Reoccurence questions

[quietpendulum]

For a person who has unknowingly had HSV for a while and has had it lay dormant/undetected for some time, is it safe to assume that they won't have OBs frequently when the first one does occur? Or is it as if when the OB finally comes around, it's going to be active and possibly start the horrible first year reoccurence deal that I've been hearing so much about just as if it's newly contracted?

If the questions weren't clear enough, let me try to phrase it this way - if you've had HSV for a long time and your first OB takes a longtime to come around, will you not experience OB's frequently?

[quietpendulum]

Sorry - recurrence...

[thiscantbe]

this is based on research that i've read...

most people who are asymptomatic and then realize they have HSV have fewer outbreaks that last for a shorter period of time.

however, if something in your body chemistry changes, perhaps due to a serious stressful event, or maybe some other health issue, the outbreak pattern can change. H is very unpredictable.

[It's.no.biggie!]

Very unpredictable. I was almost totally asymptomatic for six months after infection, and now have frequent outbreaks; I believe it's totally psychological with me, as I almost never get sick and am very good health otherwise.

Eh, don't underestimate the power of becoming jaded though, lol. A lot of people may think that it's only those who suffer from very few outbreaks who are able to come to terms with it. I actually find it to be a very small part of my life.

[searcher]

I've had HSV for about 17 years. The worst outbreaks for me were at the initial onset stages. I had flu symptoms, bubbled rashes on my penis that left painful sores that took a week or two to heal (the medical treatments then weren't very helpful). Within a year or two, the OBs became less and less frequent and the sores less and less noticeable or uncomfortable. For about the last 10 years I've been free of all noticeable OBs and evidently noninfectious: I've had several shorter and one long term relationship and no one, to my knowledge, has ever contracted HSV from me. From what I've read on this forum and in other locations, HSV can be very unpredictable, and its effects can vary considerably from individual to individual, but I'd be interested in seeing some data on the long term effects of HSV and whether it can, given time, go into a kind of dormancy, as mine seems to have done.

[tina144]

hi, well if you find out that information please let me know!!! Cause i happen to feel somewhat like you. Granted, I have not had it as long as you..only 2 years an done initial ob when I was pregnant thats when I found out! how did it go telling your significant other im soo scared to tell the person I am beginning to date!

take care

[searcher]

Tina,

I've always made it a point to tell anyone I was going to be intimate with about my condition. With only one exception, they all took it in stride. The way to look at it is, if your potential partner decides to head the other way, c'est la vie. There are more fish in the sea. I would add that it's important you get "the speech" down in advance, so you're not hemming and hawing and making things uncomfortable. Get yourself informed about the disease in general and your symptoms in particular and be ready to express it confidently and matter of factly. That will be a big help to making you and your prospective partner a lot more at ease and able to make a decision.