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@fmals I feel like I’m kind of at the mercy of this doctor to be honest. But thanks for your input!

Hi all, Looking for some feedback. Two weeks ago I went to the doctor to get a prescription to start suppressive therapy. This same day I was having a sore throat on one side, and if I looked in my throat I had a small white bump on one tonsil, looked like a pimple. My doctor looked at it and didn’t have a definitive response on whether this was an outbreak, but I’ve had one at the back of my throat before so I decided to do the regular 3 day outbreak treatment before starting suppressive therapy. So now It’s almost been two weeks, my throat hasn’t been sore since the episodic treatment, but I still have some white spots and streaks on mostly the back of my tonsils. The original bump cleared up though. It’s weird though, shouldn’t the rest of my tonsils cleared up by now? My doctor hasn’t been helpful, I dread the thought of going in there and just having her say “hmmmm I dunno what that is.” She’s just not helpful. I’m thinking I’ll go to a sexual health clinic on Monday instead. I guess my question is, is it possible this is the remenants of the outbreak on my tonsils and it’s still clearing up? Should I just keep doing the regular suppressive therapy until Monday or should I try another round of episodic treatment? It’s not that it’s bugging me, I feel fine, it’s just freaking me out because it’s so unusual.

It looked like I had a canker sore at the back of my throat. Although, I’ve had it on my tonsils as well now and that looked a bit different, it was like specs of white on the back of my tonsils mostly. The canker looking sore didn’t hurt at all and I had no sensation with it, it was just there. When I had it on my tonsils recently I had a sore throat and some trouble swallowing food.

Yes, it was a positive swab for the throat. And I also had a swab done for my face and it was positive as well. The outbreak on my face has been the worst one yet, in terms of sensation and appearance. I’m confused how I could have gotten it on my face but the only explanation I can imagine is that I must have auto inoculated myself. I had a facial for the first time a week before the outbreak started there, so maybe the extractions irritated my natural barrier? It’s all very confusing.

Hi all, I’m freaking out a bit here. I have Ghsv2 and recently found out I have it in my throat too. This morning I was doing my makeup and my face was fine. I’ve been at work for 2 hours and just went to the bathroom and noticed a section on the side of my nose has irritation on it. But it’s not typical irritation, it sort of looks like tiny bumps are forming. I’m panicking because I’m going out of town tomorrow. Could this be herpes on my face?? I’ve had this since March and I haven’t had anything like this yet. I have a pit in my stomach right now. It’s doesnt hurt, it doesn’t itch, it just feels a bit irritated. I’m going to take the meds and see if it helps, that will indicate whether that’s what I’m dealing with. I just can’t believe where this is popping up.

Yes, you can be a donor. If HSV ruled ppl out from donating blood for example, almost no one would be able to do it!

Thanks, this is really helpful. I’ve heard this often, that it doesn’t prefer to hangout orally. When you say I’ll develop antibodies, I was diagnosed 8 months ago with hsv2G, and I can already tell that my body has developed antibodies, because it’s becoming more infrequent and more mild with every reoccurrence. Do our bodies continue to build antibodies? For instance, is my body building up a defence against outbreaks in my throat now? Or does this happen in general?

So, just found out I have hsv2 at the back of my throat as well! It’s been a strange few weeks, I’ve been outbreak free for nearly 4 months. 3 weeks ago though I noticed something that looked like a canker sore at the back of my throat. It didn’t hurt at all it was just kind of hanging back there. I went to my doctor and she said she had no idea, just keep an eye on it. I went back a week later because it grew to be about 3-4 mm and I had a bit of white puss around the back of my other tonsil. She still coudnt explain it so she booked me with an ENT. Then 4 days after that I started waking up with jaw pain on one side, it hurt to clench my jaw. So I went Back to the doctor again and this time she decided to do some swabs. I just got the phone call to confirm it was an hsv2 outbreak in my throat. What a weird year this has been?? It was entirely painless which I think is a bit strange. And the jaw pain, I assume it was connected to it because now I feel fine. Does anyone here have any experience with this, I feel like I’ve been diagnosed all over again.

First of all, I’m so sorry this is happening for you. I don’t think there’s a person in this community who would say that being diagnosed wasn’t a traumatic experience. All of us have been there, it’s horrible, there’s so much uncertainty, fear and anger. I’ll share my story because it’s a bit similar to yours. I also acquired GH while on a break with my partner. It was my decision to split up, I wasn’t in a good place and we were fighting over things like finances and whatnot. A few months in a had a fling with someone and shortly after went through all the classic signs and symptoms and then the diagnosis. My partner has been one of my best friends since we met so we still talked when we were spilt up. A few weeks after being diagnosed I told him and he was surprisingly supportive. A little bit of time passed and we got back together and now we’re stronger than ever and we don’t think at all about H. I’m not sure how your boyfriend will react, I hope that he will be understanding even if he needs some time to come around, but it’s important for you to know that your life is far from being over. A friend of mine who also has GH was the person who mentored me and coached me through it, and she said she regrets having spent almost a year feeling sorry for herself because now it has no bearing on her life. I was doubtful at the time but 7 months later, I get it. Take all the time you need to look after yourself, read and educate yourself, and I highly recommend visiting an actual sex clinic where the nurses are well educated with sexual health, it helped me so much. I can understand those those feelings of guilt too, shame, guilt and regrets that you acquired this the week you were split up. I was in the same place too, but Youre a young 18 year old though and you have every right to have sex and enjoy your body and have those experiences! It’s sad that there is so much shame around sex in our culture, but that’s where all of this negativity and dread about H comes from! I think when your initial outbreak ends you will feel a lot better. I know you have the added stress right now of dealing with letting your boyfriend know, but it will get worked out and it will be ok. Most people are not well educated about STDs and don’t know that herpes is just one of those things that can be there and someone doesn’t know they have it. Hell, I’m in my 30s and working on my third degree now and I didn’t know this! So please, try not to be so hard on yourself. We’re human. Also, a lot of people have this, I was shocked after I opened up to some of my friends to learn that lots of women have it! They say it’s something like 1 in 4 women! Anyways, if you need to chat please feel free to message me. I also recommended watching the episode of Adam Ruins Everything about sex (I think it’s season 3 episode 10?) The friend who coached me in the initial month told me to watch it and it took me a while to come around to it and boy was I glad I watched it! Check it out and don’t hesitate to reach out to me or to this community.

This looks very interesting, thank you! I actually started eating more garlic, I mix it in with everything now and I’m wondering if it’s the reason that my outbreaks have stopped. Anyways, I’ll be interested to take a look at this!

Yes, when I originally went to my doctor she also said she’d rather not. Her position was that we don’t know much about the long term effects of the medication on the body and also that she only believes in prescribing suppressive for people who have 6 or more outbreaks a year. This is her opinion and what she said, I know that it’s not necessarily the reality of the situation. It made me feel a bit powerless in my decision making but I decided to trust her on it. I haven’t had any outbreaks in a while and I wonder if it’s becsuse my bodies been able to develop it’s own immune reaponse without the help of anti-viral? I dunno for sure it’s just a theory I have. If you feel strongly about suppressive then it might be worth switching doctors if that’s an option OR telling your doctor you’re getting back to back outbreaks. I spoke to someone at the sexual health clinic abOut this and she said it would have been fine to go on for a year but that she has patients who have been on for 3 or more years (when they don’t really need it anymore) and that she thought it was unnecessary. I dunno, for me I’m happy with the decision because it feels like my bodies got a handle on it now on its own, and I’m with a partner who doesn’t care about it so for my situation it’s worked out for the better. You may have to consider where you’re at and if it’s something you really would like to do I’d definitely come back to that doctor and try again.

I haven’t personally been in the situation yet of having casual sex with herpes, but when I found out I had it, one of my really good friends put me in touch with her friend who has it as well. She told me that at first she thought casual sex was over for her but in her experience no one was ever turned off by it when she disclosed. There was 1 person in the grand scheme of things who refused after that but she has no regrets to this day because he was an asshole anyways so it saved her from going through with that. That’s why people say it can help weed out the undesirables I guess. But really she said it didn’t change her ability to do that, it was an extra step to take beforehand but it wasn’t a deterrent for 99% of the people she went on to sleep with after that. I know everyone’s experience is different with this and there may be people here who would tell you they had a harder time of it, but I would look up some info on how ppl successfully disclosed. I do think it’s important though to be upfront and honest with people even if it’s a one night stand.

Thank you so much for contributing this. It’s interesting that health “professionals” are perpetuating this. I had the same experience with th doctor who diagnosed me. She said it did look like herpes and then she reassured me that my partner probably got cold sores as a kid. I didn’t think much of it until months later, now it feels like it was meant to be a subtle reassurance that I had the better one. It’s very interesting...

@mr_hopp That’s a really great video. Thanks for that, I’ve missed out on a few chances to make a better impact and yesterday was the first time that I took up the chance to myth bust. Slowly I’m getting more comfortable with sharing my own experience and honestly it feels a lot better than not saying anything at all. I don’t regret speaking my truth yesterday but I really regret all the times that I hid from doing so!

@mr_hopp Yes, you’re right. Yesterday was the day i hit a wall with this because I was out with some friends and one of them made a comment that they were worried they have herpes, but the “bad” one. I ended up disclosing to them for the first time and the whole experience set me off. I realize that this community in general doesn’t hold that stance, but it’s hard to deal with the fact that I don’t even feel solidarity with other people who have herpes as well, because of this tendency to separate one from the other. It’s unsettling how many misconceptions there are. Anyways, today I have a new fresh perspective and I think you’re right, it’s better to treat this moments as teachable moments.