Herpes Confusion

[Brian Boru]

Hi everyone,

Never done anything like this, what a mess. I'm diagnosed with herpes and I don't know what to do. I want to talk but find myself avoiding it. I have medicine but don't really get much in the way of outbreaks. What do you guys do, if you have herpes? How do you talk to someone about it?

Thanks if you can help.

[ewhite]

Being diagnosed with herpes can be scary and confusing, but it doesn't have to be. In fact, you're probably not the only one who feels this way--about one in five persons in the US has genital herpes.

It's important to educate yourself on herpes, not only for your knowledge, but for your partner's knowledge as well. Knowing the facts makes it easier to talk about and can help reduce the stigma against herpes. Be sure to be open and honest and talk about this prior to engaging in any sexual activity. A lot of people worry about their partner leaving them because of herpes, but most people react well and understand. Just remember to put herpes into perspective: it's an annoying, recurrant skin condition that is treatable and managable--no more, no less.

Also, even though you don't get frequent outbreaks, it's important that you take your antriviral medicine as directed. This can help keep out breaks at bay and it can reduce your risk of passing herpes to a partner by 50%. When using condoms in addition to suppressive medication, this reduces your risk even further.

So bottom line, if you have herpes, just live your life normally. Herpes is nothing more than an inconvenience. Just educate yourself, and although it's difficult at first, once you start talking about it and get everything on the table, it will be easier to accept and deal with it. Like many other aspects of life, it takes time.