Is this normal?!

[pursuing happiness]

I have had my first outbreak ever for about 2 weeks now. It started with one of my legs feeling kind of weak, and then the blisters, painful peeing, fatigue, weird tinkling in different parts of my body, deep muscle pain etc. I got tested, got Valtrex, the blisters, and painful peeing went away, but I still have a lot of weakness in my legs, butt, feet, lower back, and ankles.

Is that still considered part of the outbreak and that will eventually go away? How long is it going to last? I want to be able to workout again and not feel like I'm 80 years old when I'm only 25. The pain is a constant reminder that my body is no longer normal and I want it to end. How long has it lasted for some people and is it even normal at all to feel this all over. I know it's a disease that attacks the nervous system, and I can tell that with all this pain. Did the Valtrex do it's job or should I take it for longer until all the pain is gone? I want to move on from my first outbreak and resume normal life if possible. Thanks!

[BoxofRain]

Ive had it since aug. 05 and always feel weird pains, have low energy....fatigue, weird muscle aches like you described ever since contracting it...also, my lymph nodes are swollen all the time.....almost 80% of the time I would say since getting this so it is so friggin strange to always feel so many different feelings that I know can only be related to the virus, as I NEVER had any of them before getting this. So, for each person it is different and hopefully yours will go away, but I have read a lot of people posting on here similar feelings occuring more frequently, even when there is no visible outbreak present. Hope it gets better for you soon

[ChrisJ]

This is all normal stuff for an initial outbreak, although it does sound quite severe (you have my sympathies). The outbreaks you experience are a viral infection, hence the activity of the lymph nodes as mentioned by BoxofRain, and since the virus lives in the nerve fibres you will feel tingling in some parts of the body or shooting pains in your legs (a very commonly observed side-effect).

However, the virus does not "attack" your nervous system it simply lives there. A genital infection will live in the nerve ganglion at the base of your spine and, in the case of an outbreak the virus will multiply and move back down the nerve fibres to the point of the original infection at the skin surface where it may cause the blisters.

It's this movement along the nerve fibres that causes the neuralgia or "phantom pain" you experience. The only tissue damage that the virus causes is at the skin surface.

So, what's the solution? There is no sure-fire guaranteed solution to getting your energy back but I can recommend a holistic approach involving fresh air, moderate exercise, laughter (very important), lots of fruits, less junk food, etc. Don't try an extreme detox or anything like that, just be good to yourself with everything in moderation. Perhaps Yoga...?