 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Herpes / September 2006Question about contracting herpes.
Hi. I'm new here. I've been lurking and read a post where a woman was sure she'd contracted the herpes virus several years prior to finding out she had it. Something similar happened to me, and I'm wondering how common this is. Can you actually contract the herpes virus and have no symptoms (or such mild symptoms) that it can go undetected for several years or more? I was 29 and well into my second marriage before I found out I had herpes. Let me tell you, that was a hard one to explain to my husband! I'm not sure he ever really believed me either. There wasn't very much info available at the time, so I had no medical evidence to back me up. He was a "good sport" about it, but I always got the feeling he thought I'd cheated on him and was creating some elaborate story to explain the trouble I'd gotten myself into. That's the one thing that bothered me most about the whole thing really. Well, thanks. Rose > Hi. I'm new here. I've been lurking and read a post where a woman was > sure she'd contracted the herpes virus several years prior to finding > out she had it. Something similar happened to me, and I'm wondering how > common this is. Very. Most people (80-90%) get the virus and trot along with it without an outbreak - until the point later when some serious stressor is enough to reactivate it. > Can you actually contract the herpes virus and have no > symptoms (or such mild symptoms) that it can go undetected for several > years or more? Yes. Tim -- When playing rugby, its not the winning that counts, but the taking apart ICQ: 5178568 Hi Rose, It happens all the time. People can carry the virus and never have symptoms until one day, something triggers the first outbreak, or a stronger outbreak that is noticeable. It's unfortunate that more people aren't aware of this because it can cause trouble in marriages when one partner suddenly shows up with a disease they never had before. ar > Hi. I'm new here. I've been lurking and read a post where a woman was > sure she'd contracted the herpes virus several years prior to finding [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Well, thanks. Rose > Hi. I'm new here. I've been lurking and read a post where a woman was > sure she'd contracted the herpes virus several years prior to finding > out she had it. Something similar happened to me, and I'm wondering how > common this is. Can you actually contract the herpes virus and have no > symptoms (or such mild symptoms) that it can go undetected for several > years or more? Yes, many people have genital herpes and don't even know that they have it. > I was 29 and well into my second marriage before I found out I had > herpes. Let me tell you, that was a hard one to explain to my husband! [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > trouble I'd gotten myself into. That's the one thing that bothered me > most about the whole thing really. Well, isn't it true that it could have been your husband that had herpes all along and passed it to you eventually? The possibilities are endless at this point, ya know? Hang in there, Angela http://yoshi2me.com > Well, isn't it true that it could have been your husband that had herpes all > along and passed it to you eventually? > The possibilities are endless at this point, ya know? Hi Angela: Yeah ... I'd kind of wondered about that too. I've even wondered if he /did/ know he had it and that's why he was often "unavailable" for spontaneous romance (and this was prior to my diagnosis). I should've insisted we both go for testing, but he was so nonchalant about the whole thing, I just counted my lucky stars and didn't push the matter. Thanks to all for your kind responses. Rose Does it really matter who you contracted it from? The important thing is that you know that you have it and now you just have to figure out how you are not going to let this run your life, right? Hang in there, k? Angela :) http://yoshi2me.com >> Well, isn't it true that it could have been your husband that had herpes >> all [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Thanks to all for your kind responses. Rose > Hi. I'm new here. I've been lurking and read a post where a woman was > sure she'd contracted the herpes virus several years prior to finding [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > > Well, thanks. Rose Hi Rose, its me . I'm the one you're referring to... I too would love to hear about more cases like ours. My fiance was very understanding, he was tested immediately and was NEGATIVE, much to my surprise. We have been together for 6 years, we are both in our 40s; how in the world has he rememained negative? Is this because even though you can pass on HSV when there are no symptoms - it is actually very rare? My doctor has also reassured me that I may never have another outbreak, I was under tremendous stress when the outbreak occured. Is there anyone else with similar circumstances? Rose has your husband remain HSV free? thanks S > Hi Rose, its me . I'm the one you're referring to... > I too would love to hear about more cases like ours. [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > thanks S Yes, you can pass herpes on when you are not showing any signs of an outbreak. That's called asymptomatic shedding. But it only happens an estimated 3% of the time. I have no idea if that is a year, or what. Anyway, the longer you have herpes, the less asymptomatic shedding will occur. My ex and I were together for 17 years. He never showed signs of getting herpes. Other factors in whether or not it gets passed on are what type of herpes the person has--which is why we always recommend you find out if you have type 1 or type 2--it really makes a difference. And how healthy each individual's immune system is. Stress if the most common trigger for herpes outbreaks. ar > > Hi Rose, its me . I'm the one you're referring to... > > I too would love to hear about more cases like ours. [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > > ar Well that makes me feel better, I never heard an actual precentage before. I hope that figure is true. The way HSV2 is hyped about in the media - it makes it sound like we are lepers to be shunned. Which IS NOT true. I am beginning to feel "normal" again emotionally and physically. > Well that makes me feel better, I never heard an actual precentage > before. I hope that figure is true. The way HSV2 is hyped about in the > media - it makes it sound like we are lepers to be shunned. Which IS > NOT true. > I am beginning to feel "normal" again emotionally and physically. I'm glad you're feeling better. :) It does take awhile to adjust. It is scary to know you can pass it on without having symptoms. But the truth is that asymptomatic shedding doesn't happen all that often. However, tell that to the person who got when their partner was showing no symptoms! :) Good luck to you. ar > My fiance was very understanding, he was tested immediately and was > NEGATIVE, much to my surprise. We have been together for 6 years, we > are both in our 40s; how in the world has he rememained negative? > Is this because even though you can pass on HSV when there are no > symptoms - it is actually very rare? The rate of transmission if you avoid sex around outbreaks is of the order of 5-10% chance per year as a population average in the US. Assume 10% chance of transmission and that means the chance of him not having picked it up after 6 years is around 53%. Now numbers can be easily misrepresented, or rather over used one way or another. Numbers like this do NOT mean 'It won't happen first time or in a one off'. But it does give an answer to 'How in the world has he remained negative' after 6 years. The observed frequency of transmission is such that it is possible. Tim -- When playing rugby, its not the winning that counts, but the taking apart ICQ: 5178568 |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.