How has Genital herpes effected your life?

by The Doctr

How has Genital herpes effected your life?

I don't have herpes, but dated a girl that had it and we had a great relationship. It ended for other reasons and had nothing to do with her having herpes. We are still friends to this day.

Once you get over the initial shock and you initial symptoms pass and you get on daily suppressive therapy, you will think less and less about it. Taking meds like Valtrex daily will reduce the number of outbreaks and in many cases eliminates them all together. If you don't have sex during outbreaks or prodrome symptoms (pre-signs an outbreak is coming on), wear a condom during the non-outbreak times, the chances of transmittal is 1%.

You don't need to tell the first right off the bat. It is best to develop a friendship and some loving interest first before you tell them. If they decide not to continue on with the relationship, then it wasn't meant to be.

You can search online for local herpes groups (meetup.com) and dating sites such as positivesingles.com to meet others in your situation.My condolences on your diagnosis. I remember when I was first diagnosed. I was ashamed and afraid and angry - and I was sure that I would never be loved again. Since then, I've dated several men - all of whom knew about my herpes before we got sexual - and am now happily married.

I'll admit that the absolute hardest part of herpes is telling someone. I agree with kjdela that its best to develop a solid, non-sexual relationship first.

In fact, you ask how it affected my life, and I would have to say that on the whole, it was actually not a bad thing for me. I "catted around" a lot when I was single. I really enjoyed being single, and had a pretty vigorous and lively sex life. Don't get me wrong - that part of my life was a real blast. But once I got herpes, I needed to actually get to know men - and I mean REALLY get to know them - before we got sexual. It deepened the kind of relationships that I had. I needed to know and trust a man before I took him to bed - and that really improved the kind of relationships that I had.

Would I go back and get it again - just for the learning process? No. But at the same time, I can't say that it was a really horrible thing that happened to me.

I know that it doesn't seem like it now - but things will get much better. In the meantime, you have my sympathies. It's a hard time, but you'll get through it.hi oh my god i am in the exact same situation and it is so horrible i cry everytime i tink about it.i feel so alone,ive been researching it loads,and basically there is no cure,and even if the warts do go you can stil hav the virus in your system,i feel like i hav aids.ive been gettin mine treated 1nce a week for the last 5 weeks and no improvement,its says on every information page that you should defo tell a new partner b4 u sleep with them,but how can u possibly do that without them lookin at you in disgust,i no if i met some1 and they told me they had warts down there and i could possibly contract it id tink 2wice b4 starting anything with them.and the worst thing is iwas out over xmas and i met some1 and we went on a date last night and as i was sittin there i was tinkin 2 myself wat am i doin how am i meant to tell this bloke,hes goin to want sex soon,what the hell am i to do.if u want to mail me do hun if u want to tlk to sum1 in the same situation as u.

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