Hard being positive

Well, I am a couple of weeks into this...first ob was first sign that something was wrong, debilitating and painful! Spent 3 days in bed, unable to move without pain. Fever, aches, splitting migraine...absolutely miserable. A few days of feeling better, and it started all over again... This time ended up in the ER...diagnosed with "suspected HSV" what the heck does that mean? Meds to deal with the outbreak for 7 days, and something for the migraines. This thing is kicking my butt... and I think it has triggered menopause symptoms, which I have never had until the ob?!?!? I have not followed up with my DR because I am afraid of the answer, afraid it will make this real. I am newly divorced and this is like a death sentence...I feel like I am going to be alone for the rest of my life. The guy who gave this to me just ended our "relationship" and swears he didn't know he had it. I want to know how anyone can find anything to be positive about? I just don't see it...sorry.

Hi Mermaid,

I am sorry to hear that you are having such a tough time!! I know it seems hard right now, but it will only get better as the symptoms ease a bit. And most importantly, you are not alone. Everyone here knows and understands what you are going through and we are here to support you. It is a struggle, but you will feel better! And you are never alone!

Hi mermaid. I felt like it was a death sentence too at first. I felt like a failure as a woman and as a mother who was worried to pass hsv to her kids. But its not a death sentence at all. And i promise the breakouts get better with time. I've already seen changes from my first. It was pretty painful. I've had two more breakouts since then and they were no where near as bad as that first one. It really does get better and you're not dying from this. You will also in time I'm sure be able to find a mate when its the right time for you. Its not so bad to be alone and take some time for yourself. Being alone can be fun and liberating too. I dont know about you but when I'm living with someone my laundry liad triples, my dish load quadruples and can't even get them to take tge trash load off half the time haha. Being alone def has advantages lol. But you don't have to be alone forever just because of herpes now. Itvmay feel like it but there's quite a few success stories on here of men and women loving one another despite this skin condition. I don't know much about menopause so i can't really say anything about that but i can promise it def gets better physically and you'll be back out there doing the things you love again.

It was hard for the first couple weeks, but now it is pretty simple. It is a skin condition, it does not kill you and it is like mosquito repellent for people who don't belong in your life anyways.... true story.

Finally starting to wrap my head around this and have the support of some amazing friends as well as all the folks on here! It is an eye opening journey! Thank you!!

Yes, sometimes it is hard to be positive. It's a muscle that we get to work on building. When it comes down to it, positivity is a choice. What we choose to focus on in our lives is a choice. Some days each of us won't actually see it that way as we go into our old patterns, but ultimately, moment-by-moment, we get to choose the life we are living with what we got. :)