Rosy

Hi all, I'm new to this forum and have only ever told prospective partners about having herpes, so this is a big step for me. I've had it for several years and have been able to get on with my life. I really felt that herpes was a minor problem in the scale of things. I feel very positive about myself and life. But a recent experience has rocked me a little. I have approached new relationships optimistically and honestly and felt accepted and loved. I started seeing a guy and we were wonderful together. I hadn't felt so excited and happy about a relationship in a long time. After several great weeks I explained about herpes. He was upset, did research and we took it slow. We kept seeing each other, but after a while he broke down saying he couldn't ever come to terms with it. He was distraught and said me telling him about herpes was the worst thing that had ever happened to him. I wasn't sure what to do, but was calm and said I was giving him a choice and it was fine to leave it. I tried to walk away on good terms. He seemed really disturbed by the experience, but I feel I'd really done all I could to address it properly. He was really angry with the people who give others herpes, but I don't feel angry like that and I have it. I feel really bad about distressing him so much and I feel so sad to have lost something that was potentially really special. But at the same time I can't help feeling that if he reacted really dramatically to this, perhaps the relationship wouldn't have worked anyway. Sometimes I feel really tired when I think about embarking on a relationship. I haven't ever experienced being rejected for herpes, although I have expected it would happen eventually and I've never had anyone seem so uncontrollably distressed about it. I don't have anyone I feel comfortable talking to about this and would love your thoughts about whether there was anything else I should have done and how I should think about it. Thanks so much