoms typically) ( this also applies more frequently to HSV-2).

But of course, every decision of this nature is your and your partner's decision to make...

hope this helps!

Thanks so much for your reply!

This has only occurred in the last few days so I’m still waiting back for test results so I am unsure what strain it is just yet, I got swabbed for a lesion yesterday on my genitals after my partner went to doctors and confirmed that he most likely had it and then I noticed I had a lesion aswell and my doctor said that it is most likely to be herpes.

Thankyou so much this was really helpful, I need to just wait for the test results too see which strain it is and where I go from there, I know basically that it’s just an infection that causes sores which rationally actually isn’t a big deal but I can’t help but feel a bit low about it and just hoping that the whole situation gets easier and how I can make it easier in my head!

Do a lot of research on it and is there anyone you trust that you can vent to? I take antiviral medicine everyday because I had two more outbreaks after my first one and I do too much to feel down. Also this forum has helped me a lot!!! I feel like I can be myself and I fit in. I met 3 people up here and they are lovely people! Everything will be okay! <3