Newly diagnosed Type 1

[wendyb]

I was recently diagnosed with Type 1 genital herpes virus. My bf performed oral sex on me with a cold sore....yeah i know!!!....wasn't thinking!!....and woke up two days later with a couple of sores. The breakout was not that bad...I only had 3-4 sores. But anyways I'm concerned about infecting my bf. My Dr put me on Famvir and the sores were gone within days. He made me feel as though it wasn't such a big deal and did not recommend that I go on suppresant therapy just yet. My bf and I want to continue our sex life but I'm scared he'll get infected. I once read something about antibodies in the system of those that carry the virus. My bf has not been tested since his cold sore is gone my dr said there's no point in testing, but I'm 100% certain it came from him and that he also must have Type 1 oral.

I've read so much about herpes but my Dr has lead me to believe that I can have a normal sex life with my bf. Does anyone know if this is true and what pre-cautions we should be taking so I don't infect him.

[smiley]

It will be ok

Every since I descoverd I had Herpes 2, I have read a lot of information of it. I am finding that herpes 1 is just as your doctor says. "nothing to get alarm about. However, it is still in your blood system. You will be ok.

[Caliope]

Hsv resides in the central nervous system and not the blood. Even though your bf should have antibodies to hsv does not preclude him from infecting other areas of his body.

One way to prevent reinfection is the use of condoms. Of course you never want to have sexual contact during an active ob or immediately after and both of you need to pay attention to if you are having any tingling or itching sensations that are often called "prodome."

hsv whether it is oral or genital is still contagious even when there aren't any signs of an ob. Since he has an oral infection it is possible you could have contracted this through something as simple as kissing and the potential is there to transmit it further.

Antiviral medications are also a way to reduce transmission.

These are the facts but there is no way to know for certain when you are contagious unless there is an ob happening. Usually the statistics state that there is asymptomatic shedding on 2% of the days that you aren't having an ob. That is like 7 days a year and with condoms and antivirals the % for transmitting is less.

[Anon]

I can't see how this won't affect someone's sex life at least a little, unless they are lucky enough to not get many obs.

I know we shed the virus asymptomatically, I think the rate is around 8%. I am so afraid of my bf spreading it more to me or him too. In fact, mine has spread. At first, it was in one area and now it is much worse.

I don't let my bf penis touch my clit/inner labia/etc because thats where my infection is. My vaginia is uninfected and the last thing I need is to spread it there. Maybe you should be careful with your infected parts for awhile, until the virus settles done?

As for protecting the bf, I would have your bf wash with soap and water after sex.

[kasiola2003]

Hi

Hi Wendy, just wanted to say hello and welcome to the forum. People are so good about everything here. I visit this site every day.

[talesofagirl]

I was recently diagnosed with Type 1 genital herpes virus. My bf performed oral sex on me with a cold sore....yeah i know!!!....wasn't thinking!!....and woke up two days later with a couple of sores. The breakout was not that bad...I only had 3-4 sores. But anyways I'm concerned about infecting my bf. My Dr put me on Famvir and the sores were gone within days. He made me feel as though it wasn't such a big deal and did not recommend that I go on suppresant therapy just yet. My bf and I want to continue our sex life but I'm scared he'll get infected. I once read something about antibodies in the system of those that carry the virus. My bf has not been tested since his cold sore is gone my dr said there's no point in testing, but I'm 100% certain it came from him and that he also must have Type 1 oral.

I've read so much about herpes but my Dr has lead me to believe that I can have a normal sex life with my bf. Does anyone know if this is true and what pre-cautions we should be taking so I don't infect him.

Here's a link to a Q&A with an actual std expert giving advice. He gets these kinds of questions all of the time.

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/HSV-1-Genital-Question-for-Dr-Handsfield/show/1151097

I will add that I do disagree slightly...I did catch ghsv-1 from genital-genital exposure. I'm not really disagreeing, because he doesn't say it's impossible, only that he's never seen it. However, I did not already have ohsv-1 (my blood tests showed no antibodies for it), which goes along with what he's saying; I caught it because I didn't already have it.

Also, I've only ever had one outbreak, the first.