jem91117

My story began in 2005. I had been married at a young age to my high school sweetheart and divorced by age 22. When I was 24, I started dating again. I was set up on several dates by friends and I slept with a few guys that year. One, we'll call him Tim, was about 10 yrs older than me. We dated casually, neither of us were looking to get serious. We agreed not to see anyone else though, since we were having regular sex. I stayed the night at his house one night and he had gone to work that next morning. He had his computer on, and I couldn't help but see a Yahoo Messenger convo he had with a woman. It was apparent that he had met her just a few days before. I got angry and I confronted him. It turned out that he had slept with a few other women in the two months we had been dating. I ended things with him. A few months later I met my second husband. We met in November and started having sex pretty much immediately. In January 2006, I had something going on with my lady parts. My best friend at the time worked for a gynecologist and she got me in to see him. He looked at it and diagnosed me with a possible soap or detergent allergy. He said it was not an STD. By the next day, I had obvious sores, so I went back to see him. He said, "Well things look different now, and this is clearly genital herpes." I had no job or health insurance at the time. He gave me a prescription for Valtrex, which was $300 to fill. I told my husband (then boyfriend) and he was very sympathetic. He was not angry and he didn't seem concerned that he would get it. I had my first outbreak approx 8 wks after we first had sex. I honestly do not know if I got it from the guy Tim I was seeing or from my husband. My husband had been in a long term relationship for 7 yrs and he had sex with one other woman before me. He offered to pay for my Valtrex, and my best friend told me she thought that was a sign of guilt, and that he may have known he gave it to me. Fortunately for him, after 7 yrs of regular sex, he never had an outbreak. I have been fortunate as well, I had that first horrible outbreak, and I never had another one. I am healthy in general and I take care of myself and take vitamins and try to eat well. I have one more part of my story. My best friend who worked for the gyno was dating a man at the time I was diagnosed with herpes. She began having issues down there and called me one day and said, "I think I have sores. Can you look at them and see if it is what your sores looked like?" She had been my best friend since childhood and was like a sister to me, so of course I looked at her vagina, LOL. What she had looked exactly like my herpes sores. We cried together and she made a doctor appointment. She saw her family doctor and he did not diagnose her with herpes. He told her it was bacterial vaginosis and gave her a prescription for antibiotics that cleared it up. She never had any other issues. I've always thought about that and how her sores looked just like mine. I have often thought, "Was I misdiagnosed?" I got pregnant in 2006, got married and delivered a healthy baby vaginally. I was given Valtrex at the end of my pregnancy. I never had any sores or outbreaks while pregnant. For what it's worth, the gynecologist who diagnosed me was kind of a quack who had been sued a few times for malpractice. He was only in practice in my state for 2 yrs. I have never taken any tests to confirm my diagnosis, perhaps I should.

Obviously I should have never started seeing a married man, but I would have made him keep the condom on or made him stop :(

I contracted herpes in 2005 I believe. I've only had one outbreak and that was in Jan 2006. My partner had never had an outbreak or any symptoms. I am now single and I am seeing a man who is married (please don't judge me). We had sex on two occasions. I insisted he wear a condom, but the last time (a few days ago) he took the condom off at the end (he has had a vasectomy). It was one of those 'in the heat of the moment' stupid decisions. I have decided to no longer see him. I am torn up with guilt and shame, thinking he may have contracted herpes from me and he may pass it on to his wife. I have been doing research, and supposedly if you are not having symptoms, you have a 10% (average) chance of passing it on to someone else. I understand I could have been shedding the virus and not been aware. What do you think the chances are that his wife will get herpes?

My first herpes outbreak was in January of 2006. I had been with my partner since Nov 2005. He had never had an outbreak or had any symptoms. My first outbreak was horrible. I had multiple sores and I was in pain for several days. I was not employed at the time, and I'm grateful for that. It hurt every time I peed and I spent a lot of time in the bathtub. I may have had one or two sores since then, but never a full on outbreak. I gave birth vaginally in 2007 and my child is perfectly fine. I didn't have any issues with herpes during my pregnancy. I stay pretty healthy and take care of myself. I take meds for anxiety and I do not get too stressed out. It may sound strange, but after 6 yrs I forget at times that I have this disease. I am lucky so far, and I hope I can keep the OB's at bay.