Resolved question:
Hello. I need your opinions so that I can make one of the biggest decisions of my life. I'm 24 years old and have fallen in love with a woman that I would want to marry. The problem is that she has recurrent genital HSV-2, confirmed by swab culture.
I myself am HSV seronegative, ont even HSV-1. I want to continue a relationship with this woman but I am terrified of ruining my life with the disease. I have done extensive, if not obsessive research about the subject. Basically, I want to hear from doctors with clinical experience how bad it is. I realize that reactions are individual, but in your opinions is it generally only an inconvenience, or is there a good chance that it will put me through agony? I realize that in inmunocompromised individuals it can be terrible, but I am healthy. It's just that I have been reading a lot of "horror stories" on herpes internet forums... men with not only non-stop, debilitating outbreaks, but also severe systemic effects, such as fatigue, malaise, etc that does not improve even after the primary outbreak. Do you doctors think this is common, or very irregular.
I've heard that the suppressive meds are very effective and safe, without side effects. Opinions?
Basically, this woman I feel is the love of my life and I don't know if all the fear that I have is truly warranted. I need your opinions and hopefully your clinical experiences. What am I really getting myself into?
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Sexually Transmitted Diseases(STD)Specialist
Hello.
Thanks for posting your query at Doctorspring.com.
I can understand your concern and will do my best to help you.
If she has been getting recurrent HSV2, any episode of sexual intercourse could carry a risk of exposing yourself to infection with HSV2. In order to lower the risk of transmission, she can be on daily anti-viral drugs. This will suppress the infection in her and lower your risk of getting it. These medicines are safe and effective.
The internet is full of information that is blown out of proportion. I have not seen any non-stop debilitating outbreaks in any healthy, immunocompetent person. Outbreaks are not physically debilitating after the primary(first) outbreak. Generalised malaise/ fatigue only appears in the primary outbreak. The skin lesions themselves would cause burning and pain in that localized area. That could be distressing. However, it doesn't stop you from carrying out your routine activities. Once the primary outbreak is treated with anti-virals, recurrences tend to be less frequent and milder. Recurrent outbreaks can stress out an individual but usually subsequent outbreaks are milder than previous ones and they tend to get rarer.
This is about how genital herpes presents commonly. I have given you the opinion you requested for and provided you with a clinical picture of genital herpes. It is up to you now to analyse if you can accept the risk and to take your personal decision. I hope my opinion can help you make an informed decision.
Please let me know if you have any queries.
Take care.