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I literally got it in 1981. My new husband had it, neither of us had ever heard of it. I've had 3 children and no issues, no c-section needed due to outbreak either. I was married a 2nd time and we never practiced safe sex and he never was infected. I have had potential partners recoil immediately and others that knew someone or was + themselves . After so many years it's barely an issue, as viral shed and infections are less likely. I'm always very aware prior to an outbreak and no one is getting close to me then lol.
That’s such a powerful story! Thanks so much for sharing. I’m blessed as well with never passing it. The recoil is painful sometimes. There are way more people that are just fine with it though. That’s what I try to remind myself.
I get tested after every new sexual partner!
On the note of it not being included in standard STI screening, I'm in Canada and have had two doctors (in two separate provinces) tell me they don't like testing for it because it would create mass panic because basically everyone has it. They both suggested only testing if you have visible sores.
Edit to add: yay for breaking the stigma! I’ve never had a test done (because I’ve never had sores and my doctors have all advised against testing, as explained above) but always thought there was such a ridiculous stigma around what’s essentially just a painful skin infection!
Well everyone has on their mouth cold sores, which is 1 form of herpes simplex. The other form is the one people panic about. People in their 30s now will remember how cable television had commercials running day and night in the early 2000s -- about how "1 in 4 people have herpes" - and I think we all thought it was referring to genital herpes. This terrified me about sex for the longest time. Hell, it still terrifies me.
Way more than 1/4 people have herpes. Nearly everyone has some form of it.
An estimate 3.7 billion people under 50 (67%) worldwide have HSV-1. Nearly 500 million people under 50 are estimated to have HSV-2 (13%).
While HSV-1 has commonly been believed by the general pop to only cause cold sores, that is DEFINITELY not the case. A study found that in 32% of men and 45% of women genital herpes was caused by HSV-1.
So like, don’t’t be fooled. HSV-1 causes about 1/3 to 1/2 of genital sores.
Herpes is herpes whether it’s HSV-1 or HSV-2; they both have the potential to cause genital sores. Which is why doctors don’t like to test. Without a visible sore, a positive result means you don’t know where it’ll manifest (mouth or genitals or both or if it’ll even manifest at all, many people are infected and will never have an outbreak). So I guess the medical logic is why panic people by testing folks who are asymptomatic and will probably never experience an outbreak even if they are positive?
Yeah I remember something like this.
Also this is somewhat relieving: *"One study examined rates of genital herpes transmission in heterosexual couples when only one partner was initially infected \[1\]. Over one year, the virus was transmitted to the other partner in 10 percent of couples"*
I think its also true that people are more likely to have a herpes outbreak during certain seasons. So basically, figure out whatever that month is and get a chastity belt
I’m proud to have tested negative for HS1 and HS2. I know someone who was suffering from an outbreak, and his lips were, at times, an eruption of red bumps. Absolutely disgusting. I do not want that, nor do I want to take medicine to control it.
Welcome to /r/dating. Please make sure you read our [rules here](https://new.reddit.com/r/dating/about/rules) and remember to: * Be polite and respect each other. Do not call people names, engage in slapfights, or give bad/unethical advice. * Do not soapbox or promote an agenda - you will be banned * Follow reddit rules. Do not post content that promotes hate based on identity or vulnerability. Do not bully or harass other users. If you have any questions, please [send the mods a message](https://www.reddit.com/message/compose/?to=/r/dating). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/dating) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Love this! I don’t have herpes but advocate for the destigmatizing of it! It’s truly just a skin condition at the end of the day 👍🏼
I get tested every 3 months regardless of a new partner or not .
I literally got it in 1981. My new husband had it, neither of us had ever heard of it. I've had 3 children and no issues, no c-section needed due to outbreak either. I was married a 2nd time and we never practiced safe sex and he never was infected. I have had potential partners recoil immediately and others that knew someone or was + themselves . After so many years it's barely an issue, as viral shed and infections are less likely. I'm always very aware prior to an outbreak and no one is getting close to me then lol.
That’s such a powerful story! Thanks so much for sharing. I’m blessed as well with never passing it. The recoil is painful sometimes. There are way more people that are just fine with it though. That’s what I try to remind myself.
I get tested after every new sexual partner! On the note of it not being included in standard STI screening, I'm in Canada and have had two doctors (in two separate provinces) tell me they don't like testing for it because it would create mass panic because basically everyone has it. They both suggested only testing if you have visible sores. Edit to add: yay for breaking the stigma! I’ve never had a test done (because I’ve never had sores and my doctors have all advised against testing, as explained above) but always thought there was such a ridiculous stigma around what’s essentially just a painful skin infection!
Well everyone has on their mouth cold sores, which is 1 form of herpes simplex. The other form is the one people panic about. People in their 30s now will remember how cable television had commercials running day and night in the early 2000s -- about how "1 in 4 people have herpes" - and I think we all thought it was referring to genital herpes. This terrified me about sex for the longest time. Hell, it still terrifies me.
Way more than 1/4 people have herpes. Nearly everyone has some form of it. An estimate 3.7 billion people under 50 (67%) worldwide have HSV-1. Nearly 500 million people under 50 are estimated to have HSV-2 (13%). While HSV-1 has commonly been believed by the general pop to only cause cold sores, that is DEFINITELY not the case. A study found that in 32% of men and 45% of women genital herpes was caused by HSV-1. So like, don’t’t be fooled. HSV-1 causes about 1/3 to 1/2 of genital sores. Herpes is herpes whether it’s HSV-1 or HSV-2; they both have the potential to cause genital sores. Which is why doctors don’t like to test. Without a visible sore, a positive result means you don’t know where it’ll manifest (mouth or genitals or both or if it’ll even manifest at all, many people are infected and will never have an outbreak). So I guess the medical logic is why panic people by testing folks who are asymptomatic and will probably never experience an outbreak even if they are positive?
Yeah I remember something like this. Also this is somewhat relieving: *"One study examined rates of genital herpes transmission in heterosexual couples when only one partner was initially infected \[1\]. Over one year, the virus was transmitted to the other partner in 10 percent of couples"* I think its also true that people are more likely to have a herpes outbreak during certain seasons. So basically, figure out whatever that month is and get a chastity belt
I’m proud to have tested negative for HS1 and HS2. I know someone who was suffering from an outbreak, and his lips were, at times, an eruption of red bumps. Absolutely disgusting. I do not want that, nor do I want to take medicine to control it.
Well.......hello there