[Question #7427] Herpes Outbreak

3 months ago

Hello Dr.

In August i gave oral to a man of unknown status. At first i was worried about being infected with HIV but Dr hook assured me that my tests were conclusive.

2 days after the situation, i had a cold sore. 2 months later, i got another cold sore. Now its been a month later and I have TWO cold sores at the same time.

I usually get a cold sore from time to time since i was a child, but i’m wondering if these outbreaks can be due to this situation. I never get cold sores this often, or at least more than one at a time.

If I already had Herpes before this situation, could this be a reinfection? Can stress and weight loss also cause this?

thank you!

Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner

3 months ago

First of all, I think the concern would be getting the virus from the man's penis to your mouth. That would most likely be HSV 2. HSV 1 can be genital, of course, but when there, it rarely shed or recurs. HSV 2 sheds and recurs far more often genitally. But the thing is, if someone gets HSV 2 orally, which is uncommon, it doesn't like it there and will rarely recur there. So all in all, I doubt that your situation with the cold sores has anything to do with your sexual experience. Stress can surely be related to cold sore reactivation, yes. Just to be clear - we are talking about cold sores on the outside of the mouth, not canker sores inside the mouth, right?

Terri

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3 months ago

Thank you Dr,

Yes the cold sores are outside of my lip. I dont get canker sores often so i’m not really worried about those.

I’m just worried about maybe being reinfected because i’ve never had 2 cold sores at the same time, especially extremely painful ones like these ones. Ive been putting Zilactin on them to numb the pain but they just get worse.

I don’t remember if he had any genital sores but i do know he didn’t have any sores on his mouth. I’m not sure if they test for herpes here (it would be positive for sure). Is there any existing medication that could stop them from reoccurring?

3 months ago

also, is angular cheilitis a form of herpes? i had 2 on both sides of my mouth in September and I rarely ever get those

Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner

3 months ago

Angular chelitis is caused by a fungus, generally, not herpes.

If you are having trouble with frequent cold sores, you could consider taking medicine like Valtrex daily to reduce the frequency of outbreaks. I find it very effective.

Terri

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