Should I take suppressive antivirals

[Candycotton]

Hi

posted a couple of weeks ago to say I’d been diagnosed with Herpes,  I haven’t been told whether it’s 1 or 2 though.  I felt last week that I was starting with a 2nd outbreak and started my antivirals again which seemed to halt it and I will finish my current course.  My question is should I ask  to be put on suppressive antivirals as I am I’m a long time relationship, 7 years in which time I haven slept with anyone else and my partner shows no symptoms of having herpes what so ever so I think he is clear and I want to do all I can to limit the chances of him being infected with this.

[WilsoInAus]

Hey @Candycotton, was it a culture swab test that you had?

There would be little doubt your partner infected you. It could have been from an oral HSV-1 infection for example.

As such, you will not need antivirals for prevention reasons.

[Candycotton]

Thanks for your reply, he doesn’t get cold sores and he has only had 2 partners one being me so I don’t think that’s where it came from.  My doctor advises it could be something that has lay dormant in me for many many years.  It was diagnosed by swab test and neither my doctor or clinic are of the opinion that any further tests are required for me and that unless. My partner shows Symptoms they are unable to test him 

[WilsoInAus]

Hey @Candycotton note that About half the population is infected with oral HSV-1 before they are sexually active. About half of these people have no living memory of cold sores.

While the virus can lie dormant after primary infection owing to the build up of immunity, the primary infection itself is almost always accompanied by a multiple lesion outbreak.

There is a blood test for IgG antibodies type specific for HSV-1 and HSV-2 that your partner can have anytime and you in 12 weeks to tell you type of your swab was not typed.

[Candycotton]

11 hours ago, WilsoInAus said:

Hey @Candycotton note that About half the population is infected with oral HSV-1 before they are sexually active. About half of these people have no living memory of cold sores.

While the virus can lie dormant after primary infection owing to the build up of immunity, the primary infection itself is almost always accompanied by a multiple lesion outbreak.

There is a blood test for IgG antibodies type specific for HSV-1 and HSV-2 that your partner can have anytime and you in 12 weeks to tell you type of your swab was not typed.

Hey Wilsonaus thanks for getting back to me, my doctor doesn’t seem to want to do anything, once I told them I had herpes they said I needed to deal with the SH clinic, the SH clinic tell me I have to go to the doctor if I want blood tests so that’s me stuck now.  That also accounts for my lack of info on herpes, there's tons of stuff on the internet but it’s very conflicting so I don’t know what’s right or wrong.  Ok on the cold sore front.  I may now sound really stupid as maybe I should have thought about this a bit more.  My first husband suffered dreadfully with cold sores, I only ever had one, it was when I was pregnant 25yrs ago, inside my nose and was the most painful thing I’d ever had and it lasted weeks because I couldn’t have treatment for it with being pregnant, my daughter from being born has suffered with eczema, cold sores and imetigo to the extent as a child she was hospitalised in isolation and we were told she carried the virus in her nasal passages.  Now could any of this have anything to do with me and my diagnosis? I may be clutching at straws trying to understand this thing.

[WilsoInAus]

@Candycotton without some additional testing, you may not be able to sort things out further.

What is known is that upon a primary (meaning a first infection with either type 1 or 2) a person is highly, highly likely to experience a multi lesion outbreak that has a good chance of them presenting to a doctor. If a person already has HSV-1 orally, then the edge is taken off a genital HSV-2 infection.

An infected person will experience an outbreak most likely within 2-14 days of infection. 

What this means is that if you've had a pretty bad outbreak with multiple lesions, and its the first such incident of this nature you're aware of, then in all probability you have been recently infected.

Is it possible you missed a primary infection genitally from your former husband... unlikely... a primary HSV-1 infection is... yooouuuchhh!

Your nose issue does not really sound like herpes. Your seems to have had a touch time with cold sores and other dermatitis issues. The cold sore infection may well have come from her father.

In the absence of any further information, the most probably explanation is that you were infected by your partner's oral HSV-1 infection through oral sex in the week preceding the outbreak. 

This can readily change depending on additional data. It is up to you whether you pursue this extra data (and your doctor will help if you insist). There may be no particular utility in doing so.