ihaveittoo

I remember Robin Williams being sued back in the 80's. As I recall it was settled out of court and the story faded away. I also read an article about performers in the world of porn. There are those that will admit herpes is pretty much a given. You make it a career you will get herpes. For the most part its no big deal.If you have an outbreak stay home until it clears up.

As Robin Williams once said, God gave men a brain and a penis, but just enough blood to use one at a time...

Nail hit squarely on the head.

I'd take it one more time at 16 weeks. If my math is right that's the 4 month mark. If its still negative then chances are real good that your clear.

Everyone is different when it comes to herpes. Acyclovir worked like a champ for me. The one time I was prescribed famvir I was not impressed. My outbreak seemed to have cleared up in the same amount of time as when I didn't take anything. Acyclovir always stopped it in its tracks. I never had any side effects other than an upset stomach, and that was only once. Could easily been something I ate. Never tried Valtrex so I can't speak to that. I've not used antivirals in over 17years now. Talk it over with your doctor perhaps you can switch up to another antiviral, can't hurt to try.

Hello @blondie43, I too was diagnosed while in the military nearly 28 years ago. One other person on this forum that I know of was also diagnosed in the military around that same time. The one thing we discovered we had in common was that they did not do blood tests for herpes. They relied on a swab and visual diagnoses. In my case three different swabs came back negative. False negatives. I'm curious, do they do a blood test for it now? You have come to the right place for knowledge and support. @WCSDancer2010 also has a blog called Support Truth and Dialog that is well worth your time to read. Unfortunately the environment you currently live and work in is not the most conducive for herpes support, at least it was not while I was in it. I hope this site and every one here can give you all the support you need. Semper Fi

I used to attend a support group years ago. You will need to find somewhere to hold meetings. Ours where held at a hospital. They usually have conferance rooms that are not in use during evening hours. The group I attended also had a medical advisor. He was an ob/gyn and would come to a meeting once or twice a year. Hopefully a doctor in your area would be willing to donate some time. Look up The Herpes Resource Center. They should be able to provide you information on how to form a group. Good luck.

Eliminating as much stress from your life as you possibly can does wonders. I was a letter carrier for 16 years. I worked on the hottest day of the year and the coldest day of the year. Worked countless hours of overtime. Physically the job took its toll. Halfway thru those 16 years a new postmaster came to town. Thats when the mental stress began. He used what I call the "shit floats" criteria in choosing and promoting supervisors and managers. If you were a piece of shit craft employee under him you floated up into management. If you couldn't actually do your job, hey, supervise everybody else, yeah thats the ticket. Six years ago I finally had enough and got myself transfered out to an inside job. Now I only have to walk thru the parking lot. One of the amazing byproducts of this is that I hardly ever have any outbreaks anymore. I also began eating better. I used to guzzle coca cola like it was going out of style. Now my preferred drink is water with a touch of lemon juice. I have found that a good diet and keeping stress to as bare a minimum as possible goes a long way to keeping herpes way in the background.

Way back in the early days, been at this nearly 28 years now, I had a small red spot on my penis about an inch or so below the head. Had a number of outbreaks there. It was never painfull outside the outbreaks, but was always noticeable. Over time it faded away. There is no scar. It may take some time but things will settle down.

My wife and I are both positive and we continued having unprotected sex all through both pregnancys. The baby is safe from the virus while in the womb. Herpes is spread by skin on skin contact. Our oldest was born naturally with no complications. The youngest was born by c section because she was folded in half and her head and feet would have been trying to come out at the same time. Your doctor can put you on anti virals the last month or so before delivery to help prevent an outbreak.

I had the blood test done back in October. The blood was drawn on a Wednesday morning and I got a call from the nurse 48 hours later with the results.

Hello, My wife and I both have genital herpes. Never made a difference where my outbreaks were at. We never have sex when one of us has an outbreak. Herpes and friction don't make very good bedfellows.

The Portland group may be worth checking out. These groups usually have a set date and time they meet every month. At the group I attended it was not unusual for someone to make a 2 or 3 hour drive. You may have to plan a month or two in advance, but it would be worth it. Also, if this group works like the one I went to, the phone number is to an answeing machine. You will get a recording telling you about the group, meeting time and location etc. You can leave contact information if you want more info or if you want to talk with someone. One night a week someone from the group will call back. You'll have someone to talk to who understands. They may even know of more resources available to you in your area. Wouldn't hurt to at least make contact with them.

Thank you for everything you do here. You make it look effortless although I know you put lots of time and effort into it.

@inka, The group I attended met in a small conferance room at a hospital. We sat at tables that were set up in a big circle. You had to at least introduce yourself. After that you could say as much or as little as you wanted to. Its very informal and I suppose you don't have to use your real name if you don't want to. The group did maintain a phone line and a P.O. box, thus the request for a donation at the end of each meeting. Going in that first time is scary. But after the first few minutes you realize your amongst friends and it becomes a rather enjoyable experiance. Attendance wise there would usually be anywear from 5-12 people, sometimes more.

Check to see if there is a support group near you. Cheaper than a therapist and just as, if not more effective. Attending meetings was a huge help for me. Unfortunately the group I went to no longer exists. At the end of each meeting they passed around a large manilla envelope with "The Hat" written on it. 5 or 10 bucks for that is alot cheaper than a therapist, and every one there understands what your feeling. There is a list of herpes support groups in the informational blog under the heading of herpes resources.

I like Netflix too. Its how I was able to watch all 8 seasons of Trailer Park Boys. If you haven't watched it you should. They are going to be in town with their stage show next week. I'm going to try and go even if I have to go alone. Hopefully Bubbles brings his guitar along.

Like I said earlier, we had no idea who Metallica was when they opened for Ozzy. We were not impressed. Later that year after Cliff Burton died I got to borrow a cassette of Master of Puppets. The song Disposable Heros won me over. What a tune. To this day it is still my favorite Metallica song, its just relentless. We saw them again in 1992 with Guns n Roses. They were a 1000x better live band by that point. James was still bandaged up from the little mishap in Montreal, but he played guitar on Enter Sandman to close the show. Wow. You are absolutely right about Master of Puppets. It and Ride the Lightning are essential for any Metal album collection.

Cheap Trick opened for REO in 85. Metallica opened for Ozzy in 86. That was the first I ever heard of Metallica. Cliff was still with them at that point. Saw Blue Oyster Cult open for Rush in 86. Saw Deep Purple in 85. They were LOUD. Saw Pink Floyd in 88. The Who in 89 and 97. Saw alot of the greats.

Saw REO back in 85. They filmed the show and released it as Wheels are Tourin. The following year Ozzy filmed a concert at the same arena called The Ultimate Sin. Just this past summer I saw Ted Nugent, Motley Crue and Alice Cooper and Yes. Summer before I saw Heart and Rush. Great shows all.

If you like live music you should check out dimeadozen.org and the traders den. You can download alot of great recordings and its all free. I download alot of Yes, Genesis and Rush. Been on a Van Halen kick recently too. Lots of bands to choose from. Saw the new Star Wars trailer this morning. Can't wait for it to finally come out...next December! Arrgh.

Tempest was an old arcade video game I liked to play. Pumped alot of quarters into that one. I bought a bass guitar when I was overseas. After 6 months of lessons what became obvious to myself and the instructor was that I had less than zero musical talent and ability. I could kind of play the first few notes of the theme from the old tv show Barney Miller and the Led Zeppelin song Dazed and Confused. I was good at cranking the amp up to 11 and getting feedback. Unfortunately the nieghbors were less than entertained.

Hello @john, Rode in the same boat your in many years ago. My big breakthrough came when I attended a support group meeting. Look for another thread titled Therapy. WCSDancer2010 posted a link to a list of local support groups around the country. Check to see if one is near you. I was scared shitless walking into that first meeting, I quickly realized I wad amongst friends. I hope you can give this a shot. Good luck.

I'm obviously an old fart compared to most folks here. Never heard of most of the musical acts discussed here. Guess I'm set in my old fashioned ways. I can remember when Pong was new. Talk about the most basic video game you can play. It would put most of todays youngsters to sleep. Pac-Man..Donkey Kong? Guess those are stone age games too. Where do the years go?

Hello @Tayler, I too was diagnosed at age 20, I'm now 47 pushing 48 real hard. This site is the best place you can come for support and education. What you are feeling now is normal. In time it will pass. Read all you can in this forum. You will find many common threads in everyones experiences. Learn all you can about the virus. In time you will learn how it effects you personally, in a physical sense. The Valtrex should help shorten the duration of an outbreak. I used Acyclovir back in the day and I found it to be very effective. Everything will be ok. At 20 your life is just beginning and herpes is not going change that unless you allow it too. I eventually married and we have two daughters, herpes didn't prevent that. Anyways welcome and have a Happy Thanksgiving.