false alarm?

[InShock]

Does anyone ever get symptoms like an OB is about to start and then it doesn't come?

My first OB happened in May. I was fine all summer, then my second one came in September. So I figured that I would be getting them every 4 months. Which would mean that I am due for one, since it's January. So I was not surprised when I started to get the symptoms I experienced the first two times. But then nothing happened. No sores, no OB, nothing.

Is there such a thing as a false alarm?

[tothefuture]

Definitely. It means that the virus is trying to give you an outbreak but your body is successfully fighting it. This happens to me A LOT. I'm taking it as a really good sign - that my body is working properly and my immune system is getting back to normal. When you get the symptoms try not to stress out about them - I know, easier said than done - but they're definitely not a sign that it's inevitable that you will go on to have an outbreak. Best thing to do is to ignore them (or use creams or whatever you might use to prevent an outbreak).

[InShock]

Thanks for the feedback. Can H go into remission?

[tothefuture]

Remission? The virus will always be in your body - just as the chicken pox virus remains in the body. But some people get one coldsore and then never get another one. You might be lucky and start to get them even less frequently than what you've done so far. Then maybe you'll never get any again...it's a waiting game.

[BoxofRain]

when you feel an outbreak coming and then it does not visibly show up a lot of times you will still be contagious during and around that time because of asymtomatic shedding. Your immune system is working very hard and it limits some of the virus and therefore no lesions or visible signs appear, but there is often the virus still at the surface of the skin not visible to the eye.