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Herpes Diagnosis/Herpes and the Coast Guard


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The whole process has been frustrating and scary. It all started when I found one white bump near the opening of my vagina. I immediately went to the gyn who swabbed it and told me "I've been doing this a long time and I don't think it's herpes but I'll swab it anyway." The results of the swab came back negative for herpes and he told me to call him if it came back. A week or so later it came back (in what I think was) the same spot, plus another spot which was purple and painful to the touch. He swabbed both, also took a blood sample, and told me he was visually diagnosing me with herpes. He put me on generic valtrex and told me he'd call me with the official results. He called me with the blood and swab results which were both negative. He explained he didn't know why they were negative because he was sure I had herpes. He told me to continue the generic valtrex which I did, then went to planned parenthood for a second opinion. By this time the possible OB had healed and she diagnosed me with folliculitis. I was relieved enough to shave for the first time and a few days after I shaved it came back worse. I had the same red to purple bumps that were painful and eventually pussed and crusted over. I took another dose of generic valtrex and they are still there but way better. Although I am convinced its herpes, no blood or cultures have confirmed.

 

The scariest part is that I am enlisting in the Coast Guard, and don't know what to tell them. I have gone through MEPS once and they didn't find anything/I didn't say anything because I had no conclusive results. However, now that I've had another OB I feel like I have to tell them something so that I can bring Valtrex with me to boot camp, (can I do that or are they going to just kick me flat out of the CG?) I go to MEPS again and am freaking out about telling them because I don't even know what to say. The website which seems to change all the time told me that you are allowed to enlist with Herpes as long as you don't need suppressive meds/have 3 or more OBs a year.Any advice please?

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Hello hu142973

 

First Welcome... Glad you found us. And now... BREATHE! It's going to be ok :)

 

I did some research for someone going into the Army and Herpes is NOT a reason for you to not be accepted. As long as it does not keep you from doing your job it isn't a problem for them. If you want to take the supressive meds you may have to ask about it - if you are taking them to keep a partner from getting H I don't see why that should keep you from enlisting. In fact, it should be ok because Boot Camp will be VERY stressful and H LOVES stress so any help you can get should be ok as long as it doesn't impair you (as pain meds might).

 

Details of disqualifiers are here: http://www.military.com/join-armed-forces/disqualifiers-medical-conditions.html

 

Do remember that 1:6 has HSV2 and still more have HSV1 too in the genital area. So if the Armed forces didn't allow you to enlist our Military would be a LOT smaller :p

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Ive been in military for almost 9 years and I can tell you.its not going to stop you from getting in. Basic training is not as bad as theywelfare think it is, its just a mind game. I would disclose to your doctor at meps, make sure u can take meds with you, HIPPA will prevent him or her from saying anything. If that doctor says anything to someone and uses your name thats a breach of hippa..Your drill instructor/sergeant can not say anything either.. if they did thats ucmj actions.., a lot can fall under ucmj. Not saying they wont talk, but you need to be aware of what you can do and aa a soldier to protect yourself. You should be fine though, there are a lot of good people in the military that will do their best to look out for you.

 

Little quote from the creed of the non-commissioned officer all ncos should know but a lot forget:

"Competence is my watch word. My two basic responsibilities will always be uppermost in my mind, the accomplishment of my mission and the __welfare____ of my soldiers........I know my soldiers and I will always place their needs above my own".

 

 

Anyways, it will not prevent you from joining at all. If they try and say otherwise, let me know, I know a few people in high places that might beable to rectify that if it comes up.

 

Hope this helped some.

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Hi Hu142973,

 

Dancer is truely amazing on what she can locate online.

 

Lol - didn't know till reading her link that having no balls as disqualifying for the military Service.

Makes sense I guess. :-)

 

Anyway several items you should be aware of.

1. Dancers link is great - but looks to be over a year old. A lot can change in even that short time.

2. With military getting ready to go to levels not seen since the 1930s - they are going to start becoming picky very fast. Things that were never an issue for joining are going to start being major issues.

3. Once you were diagnosed you are required then to tell them or face a felony of a false enlistment.

 

http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/joiningup/a/falsestatements_2.htm

 

The last person that had this issue - was suggested to talk to different recruiter in different area and see what they say about your issue. just don't lie - it isn't worth it.

 

I really think the worst you should have to deal with is getting a waiver and all the bs of dealing with.

 

As far as being protected by hippa laws - from what I have saw in my 20 years of active duty - they mean very little - what you tell your doctor does not stay with your doctor - it can go directly to your chain of command and will effect your career.

 

Very best wishes - Ra

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@ra1956

 

From what I can tell, the main thing is that the Herpes doesn't keep you from doing your duties. If you had such horrific OB's that you couldn't perform, they might take issue. But you can't tell me that of the 2,266,000 men and women in the 5 Armed Services there aren't a whole hell of a lot of them with Herpes. Mind you, our Military budget would be a LOT lower if they WOULD disqualify you if you tested + for Herpes.... Hmmmm... maybe we should lobby for Herpes to DQ people after all :p

 

And I'll bet a whole lot of people at the top of the chain have H....LOL

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Hi Dancer,

 

Totally agree with you that the military herpes rates mirror the rest of society.

Just saying with the extreme draw down of forces they are going to up the enlistment standards.

During my 20 years I saw highly trained personal kicked out for more minor things than hsv2.

The military does not always use common sense on their policies.

 

Ra

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From my experience with the Air Force all I can say is don't lie but don't be shocked if they reject you. I did the best of my entire Group on my ASVAB and still didn't make it to MEPS because of a minor medical issue I told my recruiter about. That and a small tattoo on my shoulder. I would suggest not saying ANYTHING to your recruiter if your cultures have come back negative in the past, because then you're not really lying. Wait until you see one of their doctors or wait until an issue pops up once you're already in and see a doctor if you think you have an outbreak and need medication and see how that goes. You don't have a solid diagnosis and you can defend that if you ever run into any trouble with the military on a legal level.

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So we have a double sided sword issue here... because if @hu142973 has Herpes, it would be best so she could protect any future partners... but to get in the forces she needs to "not know" or not have a definitive diagnosis. :/

 

Again, I can't help but think that out of the 2.26 million enlisted that a whole lotta them are diagnosed with Herpes....

 

Now, if they are looking for any little excuse to not let you in, well, that explains a whole lot to me about my personal feelings about the state of the military. But I won't go there on here ;)

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So I called a recruiter in a different state and told him my situation. First he said since I wasn't diagnosed just to hide the possible herpes and bring meds to boot camp. I told him I thought that was a bad idea. Then he advised me to tell my recruiter and provide documentation of both the doctor who told me I had it, the blood/culture work, and the doctor who told me I didn't have it. I told my recruiter and he told me I would probably not be disqualified and that I should bring all the documentation to him. I would however possibly not be able to bring suppressive meds with me to boot camp. He said he would talk to the chief and let me know. I go into MEPS again sunday and I will probably have to explain all of this and pray they will let me bring suppressive meds in. I cannot imagine being under stress without suppressive meds and having to shower with others during an OB.

 

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