Question:
I have been concerned that I might
have Herpes. I've done some research on this disease,
and still have not found an answer to my question.
First, here is my situation. Back in March, I
received oral sex from a lady. I became worried that I
might have caught something from her when I learned that
she had lied about her lack of sexual experience.
In May, I started to develop severe canker sores
on my tongue. I asked a paramedic friend of mine how to
treat them, and he immediately said I might have Herpes.
I started to worry if I contracted the disease from the lady.
My research suggests that the odds are against it, but I
want to be sure.
My question is this. Is it possible to contract
Herpes sexually and have Canker sores as the sole
sympthom? I had no genitial sores just the tongue ulcers .
I had no cold sores, or blisters on my face or
outside my mouth, just inside on my tongue and a few
ulcers on my gums. The ulcers went away for about 3 weeks,
but now they're back, and I'm worried again. I wonder
if the stress of worrying over this disease is actually
causing the ulcers.
Answer:
your canker sores could be herpes. Probably HSV-1.
Canker sores usually are not caused by herpes with the exception of sores
on the gums, hard pallette and sometimes the tounge. I have been plagued
by non-herpes canker sores since I was a child and about two years ago
they suddenly got way worse, more "aggressive" and in the locations
mentioned above.
The oral ulcers were awful for about a year and have calmed down quite a
bit. Coffee seems to trigger them consistently. Staying off coffee has
helped quite a bit for me. It seems as though each person is irritated by
different chemicals and foods. Pay attention to what
you eat and look for patterns. Not being stressed and getting enough
sleep is the most powerful defense for me.
Be very careful with oral sex -don't do it if you have an oral outbreak.
You can give & recieve HSV-1 genitally. Genital HSV-1 still can bring on the emotional
troubles fueled by the social stigmas in the US about herpes.
All this advice is assuming you do have oral HSV. It's very easy to find
out. Most any physician can culture the sores and they'll know in a few
days. Just get the culture when you have the sores-preferrably in the
first day or two. No need to be embarrassed about this, it's reliably
reported that 80-90% of all American adults have HSV-1 orally.
