marley

I’m so sorry you’re going through this. I was just a few months into a new relationship with the greatest guy when I found out, he was negative and I informed my ex of 3 years to find out he was positive. My new guy took it really well, most of his concern was for me which was very helpful. We were super careful to being with but we’ve been together for over a year and a half now and have been much less diligent. I took Valtrex during the primary ob and as supressive therapy for about 4 months and after no sign of any recurring ob’s I discontinued that. We never used condoms in the beginning while I was on the supressive therapy and after too. Just here and there if I was worried about a potential ob. I would recommend taking an antiviral, this will significantly decrease your chances of transmission as well as recurrences. For me this is super important to my peace of mind In a relationship where my partner is negative. Until you both feel comfortable condoms and supressive therapy is the safest route. Things get easier especially when you communicate openly about it. Before we were intimate again after I was diagnosed I spent a lot of time just sharing with him how I felt about myself. I finally was able to take all of the weight off my own shoulders and now we treat it more like it’s a ‘we’ thing.

I was diagnosed last year and have been going regularly (1-3 times a week) since then with no ob’s until about 3 weeks ago however I’m 90% sure that was because I was under heaps of stress. I have a friend who has hsv 1 orally and I once asked her experience with tanning and she sees little to no correlation between the two. Also if it’s already a part of your routine and relaxes you that might be something you’ll want to continue! Stress is a huge factor in bringing on an ob. Hope this helps! 🙂