Question: My gyn just diagnosed me with what he thinks is an HSV2 infection. We're waiting on culture results. My question for you is at the end of my description, so you have an idea of the course of things. Last week I started out with terrible mid-back pain that lasted for a couple of days. There was nothing I'd done which I could see causing this intense pain. Was wondering at the time if it could have anything to do with my kidneys. The next day I got what felt like a bad rash around the anal area. This was accompanied by constipation. A day or so later, I was getting skin sensitivity, without a rash, around my right thigh (from the inside out, across the top). It was at this time I noticed some kind of blisters forming around the anus, all on the same side as the thigh pain. This is what prompted me to go see my gyn. At first he thought I might have shingles, but after looking at the blisters he said he was pretty convinced it was herpes. He prescribed an anti viral (generic valtrex 1g 2X/day for 7 days). I started it on Monday night. Since that time the blisters seem to have expanded and became even more painful. Today they felt a little better, but all day I'm noticing that I have great skin sensitivity across the top of my stomach that wraps around both of my sides and lower-mid back. It feels like a very bad sunburn, but no rash is present there. Some of that midback pain is back again. My question is this - could this skin sensitivity on my stomach/sides/back be related to the herpes even though it's a different area? If so, how long should this last? I've never experienced a hepes outbreak. I've been in a happy and faithful marriage for 19 years, so this has been a bit of a shock to my husband and me.