cure for herpes, when??????

[AgainstHerpes]

when will humanity find a cure for this disease?

[JBnATL]

Herpes is just a very common, mostly harmless virus so there is no medical necessity to finding a cure for it. There are other afflictions that need the attention of researchers over this virus.

However, they have been making great advances in researching different viruses and came out with a cure for Hep C last year. So it is only a matter of time before they cure this one as well.

Don't let that stop you from living a normal life. I have had it a very long time and it has never stopped me from doing anything or anyone I wanted.

Good luck!

JB

[AgainstHerpes]

yes, of course I will live my life no matter what, but I know I would be much more happier and competent on my habilities if i hadnt had this chronic disease, so for me this is really important.

I hope some laboratory research will give his full atention to finding a cure for herpes and really find it!

[StayingUpbeat]

Herpes is just a very common, mostly harmless virus so there is no medical necessity to finding a cure for it. There are other afflictions that need the attention of researchers over this virus.

However, they have been making great advances in researching different viruses and came out with a cure for Hep C last year. So it is only a matter of time before they cure this one as well.

Don't let that stop you from living a normal life. I have had it a very long time and it has never stopped me from doing anything or anyone I wanted.

Good luck!

JB

JB, with all due respect I believe I read somewhere that you have GHSV-1. If it's a typical case it doesn't recur frequently (i.e. less than once per year) and the recurrences (after the first one) are generally forgetable. Whatever the case may be it sounds like your outbreaks are pretty mild. I think that should be kept in context when telling people about how easy it is to live a normal life. For those of us that have gotten past the stigma but simply have a bad case of herpes it can come across as: "look how great it is that my herpes is so mild that I can ignore it and live a happy fulfilled life"

For a lot of us having herpes is (long after getting past the stigma) a decently debilitating thing. I have more than monthly recurrences despite taking a high daily dose of antivirals. They consist of groin pain between a 5 and 7 out of 10 for about 12 hours before the actual sores along with something called Erythema multiforme (a painful rash on my hands) appears. When a recurrence starts I typically have to work from home (or leave early) because the only relief I have found is to sit with an ice pack on my groin after loading up on advil for the first few hours. Although unpleaseant I have a numbing cream my dermatologist gave me that I can apply periodically to the actual sores in the bathroom to get through (and back to the office) for the next few days.

I say a prayer every morning that I'll escape a recurrence today and I go to great lengths to avoid the things that bring them on. Many of which, including long runs, backpacking, road biking and red wine were some of my favorite things.

With that being said I got married this year and I'm currently typing this message from a cafe in Madrid on a trip that work paid for. I incedentally had to skip out on dinner with my co-workers and get room service with an ice pack on Monday because traveling and new foods tend to kick off an outbreak.

I agree that there are terrible conditions that deserve more attention than herpes from the medical research community and that the stigma can often be worse than the disease but I think there needs to be a bit more respect paid to the fact that for some people doing your best to live life to it's fullest while managing symptoms is the closest we're going to get to "normal".

To claim that it's always possible to simply life life like you did before herpes (by ignoring it) sets an unrealistic, ultimately depressing, standard for those of us in which ignoring herpes is simply not an option. I think a better, less hurtful, and more productive message would be:

Accepting your condition, learning how to manage your symptoms, and living life to the fullest in spite of it is the best course of action. It would avoid the impression that I (and I'm guessing others) get from some of your posts that there is something wrong with anyone who can't simply ignore herpes and get on with their life.

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[JBnATL]

To claim that it's always possible to simply life life like you did before herpes (by ignoring it) sets an unrealistic, ultimately depressing, standard for those of us in which ignoring herpes is simply not an option. I think a better, less hurtful, and more productive message would be:

Accepting your condition, learning how to manage your symptoms, and living life to the fullest in spite of it is the best course of action. It would avoid the impression that I (and I'm guessing others) get from some of your posts that there is something wrong with anyone who can't simply ignore herpes and get on with their life.

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I am sorry to hear that you suffer frequent outbreaks from this virus, but I never said it's "always" possible to simply live life like you did before herpes. I said it was a very common, mostly harmless virus which it is. Hundreds of millions of people have herpes and most do live normal lives.

I understand that it isn't always easy for everyone and that is why I volunteer my time here to help them. I have been coming to this website almost daily for 6 years now and have chatted with thousands of Herpsters over the years and many of them have told me that getting genital herpes changed their lives for the better. It is very rewarding to see people come to chat thinking their lives are over and within a day or so are back helping others cope.

Best of wishes on your new marriage and I hope eventually your immune system can eventually contain this virus.

JB

[AgainstHerpes]

I have been coming to this website almost daily for 6 years now and have chatted with thousands of Herpsters over the years and many of them have told me that getting genital herpes changed their lives for the better.

WHAT??????

[JBnATL]

Yes out of thousands that I have chatted with here over the years, many (not all) have told me that getting this virus made them reevaluate their lives and review their actions. Many start to eat a healthier diet and many start working out because both of those things helps your immune system which is the #1 defense against this virus. They are also more selective in whom they date which can help prevent them from getting far worse diseases. They also focus on more of the quality of a relationship and not the quantity of them which can also be more fulfilling.

I know there are people out there who object to my rosier view of this but I am only speaking from my experiences and from the many others I have met here. This is a support website and I volunteer my time here to help people see that this is not a life sentence for them.

JB

[StayingUpbeat]

I said it was a very common, mostly harmless virus which it is.

I quite simply reject that. HSV is a poorly understood condition that causes a myriad of co-morbitites that are only recently begining to be understood by medical science: Herpes Simplex found to be the causitive agent in many fibromyalgia cases

In the days when almost everyone caught HSV-1 as a child (and was therefore less likely to have severe cases, especially when they then caught HSV-2) that was probably true. The morbidities incorrectly associated with growing old in a generation that smoked excessively and didn't exercise are finally starting to be correctly associated with this ubiquitous virus. The lack of HSV-1 in the population is bringing this violently to the forefront. Put another way uncle John complaining about his siatica acting up was almost certainly herpes but because he had cold sores before he picked up HSV-2 he simply never made the connection.

If they are getting a sciatic pain down they leg, they think they have sciatica. They may say 'I get an agonising pain down to my calf and incidentally I get a little sore afterwards.' [

1

]

Recent connections between oral HSV-1 and an increased risk of Alzheimer's have finally been established and occular HSV-1 (as people live much longer) is now a leading cause of blindness. HSV-2 quadruples your risk of catching HIV and it's estimated that an even moderately effective vaccine against HSV would more than half the rate of new HIV infections [2].

Its the time in human history for this malady to be eradicated. If that process is a vaccine that prevents anyone new from catching it while those of us who have it die off so be it. Hopefully it will help us some too. I appreciate your message but there comes a time when helping people feel better needs to evolve to promoting advocacy and doing our part by encouraging people to sign up for clinical trials. Industry is poised to make a difference and vaccines are starting to show success: http://www.fiercevaccines.com/story/genoceas-genital-herpes-vaccine-succeeds-ph-ii/2015-05-21.

I understand that it isn't always easy for everyone and that is why I volunteer my time here to help them. I have been coming to this website almost daily for 6 years now and have chatted with thousands of Herpsters over the years and many of them have told me that getting genital herpes changed their lives for the better. It is very rewarding to see people come to chat thinking their lives are over and within a day or so are back helping others cope.

Alright, then recommend they also get involved in one of the clinical trials or participate in one of the advocacy events held by http://www.projectaccept.org

Best of wishes on your new marriage and I hope eventually your immune system can eventually contain this virus.

JB

I appreciate that a great deal. I sincerely do. I'm sure my wife would too. The medical science says that if my experience has been like it has for this long it will proably be that way for the rest of my life but I've come to terms with that.

What I would really like is for people to evolve to the idea that there are more than simply placations that we can do and someone who talks to thousands of Herpsters is a pretty damn good place to start.

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[JBnATL]

Alright, then recommend they also get involved in one of the clinical trials or participate in one of the advocacy events held by http://www.projectaccept.org

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Projectaccept does not allow for the mention of this website on their website. Those are the same people who run the National Help Facebook group where this website is also deleted when mentioned. They ignorantly believe that this website promotes a false cure and they will not accept my invitation to come here and see for themselves that we do not.

I won't be promoting their website here.

JB

[AychEsVee]

I constantly forget these message boards are constantly sponsored. StayingUpbeat that was a pretty sobering and interesting look at HSV. Don't know if I agree with all of it (I'm not about to scour the message board, but the Alzheimer's connection, for example, is to me dubious, the study was done within a much more homogenous population that had a predisposition to a gene already linked to Alzheimer's), but it is important to make people realize that herpes is a very strange virus, that for some it really is little more than a skin infection but for others its more serious. Honestly, I think more herpes awareness for the role it plays a springboard for virological research would help spur more support for a vaccine.

I think we'll end up with both better treatments and an effective prophylactic. Both should contribute to destigmatization AND transmission, and will hopefully help people already infected live more open lives. I honestly do not think herpes is anything to be proud of, like some users on here and bloggers act like, but there's no shame in having it, either. Like any obstacle, surmounting it makes you stronger.

[wwdamron]

yes, of course I will live my life no matter what, but I know I would be much more happier and competent on my habilities if i hadnt had this chronic disease, so for me this is really important.

I hope some laboratory research will give his full atention to finding a cure for herpes and really find it!

Don't count on a cure in your lifetime, Herpes has existed in humans for more than 2,000 years.

A vaccine for the not already infected I think is possibly on the horizon.

But for those who already have HSV there is very little known.

There is only theories. With the recent HEPATITUS cure, there is some hope. But until HIV, AIDS, CANCER and other more serious diseases are cured, it makes sense not to waste money on a non life threatning virus.

As far as putting a time frame, best case scenario for the not already infected vaccine 15 years. Complete Cure at least 25 years off. Unless a cure is invinted before then that cures HIV for example and will also cure HSV by accident.

Another cure in theory could come quicker through possibly the now dangerous proceedure of a bone transplant from a person who is immune to HSV. This is the only known cure for HIV and in theory would work for HSV. But the proceedure (if it works for HSV) would have to become routine and easy before it is tested on humans for just HSV.

There is talk about the DRACO cure all drug, but this has never even been tested on animals, and there is very little funding. It may get some hope if experimented on terminally ill patients. But your looking at a minimum 25 years probably.

The bone marrow transplant has the other problem of very few people who are immune to HSV.

So live your life and not worry about it. Unless you have about a billion dollars to fund research on these methods and it still will take probably a minimum of 25 years.

So think about something else and live your life , take your antivirals and act as nothing is wrong. If HSV is the only virus you have consider yourself very fortunate.

[AgainstHerpes]

Herpes has existed in humans for more than 2,000 years.

yeah, so its time for this evil disease to finally be eradicated from the World.

[oneday]

I've always felt about herpes in a similar way to how Thomas Edison invented the light bulb. It took him 999 attempts getting it wrong but that magical 1000th time round, he got it. Unfortunately for us, 999 clinical trial of getting it wrong would take a very long time. But on the other hand if that magical "1000th" has already been discovered by ?Halford ?Frazer ?Cullen/Bloom or ?Dr. Todd Ride at Draper labs then we have a lot to be optimistic about. Food for thought anyway. Enjoy your day.

[Smart_1]

Inventions happen not solely because of the inventor's unique capabilities, but are mostly based on accumulation of knowledge through culture. What I'm trying to say is that, nothing would be invented if it wasn't the right time. The inventor could be unbelievably smart, such as Ben Franklin. However, their inventions would be nothing but sketches or formulas on a piece of paper. The Iphone was only created not because of steve jobs, rather, it was the culmination of acquired knoweldge over many many years. If he didn't invent it, someone else would—maybe a decade later—but it would still happen. So, when it comes to HSV vaccines, we can clearly see that progress has been made. There will be a cure, when that is, is based on wether the technology has caught up. There will be a cure for everything, and luckily technology grows exponentially. So 10 years from now, was like 50 in the past. Be patient.

[Midwestgal]

No cure because no one is going to sponsor a lesion covered ribbon to celebrate herpes awareness!

Sorry, my sense of humor is twisted.

[HerpsMcGerps]

Soon....

[oneday]

Surely we're due for something better to come out soon. I've been on this forum 6 years and there's only been updates, no actual products that help coming to market

[Voyager2]

AIDS hit the news when Rock Hudson died in 1985. In the 1990s, I read where work on AIDS had drawn attention away from HSV research. But now I think that work might have led to a better understanding of other viruses. While there were only a few herpes vaccines in the works from 1990 to 2000, ending with GSK's failure, there has recently been an explosion of vaccine candidates. As noted above, GEN003 will hopefully be the FIRST product since Valtrex to work against herpes. Let's hope the other vaccines work too.

[tom343]

Yep unless you suffer from this horrible thing then you have no understanding of the pain and suffering that is endured. I believe the HSV2 level of suffering is like a bell curve, some people hardly notice, most get medium issues with it and then there are the extreme ones where I am. The pain and suffering is horrendous, I have refused to take antivirals as they seem like very hit and miss for people. The pain was too much so I quit my job to cope. I have found some natural remedies which have helped but I wait for a vaccine to truly help me. They found a vaccine for Ebola surely with an estimated 1.2 billion ppl infected with hsv2 around the globe, somebody can produce something which works.

[Gothic Beauty]

Surely we're due for something better to come out soon. I've been on this forum 6 years and there's only been updates, no actual products that help coming to market

Well even if it's not a drug there is this which I think is great:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonkblog/wp/2015/07/02/fda-approves-theranos-9-finger-stick-bloodtest-for-herpes/

[Hazybrains]

Yep unless you suffer from this horrible thing then you have no understanding of the pain and suffering that is endured. I believe the HSV2 level of suffering is like a bell curve, some people hardly notice, most get medium issues with it and then there are the extreme ones where I am. The pain and suffering is horrendous, I have refused to take antivirals as they seem like very hit and miss for people. The pain was too much so I quit my job to cope. I have found some natural remedies which have helped but I wait for a vaccine to truly help me. They found a vaccine for Ebola surely with an estimated 1.2 billion ppl infected with hsv2 around the globe, somebody can produce something which works.

I've also been at the extreme end. I feel like my life is ruined. At least HIV sufferers have great medication that makes them normal and non infectious. We're in more pain then them! Wheres our help?

But as far as doctors are concerned we don't exist, that HSV does not do that at all. Sigh. Going to the doctors is so tiring, having to convince them you are not crazy.

[tom343]

I've also been at the extreme end. I feel like my life is ruined. At least HIV sufferers have great medication that makes them normal and non infectious. We're in more pain then them! Wheres our help?

But as far as doctors are concerned we don't exist, that HSV does not do that at all. Sigh. Going to the doctors is so tiring, having to convince them you are not crazy.

I feel you. The antivirals available are rubbish imo which is why i refused to take them. The doctors play it down so much. Its a total utter sham that most std tests don't include testing for herpes, which allows the disease to just spread and spread. The people on the extreme end know the devastating consequences of this disease. I quit my job and was in pain daily for so long until I found grapefruit juice and chlorophyll. It's not a cure but it has made it better - lysine. vit d etc did not work for me. Some people kill themselves because they have lost hope. But it probably gets put down as something else. It's time for a cure and I hope the fact we've got arguably the greatest immunologist currently working plus others on our side that all of us in pain and suffering can look forward to a herpes free future.

[Kurdt01]

Anti virals don't help me, but I would at least try them...you can get a month's supply of acyclovir for $13 at Wal Mart with no insurance and I know they do help the vast majority...it would be worth a try.

[JBnATL]

Anti virals don't help me, but I would at least try them...you can get a month's supply of acyclovir for $13 at Wal Mart with no insurance and I know they do help the vast majority...it would be worth a try.

Is the $13 acyclovir you get 400 mg? From my understanding Walmart has 200 mg of acyclovir on their $4 plan for 30 days supply.

JB

[Kurdt01]

Its 120 200mg capsules. for 2 pills twice a day.