seeker

do you have hsv2 on the mouth? the virus only exits the body along the nerves it lives in, you would have to have hsv2 on the mouth to pass it via oral. it isnt just floating around our blood waiting to spring into action or everyone would have it everywhere.

When I was diagnosed I thought it was the end of the world. I shouted at the walls, hit them a few times and cried. Now I cant even remember the month let alone that particular day. Its been 5/6 years since i caught GHSV2 ( i had it a year before diagnosis). the only reason I know its 5/6 years is I have been in this apartment 5 years and I received my diagnosis here. Even better it was in an email late in the evening. So yes it will get better! Hey, at least your not a man in his 50s! ( I am so I can make that joke). trust me, men will still want to be with you, not the immature DBs you wouldn't have wanted anyway but decent guys will.

@TequilaGirl Im an on again off again vitamin taker. mainly the mens health gummy { because we are all children here in america :) }. As to the talk, havent had that yet. have only been involved with ladies in the same boat so to speak.

@Dreamer07 Sorry this happened to you. The reality is that because of its prevalence people just dont feel the need to disclose OHSV1 and yet its responsible for something like 50% of all new GHSV cases. I dated a women who didnt tell me till years later, I didnt catch it but still, she should have told me. @mjbn123 this is basically auto inoculation , while not impossible its improbable as the antibodies should be present in their blood, outside of its hiding place in the ganglia HSV is a wimp. fresh new sore and even a micro abrasion can potentially lead to transmission. @sweetlove884 sorry your partner reacted so strongly.

howdy. Amandos answers were on the money. Theres a video of Doctor Leone discussing some aspect of herpes, including sexual intimacy ones. 1. I have always found this one a bit perplexing, we are told to not share towels ( which is a good GENERAL hygiene practice) but that it cant be transmitted via a toilet seat??? I have read that hsv 1 can live outside the human body a little longer than hsv2 due to its "native habitat" being more exposed. But its still not a whole lot longer, seconds. The idea that you could dry with a towel then give it to someone else would be an absolute statistical anomaly of biblical proportions. You would need a newly opend fresh sore wiped then handed to a person who wipes the exact spot on an open cut as there wouldnt be enough virus on the towel for straight up whole skin transmission and they have to do this in seconds! What are they? a ninja? 2. Same as Amando, dont think it can get statistically below 1% short of abstinence an who wants that? There are some funky looking horribly unsexy rubber undies with a whole in them for, um our , um equipment, to go thru that with a condom are suppose to help ( im thinking the research on this is dubious) and really, would you want your partner wearing a diaper liner?? thats something you cant unsee. 3. i, like Amando am an outy so i cant speak to the specifics of it but I would say, A treat it nicely and clean gently. B the virus and soap arent friends, heck the chloramine in your water is enough to kill the virus and C your talking about auto innoculation which is tough to do once your immune system has the anti bodies built up. 4. The stats Ive never understood, there are places where its explained but 10 seconds of reading stats and i want to poke my eyes with a fork. 5. Gloves would work if your that worried. You probably should find out the type you have so as to help with this one a bit. IE lots of people have OHSV1 so if you have GHSV1 it would be tough for your partner to get it ( not impossible). My personal experience is that there is alot of worry about little things when one is first diagnosed but with time they diminish. If it makes you feel better to use a new towel everytime then do so, it allows some control for you, hell i still spray down and wipe the toilet seat when my son is coming over even though I know he wont catch anything as its a habit i developed when i was diagnosed. And its never a bad thing to have a clean seat 🙂

It does get easier with time. This is only a skin condition it just has the issue of being on the naughty bits so is given a bad rap. Im 5/6 years in and barely even think about it. I was misdiagnosed during initial OB so went a year without knowing but when I finally found out My OBs were bad ( after a year w/o any no less) so the stress of the knowledge was part of the issue, as was a kidney stone wrecking havoc with my plumbing. I found a support group locally, was mainly a social group and went out a few times to group dinners. helps alot seeing people going about life and dating ( several discordant couples in group). Remember, this isnt going to kill you, just cause an itchy bump here and there, you got this!

I am 5/6 years post diagnosis. I was on antivirals for a bit to help deal with that initial " is this random bump an OB" mentality that sometimes manifests after diagnosis. I weaned myself off after about a year. I already have a six head and hair loss is a potential side affect. I also am prone ( lucky me) to kidney stones and had read that the antivirals can contribute by crystallizing in the kidney ( I was on the older version, the newer one is metabolized in the liver so it isnt a potential side affect). I prefer not having to remember to take the damned things and that worry if I forgot. My immune system seems to have a good handle on the virus now. i rarely get bumps only some itchiness that i treat with vitamin AD diaper rash ointment ( i swear by that stuff, rub on itchy spot, itchy spot goes bye-bye real quick, I think its the high level of zinc). It is all up to what you want from the meds and the costs your willing to pay.

Howdy, so, yes this question is based on a selfish interest and not purely scientific nor knowledge based. I have heard that many other countries ( outside the US, UK and Australia) have different takes on our persnickety little friend for life. I was curious if anyone has first hand knowledge? Yes I am interested for purely personal reasons as I may be pulling a Jay Pritchett as I have recently met a woman from Columbia and while not to the point of a date yet there definitely seems to be chemistry. So I am just looking for info, and yea kinda hoping the general thought there is, Herpes? who cares?

Hey WCSDancer2010, I still lurk on occasion. and Thanks Bebe.

Holla mi compadres. Many of you don't know me, I use to be on this site frequently but needed to cutback. I found myself here today and decided it might be good to give an update. Esp for those of you who are new and somewhat freaked at the moment. Well guess what? this little virus will become less than an issue in your life in the near future. I know because I was diagnosed Sept of 2014. Here it is 1 1/4 years later and herpes is really only a blip on my radar. only when an ob occurs is it an "issue" and usually a minor one at that. Now I'm not saying this year plus was wine and roses ( more like beer and chicken wings) but it really wasn't all that different from most years in my 50 on this earth. I have had involvements ( so far only in the H community { not knocking being with an H pos person by any means, H ladies tend to be rather, well RWAR!!!}) The only Ob I had that was really awful was also during one of the worst kidney stone episodes of my life ( I have my baby in a sandwich bag, its 1/4 of an inch. remember I am a guy, we aren't designed to have things come out of us like that, no dilatation on my part). So, take heart, it will get better, you will feel better. I personally have met some really great people in my local support group, we talk, we joke, we drink beer, we act stupid, we flirt. you know normal people stuff because, WE ARE NORMAL PEOPLE!!! and by the way, so are you!

Howdy,I heard my name said three times and like Beetlejuice was compelled to appear. So Central florida support groups. http://www.orlandoh2ogroup.com/ that link should help contact the admins for a SECRET meetup page. make yourself a meetup.com profile, use a gmail account if you need. they will ask that you give a real name and pic on the sites profile ( this is somewhat confusing as there is a profile for meetup in general And ONE FOR EACH GROUP YOU JOIN { and remember you plan on actually meeting these people face to face}) AND YES ITS SECRET! I am in Clearwater. there is a group in the Tampa area and one in Orlando. both are social and emotional support. I am a member of the Orlando one but have never attended any functions as that is 1 1/2 hrs away. the woman who runs it is a really nice person who talked me off the ledge soon after I got my diagnosis. Orlando has a 1x a month support meeting and tons of social events. As to the tampa area, we currently have 2 support meetings, one in Sarasota and one in Pinellas ( so far in oldsmar area and Clearwater) the latter every 3 weeks. the Sarasota is new and im not sure how often they will meet. we also have tons of events, from dancing, live music, beach parties etc. I will say I have been to both and the social events really helped a lot with feeling normal and that life goes on. We have several long time Heeps (30 years plus). There is a secret facebook page for more spontaneous gatherings ( should have seen it during the Stanley cup finals). I have met some very good heeps there and its quite honestly increased my social life quite a bit ( when I let it).

I know I haven't been on much, life has been busy and I haven't had the time nor inclination. I cant do this anymore. I wanted to pay it forward, some of you were there for me when I first found out about having H2 and I am eternally grateful. I felt it was only right to be there for others, esp since it seems to be either newbies or long timers and I am a @ 1 yearer ( is that even a word??) I need to focus on other things than Herpes. I would like to thank Adrial for this site, ive gently pushed a few people this way and WCSDancer for her "moming" us and her blog ( ive also pushed a few people that way.) You guys do good and needed work. I commend you on it and don't know how you deal with all the sad stories on a regular basis. I recently was told by my mother that she ( and she doesn't know my status) has noticed that I have zero passion in my life. Its true, ive been in "one foot in front of the other" mode for 8 months and its killing me, literally. ive put on weight, I drink more than ever before and really could care less about almost anything ( don't get me started on dating and how insane every single woman ive delt with has been). I have met some nice people here, had some interesting conversations and even a laugh or two. I hope everyone goes on to great things. I don't know what the future will bring, don't know if I will check in or return. I don't expect to have any great success story anytime soon as im pretty much over dating, I had my fun. I hope you all find the loves of your life and herpes becomes a second rate bit player in the epic drama which is your story. Take care, Seeker.

shower first tho, don't want to stew in your own , er, filth do ya??? I dig me some Epsom baths, even when not in OB mode as they help sore muscles and any othe skin issue. just don't bring your dang smartphone and FB, get a real book :)

hopefully this doesn't come off wrong but I had an interesting experience not long ago that is somewhat Germaine to this. I met a WWII vet, flew missions as part of a crew over occupied Europe. 16 hr missions in an unheated aircraft, they had to plug in their suits as they were basically wearable heating blankets. while this man spoke casually about what he did in a war that literally decided the next 100 years of human history, the trial and travails that he withstood without complaint nor concern, my cohort sat furrowed browed and complaining......because he couldn't warm up his soup for lunch and it was ruining his day. next time herpes is getting us down we should think about those who had herpes, or worse who still HAD to get up and do something or else they wouldn't eat that day! yes, no food. not, oh im going to order pizza or take out chinese, no freakin food for the day!!!!!! I am 50 years old, something hurts almost all the time, I get up, I go to work every day. 4 weeks ago I was on a ladder 10 feet in the air, 3 feet away from a 9 story drop with a wind blowing toward the drop. it was 30 degrees outside, I went to work, did my job. I don't have the time nor the inclination to let herpes make me bankrupt. fuck herpes and the horse it rode in on.

well other than my original OB, which was horrific I have yet to have taken a day off work due to herpes. I work in construction, in florida no less. im not trying to toot my own horn but ive always been a , one foot in front of the other type of guy. not claiming im tough mind you, just that ive found it does little good emotionally, and less financially to hide under the covers at home. heck at the moment im going thru a sinus infection that has me stuffed like a build a bear and hacking so hard it sometimes triggers my gag reflex ( and boy is that fun) yet im still plodding along.