notaquitter

John, A little late on the thread, but just wanted to comment: It is related. Do a simple google search with HSV 2+(Neuralgia/post-herpetic neuralgia/neuropathy) and you would find lots of people affected by the same non-stop burning, pinning, electric shocks, inner gauging that you are feeling. Me myself have had the pain experiences for three years. Everyone feel the same as you, dismissed by the outdated medical community on HSV. I have seen 5 doctors and all of them stick to the typical, 30 yr old condition literature. The outbreaks and the stigma are just below the anguish and anxiety that the constant nerve pain puts on you, as you cannot concentrate, work, or stop wondering what is wrong with your body. Please continue with your research cause you are not alone. 25% of people have herpes, only 10% know they have it, and only a minimun percentage experience the constant nerve pain. Again, and unfortunatelly against the dismissal of our dear forum members, it is related, it is real, and it is one of yhe worst part of this virus. My heart goes to you, buddy.

Adrial, You've added another layer to the discussion. Back when the thread started, and while I was typing, I began to evaluate why I needed to label aquiring herpes as "I caught it", and why I felt "my giver" as a feminist position. I finished my post, and kept thinking while reading everyone's comments. Raised in Catholic Church, sin and guilt have been present in my life, understanding guilt as the feeling triggered by the unexpected, usually bad consequences of your personal decisions. Under this concept, there were not room for chance, destiny, or fate. While in therapy, my psychologist, about to start yelling at me, affirmed that I had done everything by the book, and tho unexpectedly contracting it, I could have done nothing differently better to have prevented it. It was still hard for me to accept my "failure", failure to have known better, have read more about std's, failure to have inspected her parts with magnifier glass, have asked for blood tests and sexual partners list up to date, or failure to have wrapped my whole body with bubble wrap. And seriously, had I done that, and exited "clean" from the scene, it's hard not to say that in my way back home, while driving sober and my seatbelt fastened, a drunken driver would not had crushed my car, breaking my back...sometimes things just happen, and we cannot control everything... In addition, I believe that my opinion about "my giver" is equally influenced by my experience and my culture, as "I caught it" was by religion. In latino culture, at least in my segment, women are raised with the princess treatment, and their complaints are always heard. Men need to give women their place, as they are "weaker", they are beautiful, and they are to be heard. On the opposite side, men are supposed to be rough, brave, and not cry or complaint. In that line, a woman is allowed to protest, point finger, or deposit her responsibility before his father or the man around (being the father/man any figure you want to plug: the father, the friends, an internet forum, a human resources office, the judge raised desk, the radio mic, etc) that she "was given", while the man needs to keep to himself the responsibility of his acts, or to "have caught".

I caught HSV-2 18 months ago and counting. My herpes-giver didn't inform me, that's how I caught it. Always felt it was my personal responsibility to have caught herpes, although we used protection, but as all of us may know, it barely works. Do you guys think you "caught herpes" or you were "given herpes"? I've read several times how wording makes a difference (attack vs. episode, disease vs. infection or condition, I have herpes vs. sometimes I got herpes episodes, Democrat vs. Republican, lol), and, w/o trying to make this a sexist thread, most of the times women refer to it as "my giver", and men refer to as "when I caught it". Of course this is not a general rule, as the way everyone caught it/was given it varies depending on the situation (rape, cheating, innocent brothel visit, long-lasting betraying marriage, healthy and rich sex life full of partners,....) IMO, once you have it, you caught it. It sounds a lil' bit braver, more accepting, and in line with your own personal decisions. What do you think? I am a man, BTW.

Wow, how old is your friend? Rethorical, cause it seems that he has not lived enough...so do not take other people's ignorance and inexperience as a fact...at the same time, don't judge them, cause you are in a more deeper and thourough level of awareness and understanding of life; however, try to surround yourself with people that have gone through more meaningful experiences in life as they can learn from you as much as you can learn from them...in regards to your question, I definitely got fed up with educating the ignorant...I just don't have the time to do so. Good luck!!

Hi, I am from South Florida too. I hope you are doing well. As cliche as it sounds, it will get better with time. Keep strong, don't think too much about it, because it is what it is. Take care :)

That's a good one: had you had the choice to pick a place where the uninvited guest would appear, where would it be? I've read of people that has it behind the knee, that sounds like an acceptable place for me :D

Hi Scorn, I've never used scar creams, only Zovirax to treat the condition. I have my episodes on the pubic area, and it never leaves scars, the skin seems to heal good. How does it feel to have an episode in the butt? Is it painful? Does it always leave scars? I've had boils in my butt before, and those are really painful, and always leave scar, but I'm just curious how H behaves in the rear. Hope you get better soon.