sun burn an OB trigger??

[ppear1200]

hello,

I'm new here but consider myself highly experinced in dealing with HSV. I contracted it on my scalp and face 10-11 years ago while wrestling in college. it initally started on the side of my head under my hair line. however, I was mis-diagnosed and never had treatment and the out breaks spread past their target area. the new area's were my forehead and right cheak. the sore's usually grow to the size of a quarter. not to mention they swell up like someone punched me in the face; their pretty bad looking.

The outbreaks usually hit once or twice a year and lasted around 2 weeks. dealing with it socially was difficult, people can and did get scared off. After a few years though I say it slowed to every other year. That's why when I came back from a trip to florida and contracted it on my cheak and forehead again I was taken back. I went to the doctor and was perscribed alvacor, which did do me much good since it's delivery is so slow and the growth of my HSV is so fast. It would fully develop before the alvycor took effect.

I went back to the Dr and got valtrex now but haven't had a chance to truly test it. since that visit I have seen it start inside of my nose and behind my ear. because i can see these two location's the virus fully develop before I can medicate.

that's my backround and here's my point. I just got a bad case on my forehead again. I was out of town in california and got mildly sunburnt. as I was leaving to come home I noticed a spot of my forehead starting to develop. I forgot to bring my medication with so I had to call in a perscription whcih took me 4 hours to pick up since I had no car and had to wait on a ride. I medicated immediatly but it seems it came full pass regardless. should this happen with valtrex? I was instructed to take 2mg tablets twice for 1 day.

I did notice two more spots when I got home from the trip (which may have been there before) one of which is on my shoulder??? I've never had anything not on my head before.

Do you think that this breakout is directly related to the sun? I want to avoid this again if possible.

any idea's on taking valtrex daily? Having multiple 1 inch outbreaks on your face for 2 weeks is the absolute WORST!

[Caliope]

I've read more than once that the sun can bring on an ob.

I even read an interesting study that cited the reason so many people contract hsv as children is because mom's take kids to the pool in the summer. The big rage that began in the 60's was public pools. How many of us went? I did. Anyhow all the moms set off for a day at the pool, with their kids in tow, and made a day of it. Knowledge about hsv was pretty scarce and most people didn't know cold sores were contagious. So you have all of these mom's and kids hanging out in the sun, snapping each other with towels, soaking up the rays and the pool water. Before long those that have hsv start getting ob's. The kids frolic and horse around and pretty soon it spreads. Interesting huh? Not as many moms hang out at the pool with their kids any more because so many work but this is still a high risk area for contact. It's essentially a bunch of factors for infection that converge. And you thought all that chlorine kept you safe?

So yes sunshine and contact sports contribute to the spread of hsv.

[Shayna]

Hey there ppear1200,

The sun can definitely bring on an out-break. I had my first out-break while vacationing in mexico. My out break appeared where the sun didn't shine.

[WaxedWrong]

i will go tanning, and the next day have a little cut down below. it sucks, cause by the time it has healed, my tan is gone.

[ppear1200]

went to the doctor today. I asked about the sun and he thought it was most likely the cause of my breakout. scares me that it might pop up where the sun didn't even touch.

I was curious as to why it jumped to my shoulder and was told that type 1 can appear anywhere on the body not just in prox to the original breakout... great

to make matters worse turns out my eczema might have joined forces with my HSV1 and formed a sort of super virus, hopefully this isn't the case. my only saving grace is that my eczema is mild enough that it's barely viable.

I'm on some medication for the eczema to see if it's yeast based, whatever that means and I've decided to go with the valtrex 1 a day. I hate taking pills but i can't deal with another breakout.

has anyone had a breakout while taking one a day? even if it was a small one?

[Shayna]

I hope the medication helps you!

I hate taking meds too, but it sounds like a good idea for you to take them and get your ob's under control.

I would also work really hard at building my immune system...If your immune system is strong your body has a better chance of fighting any kind of virus. It might be worth the investment of a visit to a naturopath for help with that.

Good Luck to You!

[mbrauneis]

the valtrex doesn't cause you not to have an outbreak at all it is just to reduce the symptoms and the length of time you have an outbreak. many people on this site mention that they have a few breakouts every year and most of them are on some sort of suppresive therapy. with time your outbreaks will be less.

[Caliope]

someone about a month ago mentioned that hsv and eczema can cause some strange combination.

I can't remember what it was. you might start a thread about it and see where it takes you.

Years ago I had a mystery illness that I thought was an allergy. It started out as small bumps or blisters on my belly and started to spread down till it went down my legs then it spread out to my arms and out. They hospitalized me but couldn't figure out what it was. I literally was red and itchy from head to toe. They never did find out what it was but after days of taking super doses of Benadryl they put me on steroid which I am not sure even helped. The long story is that I think it might have been the hsv. But since I wasn't diagnosed until January we'll never know. I wonder at times if I have this stuff everywhere. The strange bumps and red welts that show up are so weird and usually painful but no blisters,

[ppear1200]

that makes sense. I knew valtrex was a supressent but I thought it nailed it before the OB occured. that explains why I got two very minor OB's after I took my episodic 2x 1gm dosage. however they were nowhere near the severity of the first one, which got just as nasty as it always has. I can deal with a minor OB since it's not easily visable. but once the white bumps come it's all over

I'll post something on the eczema HSV thing.

Normally I have a stong immune system. However, it's when I go on trip's in which I'm more active and get less sleep that I see a higher occurance in OB's.

any clue if you can get an OB in your sinus cavities? I got an OB on my nose a while back and it migrated to the inside of my nose. they are usually small outbreaks but I definitly don't want them moving further internally.... kind of scary when you think about HSV causing types of brain damage