Is it herpes simplex?
I came back from the hospital a few a hours ago. The reason I was in the being that for about 4 days now, I’ve had vomiting, nausea, dizziness, headache, muscle and bone pain, ear pains, coughing, runny nose, fever, chills, swollen throat, loss of energy, and this awful sore throat with sores all over my mouth. I leave the doctor, look at the papers, and see they’ve diagnosed it as herpes simplex. No where on that on that list of symptoms did it mention most of my symptoms. And when I Googled pictures, they looked nothing like my sores.
How could I have gotten it?
I have been dating my boyfriend for over a year. Everyone at his house was sick at the same time I started getting sick, so i assumed this was a cold he’d brought from over there. They all had fevers, runny noses, their throats were swollen, his grandma is still coughing, etc. They pretty much had all the same symptoms I had, but only his dad had the sores (they said it ws because of the chemo, he has cancer). And they were all given flu medication, they all got better.
I assumed I got sores because whatever they had was probably much worse to me, since I have the worst immune system. I live in Miami, Florida and a lot of people I’ve talked to about this say they’ve seen it, they’ve had it, they know about it. It seems to be something that’s going around.
I really think the herpes diagnosis was wrong, because my sister drank from my same water bottle, while i was sick, and she’s fine. My mom is starting to get a sore throat and some body pains, but that’s it.
What I’m worried about if it’s herpes are the future outbreaks. They look really gross. My boyfriend already knows about all of this, he and my mom were there with me at the hospital. Is it herpes simplex, or just a really bad throat infection?
Observing members:
0
Composing members:
0
10 Answers
I realize that you went to the hospital…but, I’d get a second and/or third opinion. Don’t infectious disease folks get into this?
I’m not an expert…haven’t seen this ever.
From the info you have given there is no way anyone can tell what the cause is. For a diffinitve diagnosis your dr would probably need to take samples and sent them to a lab.
Cold sores (the common name for the sores caused by herpes – at least here in the UK) can take many different shapes and forms so just because what you saw when you googled didn’t look like your sores doesn’t mean they are not caused by herpes. A lot of people get these things and there treatments that can help speed up healing.
As for your current concerns I would strongly recommned you go back and speak to your dr. You are paying him to look after you and part of that involves making sure you understand what he thinks is wrong and answering any questions you may have. If you are still unhappy with his explanations then go to another dr.
I’m not really sure what to do, the medication he gave me was to ease the pain in my mouth and lower the swelling. It really seems to be working.
In that case keep using the medication. Cold sores can take time to heal so you need to be patient. Even so I’d still speak to the dr so you can get an idea how long the treatment is supposed to take and when you should call him back if there is still no improvement.
Thanks, he said it’d take about a week, but I have no idea what to eat, since the only thing that doesn’t seem to set my mouth on fire is pudding. Do you have any idea as to what foods I can eat? Besides sugar, salt is the only thing I taste, and it is everywhere, literally, I find everything over salted.
Just eat the pudding then. My son lived on it while he was recovering from having his wisdom teeth out. You might try ice-cream, jello or a milkshake too.
“What I’m worried about if it’s herpes are the future outbreaks.”
There are various forms of herpes. Chicken pox is a form of herpes.
Before you worry about “future outbreaks.” Wait till you see your doctor, so you can find out what type you have. The doctor could have been referring to the cold sore type of herpes, instead of HSV-2. Which I am thinking is the one you are fearing you have.
Did they culture it? As @ChazMaz mentioned there are different types of herpes. HSV1 is typically on the mouth, and HSV two is typically sexually transmitted between sexual organs, but you can get it on your mouth, and Varicella, which is chicken pox, which is also herpes, can come out as zoster or shingles years later after having had chicken pox or the vaccination.
Yes, if it is any tyoe of herpes you could possibly have future outbreaks, but they are typically not as bad as the first one.
Since you were sick, it is possible your immunity was down and you caught the herpes or it acted up in your weakened state.
The problem I have with your whole story is the doctor did not tell you, you had to read it on a chart? I find that to be incompetance. He should have told you when it is most contagious and to be sure not to autoinnoculate yourself, especially your eyes.
The problem with herpes is a person can be contagious even with no sores showing, so your boyfriend migt have it, and not realize he might be giving it to you, if that is what happened. It sucks.
“The problem with herpes is a person can be contagious even with no sores showing”
That is the safest way to see it.
Epically for people that just got it and have no understanding of it.
But, individuals that do have it get physical signs before an outbreak starts.
“Contagious and not knowing” is from lack of education, denial and/or, just not caring.
@ChazMaz I agree that many times people actually do have the signs and are in denial, don’t care, or ignorant themselves about what it might be. For the person not infected yet they may not observe any sores yet, so they basically catch it without any fair warning. So, the rule is kind of thrown out there much like you can get pregnant at any time of the month, always use protection, which isn’t really true either.
Answer this question 
This question is in the General Section. Responses must be helpful and on-topic.
Composing members:
0
