Learning about HSV1

Sexual health
1

Hi everyone,
Almost 1 year ago I was diagnosed with HSV1. But the symptoms I experienced were so confusing, I’m still unsure if what I was going through was my first outbreak or something else…any thoughts would be so appreciated. I’ll start from the beginning.

Last February I started experiencing slight pain on my urethra after I finished urinating. It wasn’t while I was urinating, only at the end of urinating. It stung. So I went to my ob/gyn who determined I had a very small cut on my vagina above my urethra. She said it will heal on its own but if I wanted to speed up the process I could put Neosporin on it.

I did put Neosporin on it for 2 days. But the pain wasn’t going away. I noticed it was slowly getting worse. The pain progressed to a full on excruciating pain while I was urinating. It got to the point where the pain while urinating was so painful, I dreaded every time I had to go to the bathroom. I would cry in the bathroom the whole time. After 2 or 3 days of it getting worse every day I went to the hospital. they said it could be a reaction to the Neosporin. they said putting it on your genital area isn’t recommended.

I followed up with my ob/gyn the next day and they ran a culture. She said my vagina was “red and angry” I should also note my vagina was overly wet at that time. And slightly itchy.

4 days later I get the call my tests came back. I was positive for 3 things: yeast, BV (bacterial vaginosis) and also HSV1. My doctor said she felt my symptoms were pointing to this being my first outbreak. I felt ashamed, dirty and completely shocked. I’m married and have been with my husband for 11 years. How did this happen?

What has me puzzled are my symptoms. My doctor said HSV1 usually attacks the mouth with cold sores. But lately they are finding it can attack the genital area. I never had any blisters on my mouth or on my vagina (like you hear with people who experience HSV2). After icing myself down there the symptoms started going away on their own. I never took any medication for the “outbreak” (if that’s what it was). I did have a tingly feeling around my anus after the painful urination went away (the tingly feeling lasted about 4 or 5 days).

Since then I haven’t experienced anything at all like that again. But my vagina does get red and itchy from time to time, every couple of months. And my muscles do get sore a few days before hand and I get funky discharge. So are these outbreaks? Again no blisters.

I looked up the signs of BV and they seem similar to HSV1 outbreaks. So I’m not sure if that was just the BV or an outbreak. OR a reaction to the Neosporin. I’m so confused.

I guess I’m wondering what a first outbreak felt like for you? Since I have HSV1 but it attacked my genitals, I’m so confused because there’s not many posts online from other people who have gone through this.

Any help or tips or feedback is greatly appreciated!

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hi! I also have genital hsv1, diagnosed last march and my symptoms are kind of strange too. I have been sleeping with the same guy for 7 years (on and off we are only 23) but he gave it to me and has never had symptoms himself. The doctor said he probably had a cold sore once as a kid and finally passed it on to me after all this time.. Anyway my first outbreak was very clear to me what was happening. I didnt have blisters but I did have what looked like a few canker sores, I saw two doctors who both told me it looked like friction from sex until my results came back positive.. I have had one other visable outbreak since which was very mild and it was after a 17 hour flight, so certianly stressed induced… But I too have inching flare ups occationally accompanied by my leg feeling sunburnt when its not… I did get diagnosed with bv and a yeast infection during one of these flare ups but not during any others.. I tear easier during sex now and I get this white stuff on my vulva which has appeared to be regular secreations that are for some reason clumping up.. All of this in the past year after never ever having any problems.. So either hsv1 is causing all of this (my doctor says its not), or I have an underlying condition going on which made me more susceptible to getting and catching infections. Just wish we had clear answers!

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My outbreak started when I was on my period so the first issue I had was pain when taking tampons out (11/6). I had flu-like symptoms (body aches, weakness, fatigue) the first and second days when I had minimal pain. It then developed into pain throughout the day (11/8). Three days after the initial pain, I examined my labia to find a large amount of small white circular sores (11/9). The next day they started spreading to my outer labia and vulva. The sores then became more “filled” and the affected area was extremely red. My labia became very swollen. It burned when I peed because of the ammonia in the pee running over raw tissue. I could barely handle peeing. This was the day I went to urgent care and started taking Valtrex (11/10). The sores were worse on the 11th and 12th but started getting better the 13th. It no longer burned to pee and it was mostly just red where the sores were. I still had sores on the outside, but the pain was manageable after 5-6 days. When my sores were healing and those symptoms started getting better, I started having milky white discharge.
My tests done (before I had that discharge) came back positive for BV.
I also got swabbed and the culture was positive for HSV1. (I got it from my boyfriend’s cold sore and oral sex)
I used Herstat ointment, not sure if it helped or not. You can try Azo urinary pain relief, vaseline, and squirting water for pee burning.
Having HSV1 on my genitals has been confusing for me too. It’s hard to find information on the real differences out there.
HSV1 apparently has less outbreaks and less shedding/transmission… I’ve been doing a lot of research. Message me if you want to talk further!
Here are some of the other discussions I’ve posted

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does your husband get cold sores ?

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did he have a cold sore present when he did oral?