https://www.std-gov.org/blog/mild-herpes/ STD Guide Online Version (STD GOV) Blog Tue, 13 Mar 2018 07:15:48 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.9.29 https://www.std-gov.org/blog/mild-herpes/#comment-15280 Sun, 04 Feb 2018 15:43:51 +0000 https://www.std-gov.org/blog/?p=285#comment-15280 I think I have herpes and I’m devastated. I don’t even want to know. It’s mild but annoying. My first outbreak was one lesion on the left side of my labia about 10 months ago. I left work one day to go get it tested at the local clinic but no nurses or doctors were in that day so I left and the lesion went away. Life went back to normal. Last week, I shaved my genitalia and felt myself knick myself by my left labia. It stung a little in the shower and after that I was careful drying it and wiping after using the bathroom. A couple days later, the pain felt worse so I took some pictures and saw a red mark. Then I noticed white centers inside that red mark that was roughly the size of a pea. It never itched but there was some type of sensation, letting me know it’s there. Just as before, common sense told me an Epsom salt bath, which I’ve since learned is used in treating herpes outbreaks. It has helped the healing I think but days later, this mark that I believed initially was from shaving is still there and looks exactly like the scare I had 10 months ago that I’d long forgotten. I guess now’s the time to pull myself out of denial and get to a doctor….but I fear the symptoms are too faded for a swab test. It’s a Sunday and it’s improving by the day. So then all I can do is wait for a possible third outbreak to be sure. This time, I had some aches on my right hip/backside area that I don’t remember having 10 months ago…and I’ve recently read this can be a herpes symptom. The aching and tension felt like a mild case of sciatica which I’ve struggled with in the past. Although this outbreak is less painful, I think I notice the lesion being more mature (meaning 3 white centers instead of one) than last time but almost exactly the same look. (I still have pictures from last episode.) I’ve read that symptoms are supposed to improve over time but what if mine are getting worse? I am a naturalist who always goes for the more holistic approaches, so naturally I just want my immune system to do it’s job to the best of its ability. I’ve known I’ve had herpes antibodies for about 10 years. Do you suppose the virus is just now rearing its ugly face in other ways as I get older and my immune system weakens?? I’m still trying to face this. I’m still sort of in denial. I’ve told no one yet, even though I will. I need time to do that, and as long as I’m not having sex, I feel as though that is my perogative.

]]> https://www.std-gov.org/blog/mild-herpes/#comment-15279 Sun, 04 Feb 2018 12:38:54 +0000 https://www.std-gov.org/blog/?p=285#comment-15279 Can it kill someone

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