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Rachael

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Posts posted by Rachael

  1. 4 hours ago, mr_hopp said:

    Yes, that tends to be the case for most people. In cases like these, knowledge truly is power. It has he power to give us the facts instead of hiding behind imagined horrible fantasies. There’s always a risk, but being careful over being paranoid is key. Because paranoia disconnects and care connects. 

    Thank you for all your advise 🙂

    i just need to deal with things head on ranger than avoid and this will ultimately lead to me telling the woman I'm dating.

  2. 1 hour ago, mr_hopp said:

    My pleasure! For most people, even after a year, their bodies have enough control over the virus via antibodies that viral shedding and outbreaks tend to decrease. And over a longer and longer time, the body tends to have it more and more handled. Enjoy yourself, @Rachael! 🙂 

    So do you think that I haven't had an outbreak for so long that it will get less as time goes on?

    thank you hopefully I will now that I have more knowledge and the confidence to talk about things rather than avoid them

  3. 13 hours ago, mr_hopp said:

    No, having sex won’t trigger an outbreak every time for most people. How long have you had herpes?

    Ok that's good to know. Iv had it for 10 years and avoided a lot of things because of it. It's great to know there are resources like this available though so thank you 😊 

  4. 22 minutes ago, mr_hopp said:

    If what is going to happen every time you have sex? If you're asking if the risk is there every time you have sex, then yes. There is always that % risk averaged over the course of a year. And when it comes down to it, the best safety precaution you have is your awareness that you have it. When we avoid intimate contact if we feel tingles or any other prodrome symptom and avoid sex during outbreaks, then that helps a lot toward protecting our partners. 

    And what strain of HSV do you have? 

    I meant will I have an outbreak every time I have sex?

    HSV 2

     

     

  5. 5 hours ago, mr_hopp said:

    It's all about what you're rubbin' and where you're rubbin' it. 🙂 With women, there is more of a risk of transmission than men (10% for women vs. 4% for men — check the handouts for more details on those %s) because of more mucous membrane. So if you rub the area where you've had herpes outbreaks against your partner's mucous membrane, there's a 10% chance if you don't have any sort of protective layer between you two or take meds. (If you have a protective layer, chance of transmission drops to 5%, add in meds and it drops again to 2.5%). It can get complicated because there are different transmission rates based on which strain of herpes is where on the body and where that body part is being rubbed on the other person (I know, I'm making this sound totally sexy). 😛 What kind of HSV do you have? HSV-1 or HSV-2?

    Ok this makes sense. I have only ever had 2 outbreaks before and just want to know if this is going to happen every time you have sex or is it when you just have certain contact? I know to look after myself in terms of diet, hydration and sleep but what are the other signs that an outbreak is going to happen?

  6. 2 hours ago, annalove said:

    I just had my first in person disclosure to someone I was dating so I totally know what you’re going through. Although we had been dating a couple months I wasn’t super invested in him and was still deciding if I really liked him and saw a potential future with him romantically.  So to be honest although it was scary, it wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. 

    I knew I wanted to disclose in person. All my other disclosures have been via text and to casual partners. Because I had been dating this person, in person felt right to me. First off, I practiced. I went through how I would bring it up and start the conversation. Tried different versions and was thoughtful about how it would make me feel if I was the one being disclosed to. I made a serious attempt to not apologize or dramatize. I stated the facts. It went something like this.

    Side note: I had told him previously there was something I wanted to discuss with him but preferred to do it in person. We had multiple conversations about how we were feeling about one another throughout the time we were dating, so it was related to one of those convos. 

    Him: “so what is this thing you wanted to talk about?” 

    Me: “I’m not really sure if this conversation is necessary because I think we are both still figuring out how we feel about one another, but I’ve enjoyed spending time with you and regardless of what happens, it’s important for me to be honest. Awhile back i was seeing someone and after things ended, I found out he had exposed me to herpes. For me it hasn’t been an issue physically, as I don’t have symptoms. But I have made the choice to always disclose to my partners so in that way, I do have to deal with it. I know you appreciate honesty and I felt this information needed to be on the table for both of us to figure out what we want to do moving forward” 

    He then asked me some questions and I asked him some. Turns out he had been disclosed to before, which was refreshing. But I do think he was not fully expecting that type of conversation, even though he knew I wanted to discuss something with him. We continued to talk and hung out again, but aren’t seeing each other any longer. Before I disclosed to him I asked him how he was feeling about us seeing one another and he said he didn’t know if he would be staying in our city because he may be moving for school. And that he likes me but just can’t say he’s in a place to make a commitment, although he would be open to that changing. I ended up ending things between us because I’m in a place where I want to make someone a priority, and I want someone to make me a priority. He wasn’t in that same place. 

    Although I’m sure he wasnt stoked about the herpes situation, he didn’t ghost me and continued to want to see me. We were never physical but he did tell me when we were ending things he had those sexual and romantic feelings for me. I knew he had been holding back as he didn’t want to emotionally confuse me, as that happens when sex is involved. 

    Overall, my biggest suggestion is to 1) practice practice practice 2) find a quiet private moment to disclose and 3) thoughtfully consider when is the right time. Disclosing too soon doesn’t give them enough time to value your personality and see qualities they like in you. The fact is as long as you do it before oral or intercourse, you in my opinion haven’t put them at any risk. 

    Best of luck! 

    Thank you Anna for your post it means a lot to be able to discuss this with people who are going through the same thing.

    i feel like I need to be better prepared for the potential questions that she may ask but otherwise waiting for the right time to bring it up.

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