How do you not know you have herpes? Difference between me and them?

[Doc Holiday]

I hear so much about people who have herpes but they don't know they do because the virus can lay dormant for a years. How can you not know???????? I found out due to a major outbreak, my first if I didn't have it before, where I had lesions around my d***, a bad cold, sore throat, and was aching. Everybody who has herpes should experience this at some point in time if they are infected, right? How can those that don't know they are infected not ever suffer an outbreak? Why did I get an outbreak and they didn't?

[dinki]

im really glad u asked this question because ive been wondering the same thing, i just dont buy it that they never knew, there had to be a time in their lives they felt shitty, they might not have had sores but they got the other symptoms!!!!

[Denise 07]

I think that people with oral herpes have a harder time knowing if they have it than a person with genital herpes would. The reason I think is because alot of oral herpes occurs when we are children and you could just get one cold sore and never have another one. So when you grow up you forget all about having that one cold sore but the virus stays with you for life so people don't get that part and the part that it can be spread to other parts of the body to another person. That is why genital herpes type 1 is growing so rapidly. That is how I got my genital type 1 from oral sex because I didn't know that my husband had oral herpes and he doesn't recall having a cold sore.

[ravencry]

I think its possible to have hsv and not know, don't they call that asymptomatic? Someone very dear to me found out about a year ago afte gettinga blister and she has been married for 35 years to same man who is handicapped and also impotent ( for many years) she hasn't slept with anyone else other than him so where was this? Dormant I would reckon. Before anyone blasts away at this please remember I said near and dear.....thanks my faCts are straaight so therefore I think its possible to have this and not know.

[RealisticGal]

im really glad u asked this question because ive been wondering the same thing, i just dont buy it that they never knew, there had to be a time in their lives they felt shitty, they might not have had sores but they got the other symptoms!!!!

The other symptoms are easily attributed to other conditions. If you had never, ever had a lesion anywhere, but got some body aches, swollen lymph nodes, fever --- i.e. flu-like symptoms --- what would you think?

Would that be making you think of something other than flu right off the bat?

Flu. Most folks would think flu.

[camomile]

I think that is an excellent point.

I'm sure (almost) the initial ob's must have been pretty bad before it's gone asymptomatic in most ppl with hsv 2?

Or there may be a constant sign of irritation (if no obvious "HSV open sores"). I'm no moralist but wish I was much wiser (sexual health-wise) when I wasn't. (and I wasn't particularly sexually un-selective either)

some say, condoms won't protect you from catching hsv but it may well be a whole lot better than going bearback with someone you hardly know their sexual history/risks he/she takes. I wish I did. that's all I can say. xx

[Flicken]

You would be surprised at how many people do not know they have herpes. I will try to find the link to the study, but there was a study done in the subburbs of New York City in 2004, that tested a large sample of adults for herpes. Approximately 25% of them came back positive for HSV-2. Of the 25%, only 10% went into the study aware of the fact that they had herpes! The other 90% were unaware of their status. This is because they were either asymptomatic carriers, or experienced little to no symptoms (or symptoms that they thought was something else, like razor burn). And this is why herpes spreads so freakin' easily, so many people are out there sleeping around with no idea that they carry this virus!

[Flicken]

Here is a link to the study.

http://journals.lww.com/stdjournal/Fulltext/2004/05000/Seroprevalence_of_Herpes_Simplex_Virus_2_in.10.aspx

The study found that: HSV-2 seroprevalence was high for primary care patients in these relatively affluent suburban areas, emphasizing the need for a high index of suspicion for genital herpes even among patients considered by many to be at low risk. The overall estimate of HSV-2 seroprevalence was 25.5% based on a sample of 5452 patients. The study found that 88.1% of HSV-2-seropositive patients were unaware that they had genital herpes.

[Sunshine2you]

I am a nurse, and I am also totally obsessed with any changes that happen in my body (part of being in the medical field, I suppose), and I NEVER KNEW I had HSV. I always had what I thought were yeast infections, and I even pulled out all of my medical texts and compared my symptoms to the information and pictures I saw in those books. I never had any open sores, flu-like symptoms, swollen lymph nodes, or any excrutiating pain like the type I've heard described by members here. So, I was completely shocked and devastated when I was diagnosed last month. HSV is really a little bastard of a virus, and 70-80 percent of people with it don't know that they have it because they are asymptomatic. Everyone's body is different, depending on chemical make-up, immunology, history, and tons of other things. Makes sense that some people have horrible outbreaks, some people have mild ones, and some people have none at all.

[Flicken]

Yep, and add to that the fact that they don't include HSV as a standard part of a STD test, even when you ask to be tested for everything! Standard STD test DOES NOT include herpes, and many doctors refuse to give the test because they think it's a waste of money. SO SO SO dumb!

[Misery]

Its very possible to not know you have HSV2 even with symptoms. I found out I had HSV2 when my current BF at the time went to get tested because he felt something was wrong. I ended up having what I thought was a yeast infection and went to my gyn to get a prescription because it wouldn't go away. When I got there they decided to do an HIV/Herpes test. No big deal I thought until I got the phone call telling me I was positive for HSV2 and I had it for a while. I was very ignorant to the cause, prevention, passing and symptoms of HSV. I had no idea you could get it with use of a condom. I ended up passing it to my BF which is why he was feeling strange. Other symptoms I experienced was in increase in what I thought were hair bumps. But I didn't have any outbreak. When my BF got his test back we decided to have sex and strangely enough we both had this rashy OB after. Weird!

[Butterflykiss]

Hi Everyone;

Although I am new to this site, I initially found out 30 yrs ago.I found and attended a local support group meeting and it was there and people's experiences that made clear to me how someone may not know they have it. Sometimes that meant discovering that fact after they'd passed it on to someone else; and others who upon getting some information and advice to follow up with their doctor choose to go into denial for fear of the truth and to some degree refuse responsibility. A sense of fear can drive a person to do some things they may not be willing to admit to anyone..INCLUDING themselves.

I can only speak for myself and what my experience has been. Over the years I have become increasingly aware that even when it comes to a bout of flu or a case of chicken pox..one person may be totally different from someone else. Rare cases that a doctor had assured me some patients have only experienced a few spots not concerning enough to question, while others have had it in their mouth,ears and genitalia..from one extreme to the other.

It makes sense to me that some people having been subjected to and contracting HSV 1 or 2 would be unique to how their bodies respond to it. We've all heard of Carriers of diseases? If someone has zero or minimal signs of an std, I can understand how they could go on to spread it, unintentionally.

I have a different twist on this subject.How could I not know I didn't have it.Having HSV2 for so long,that when I started getting sores in my mouth I was so disheartened and depressed about it. They seem to get worse...so the original assumption that it was only canker sores turned into more fear after I could see them getting worse.The idea of canker sores was gone. If it looks like herpes,feels like herpes lasts as long as herpes..it's got to be herpes,right? I never suffered from them on the outside of my mouth and can remember only a handful of times all throughout my life time of ever having a cold sore on my lips. I had made the conclusion that I/my body, must be responding in it's own way and that's why I don't see them outside of my mouth.Made sense to me..but still I was confused.

Only after meeting someone on an "H" dating site and talking about what we knew and comparing notes,I guess..he said it sounded like thrush or canker sores.

I quickly went online and kept searching till I came across the definition,causes and the pictures for canker sores. 7 of the ten pictures were exactly as I get and could relate to. When I was younger I would only experience one once in a while..in my mid life,I get them all the time and they are not just on the tongue.I experience them on the inside of my lip and cheeks,under my tongue on the tongue,not on the gums...yet. There I read in black and white "often mistaken for herpes" . OMG.. this is huge. I have a bad case of recurring canker sores.!!! CANKER SORES! It also featured a video of a woman's testimony of her terrible case of canker sores she had to resort to medication...btw,not anything similar to treat HSV with.

My thoughts are how many out there are suffering from canker sores and are feeling devastated that it is a further spreading of HSV???.

After 30 yrs of having HSV,at some point I stopped seeking updated info..but now finding myself single again ... I'm so glad to have sites such as this and everyone's willingness to share and offer support.

God Bless You All ♥☺

[camomile]

Thanks Flicken, for the link.

Sorry for the delays in replying. I seem to have lost track....xx

I'm really hoping HSV 1 & 2 would soon be taken far more seriously as health destroying viruses in wider medical communities as much as other common viruses such as hsv 6 and the rest. (hsv1/2 are gradually recognized as serious health risks amongst astute researchers and doctors who are interested and educated enough to know the devastating effects from these diseases.)

As this thread suggests, "ignorance" is definitely a huge part to play (no offense intended x). I was ignorant about the risk in my youth. I cannot begin to count so many different ways in which H had affected me throughout my life.

hope Department of Health, DCD etc would do more to educate ppl and try to remove unnecessary "shame" or "stigma" in these very common viruses. (I never heard of ppl with HPV so "ashamed" of talking about it with doctors!) These stigma also has a significant part to play imho.

Going back to "asymptomatic" aspect of this virus, this seems to me, all the more reason why it's so important to know the sexual health history of someone. Thank god there are more H related resources online for people to access.

It seems to me, that there are more different new evidence emerging in terms of different sexual health related risks in recent years. It seems researchers are gathering more data to draw new conclusions in different stds at the moment.