If it is so contagious.....

[ouch]

You know....my question is this: if the herps is SO contagious and granted, millions of people have it, but why don't MORE people have it. I mean, I read this stuff here online and it makes me afraid to TOUCH anyone let alone have sex because people here and in articles make herpes out to be so virulent and contagious.....yet, I know people who have had it for years...and they have NOT passed it on to other people/partners (careful on their part) and they don't have it in the eyes (my newest/latest fear/phobia...I am going to end up with ocular herpes!) They touch themselves....nothing happens, it isn't spread. I have had it for a year and have had only two outbreaks...(the initial and I think I might have had a recent one...) And I am really super careful. But I mean, do condoms REALLY help? (I will NEVER stop using them...duh, that is obvious, but it is frustrating to think that I can pass the buck to someone else even if we DO practice safe). I would imagine that if the herps were that contagious, the whole entire world would have it eventually. Too bad ole G.W Bush doesnt' get it...I can ASSURE you that if he did...there would be a cure tomorrow!

oh well...that is my vent....anyone else feel the same way or have some thoughts on this? The bottom line is...I am just making myself horribly afraid and paranoid of everything....I just wnat to live a semi-normal life (I am FAR from normal, so...that is hard to do, but you all know what i mean!)

[verysad]

lol.. ur really bored huh? i was like that yesterday, i responded to almost every post. you sound younger than a 30 yr old, no offense or anything.. i am a college student.

anyways, i thought u said u didnt have herpes, but some blisters on your mouth ever since you were young... but then your other posts said that you might have given your current bf herpes cuz you guys had sex.. *very confused*

oh well. best of luck to you. u should really tell him the truth. maybe the longer you wait, the more angry he'll be. or are u waiting for him to fall madly in love with you, in hope that when u do tell him, he will be unconditional and forgive you...? maybe that will work. lol. OR... u can just not tell him, and say he gave herpes to you... which is not a good idea.

[ouch]

bored indeed....

Oh no....I posted 100 years ago here my story about have GH. I got it from my ex being a jerk wasn't enough...he had to make sure to give me the herps as well. FUN!

Fortunately, I am a fighter in more ways than one. Yes, I am 30, sound younger because I am young at heart. Naive when it comes to this stuff.

I found out last year this time (happy annivesary) that I have the H. I was sad and depressed. But I figured, hey, I am STILL me, I am still an awesome lady, this is just a suck ass annoyance, deal with it. It forced me to want to take better care of myslef and be healthier (still smoke though alas...I MUST quit!) But I have not had any relationships since I found out. Then...because I never have an outbreak DOWN THERE,I went through this whole denial thing...well, hell how can I have it...nothing going on there. ( I DO have cold sores on the mouth...ever since I was a wee one...but the other day some weird shit was happening...perhaps just a weird OB...) Anyhoo, as far as the nether regions go...nothing. So, I meet this guy, we date a while, it gets physical...and I think I might have had an outbreak. again, small and nothing...I am not sure I even did. But it made me realize..."Ouch, you dumb cow, you tested positive for it, and wishful thinking is not going to change that or make it go away!" I knew then I had to talk to him. Even if it WASN'T an OB...doesn't matter, he has a right to know. And if he leaves me because of this, then that is what I deserve. I should have been honest. I hope for the best because he is a sweet man. But I can't let this go on any longer.

I like the "make him fall in love with me comment" I guess it would seem that way eh? But no, that was not the case at all. Again, realize that this is alll new to me and other than my best friend and my sister, I have never told a soul. So this is a big step for me...my 1st time "telling someone". And i care enough about him that i have to do it. And I am riddled with guilt I didn't beforehand and can only hope that the condoms we used were protection enough for him. He has every right to be pissed at me. So...please dont' think harsly of me, and wish me luck. I am telling him next week on his days off. (sigh)

[Palomita]

Did you take a type-specific test? Did you test positive for type 1 or 2, if so? If you tested positive for 1, the chances are pretty good that you have it orally. You may also have it down there but I understand that's exceedingly rare. If you have type 2, it's very likely genital.

Regarding why more people don't have "IT", by "IT" most people mean genital herpes, and type 2 has typically been the kind that people get down there. This has changed recently, with about 1/3 of new herpes cases being type-1. A shift to "safer" (oral) sex practices due to the fear of AIDS? That's my guess.

I read something regarding your question specifically. It stated that so many (towards 90% of the pop. once someone's 50 years old) have HSV-1, and most are first exposed to it before they have a chance to meet HSV-2. Most are first exposed in childhood (though that's changing now too because of increased awareness of oral herpes - not so much baby kissing), that the antibodies that the average person already has in their bloodstream for type 1 do ward off type 2 to some extent. The two viruses are so similar that this is not surprising. But because the antibody for 1 isn't 100% effective in fighting type 2, some people who are exposed do end up contracting it. Thus the lower (20-25%) rate of HSV-2, even though it is inherently highly contagious.

Interesting critters, these viruses.

Palomita

[ouch]

yeah, I have had cold sores (hsv 1) since I was a kid. Pain in the neck, but you just deal with it. No big deal.

I have not been tested yet for HSV2 I know I DO have gen herps and I assume that is what it is...mayhaps it is hsv1 and was transferred orally but I ahve never been with anyone with a cold sore on their mouth....Who knows....this IS a tricky critter.

oh, now I have a question...I have read stuff posted and get mixed info. Let us say I go to get a blood test done to see what type of hsv I have? Can they do that? Can they differentiate between the two (and the fact that I had chicken pox as a kid!) There is so much DIFFERENT info floating aroudn, I don't know what to believe other than putting myself in a bubble for life. IT is nuts. (I have ALWAYS been a germ phobe/freak, needless to say, THIS problem I have and reading all the info here is doing nothing to alleviate my fears.) What is your take on the blood tests.

[Palomita]

Type specific tests

There are tests that will distinguish between type 1 and type 2 in the blood. They will tell you if you have one, the other, or both. I would be very interested in knowing your results - if you only test positive for type 1, that would mean at least one case where someone was infected both places with the same type at presumably different times. It is my understanding that this doesn't usually occur because by the time the second location is exposed, ample antibodies have built up in the blood.

Blood tests have a reputation of being inaccurate, but from what I gather (and I would like to know if I am wrong) this is because the old non type-specific would say "yes, you have herpes" and this was of very little help because most of the population will test positive for HSV-1. So people were left wondering, great. So I may or may not have GH. Now they can say, well, you have 1, that could be oral, but you also have 2, so likely you have genital as well. But more and more, a type 1 test could mean genital, since having type 1 down there is on the rise. So the best way to tell is a swab of an active lesion, and I read in another post of yours that this is how you found out you have GH. Cool, me too. Otherwise I'd wonder if I maybe missed having a cold sore, since I tested postive for only HSV-1 through my blood, along with most of the population. If I hadn't gotten the swab done I might have marginalized my symptoms in retrospect, deciding that it must have just been a bad yeast infection. I could have become one of the many who transmit genital herpes unwittingly.

Having had chickenpox I think would only show antibodies to Herpes Zoster, a totally different thing (but the exact same thing as shingles). I don't think it would confuse HSV readings in a modern blood test.

I know what you mean by confusing. There is a lot of misinformation floating around. This is not entirely the fault of those passing it, I have read conflicting "official" information on Herpes. For example, one official loooking UK info website on Herpes says that it is not possible for a person infected with Herpes to infect someone who already has the same kind of Herpes in a new location. My eyes bugged out when I read this because I had JUST read the opposite in a domestic Herpes info website. What I have concluded myself is that these viruses act very differently in different hosts, depending on whether they're in their site of preference (above the waist for type 1, below for type 2), perhaps influenced by whatever other antibodies the host has, and a myriad of other factors. All of this, I think makes it very difficult to make firm statements about the way these viruses behave. I would hope that scientists are isolating variables and trying to decide what rules this virus does follow, so that we can be better informed and make better decisions regarding risk.

Palomita

[ouch]

you know P, sometime I think they (doctors,scientist) know more about Space then they do about herpes!

Which is really too bad. I would be willing to be a cure/vaccine is out there, but the pharmaceutical companies make too much money on antiviral/suppression pills...so THEY certainly do not want a cure for a virus that affects over 30 million customers!

Yeah, I did find out via the ole swab....like I said before, I lived in denial and felt the test HAD to be wrong because well gee, I never had an OB. But the more I learn, the more I realize, hey, that ole swab test is pretty accurate....so......deal with it OUCH! But i do not know if it is hsv1 or 2. I have had oral herpes since childhood. So who knows.....It would be interesting to find out.....ifI do I for sure will keep ya posted.

[sleepy]

Too bad ole G.W Bush doesnt' get it...I can ASSURE you that if he did...there would be a cure tomorrow!

Clinton has it. Its mentioned somewhere in the Starr Report that he used to cancel dates with Monica when he had flare ups.

maybe herpes would make GW less incompetent.

[ouch]

Wha wha WHAT?

Are you serious?!?!?! So he has it, like, Gen. Herps or just oral? Both suck, but I mean, for a president to have it, and for it to be public knowledge wow! Poor monica....she really did/does get the short end of the stick...no pun intended. I mean, it is not suprising...he is/was such a manwhore...and has such a good ole boy, lackadaisical attitude about sex.

God, if Bush got it, that would be hysterical...just because he is such a jesus freak (nothing wrong with Jesus, I just don't think the prez needs to be shoving HIS beliefs down our throat) and nobody ever talks about how he has 2 dui's and how he was a coke head...none of that....I wouldn't be SUPRIZED at all were he to turn up with all sorts of cucamunga. hahaha.

[sleepy]

theres pics of him online with oral herpes flareups...they're pretty severe.

From what I understand, hes got both. I cant imagine he gives a damn really...obviously it didnt stop him from getting his did it