can you have herpes and not have an outbreak for years?

So I just found out I have genital herpes (yay!) my question is, could I have had it and just not had a bad outbreak until now? See I had what I believed to be "reoccurring yeast infections", but this one seemed a bit more painful. So I saw the doc. He said the "yeast infections" may have just been genital herpes but since I hadn't gotten them looked at ever there's no way to know. I would've asked him, but it didn't occur to me til just now. This is the first time I've been physically ill and been sore as well as itchy. Typically it was mostly an itch with a little soreness. Any input is appreciated! Thanks!