One year after being diagosed.

Hello everyone!

It has been nearly a year since my original diagnosis. I am currently suffering from my second worst outbreak, comparable only to my primary outbreak. As I have been struggling this past week, I have realized that so many others out there have been exactly in my shoes. Or maybe some of you have just been diagnosed. Regardless of your situation, I would like to give some words of encouragement to everyone.

When I had my first OB, I had been with my fiancé and no one else for over a year. I was so scared he would think I had cheated on him. When the doctor diagnosed me, he was basically the greatest man ever. He insisted he was probably the person who gave it to me. He said that whatever life threw at us, we could handle it. He went through all of the STD testing. When his came back negative, I felt pretty empty inside. I thought he would leave me and not put himself at risk anymore. He listened patiently to the doctor explain that herpes can live for years in your system without you having ay symptoms. He Listened to all our options and statistics on the chances of him catching my condition. He learned every positive and negative point. Yet, for some stupid reason, he still wants to marry me. I am sure many people out there are struggling with the thought that no one may ever love you or want you knowing about your condition. I just want to say that that is far from the truth. When a man (or woman) cares about you, who you are inside, they will not care about this stupid little condition. They will gladly take precautions to keep themselves safe and pain-free. And your relationship will be so much stronger because of it.

Right now, I would like to give a few pointers. Please keep in mind that I am a woman so I cant say for sure how these might affect me. One of the most painful part of an OB is peeing. I have seen so many girls say they do not drink or eat anything because they are so scared of peeing. Do you know why it hurts? It hurts because urine is acidic. It feels like acid on an open wound. It is not fun. The more water you drink, the more watered down your urine is going to be and therefore, the less acidic it will be. PLEASE do not make yourself sicker by not taking care of your body. I know it hurts. So here is some more tips. The only way I could pee during my primary OB is by filling a tub of water and urinating under water. This is similarly the same effect- the urine will be greatly diluted immediately, and also will not run all over your sores. If you are in public, this is not the easiest thing. You can fill a bottle of water or a spray bottle and as you urinate, make sure to dump plenty of water over your vagina to dilute the urine. However, the simplest, pain free way to urinate pain free in public is to spread your labia as far as you can stand, lean forward a little, and you will urinate in a nice stream that will not run all over your vagina. Just be sure to wash your hands before and after touching your vagina.

Here's another weird thing I have picked up on. I know taking a razor to your open sores is the last thing on your list. But if you can keep the wound free of hairs, you will find it a lot more comfortable. I know it sounds strange but any hair you have is going to poke your sores and anytime you move, you will feel that stabbing horrible pain. If you shave it and keep it clean and smooth while the sores heal, you will feel much more comfortable and you will have a lot more mobility, I promise. Its similar to how doctors will shave an area when they perform a surgery or when you get your dog or cat spayed/ neutered.. They want to keep it clear of hairs to minimize risk of infection and allow the easiest healing progression possible.

I hope this can help just one person! Best wishes everyone.

Great advice and so sorry to hear you're having such a horrible OB! Are you taking any meds to calm things down?

One little thing I'd like to respectively point out, is the recommendation on shaving during an OB. This is a no-no, until someone has at least had it 4-6 months, otherwise you can spread it.

@Krose101

Thank you for coming back and giving us an update! I remember when you came on almost a year ago.... and it's great to hear you going strong!

@2legit2quit

The point on the shaving is legit in that she's saying to save the area AROUND the outbreak... AND... if you use a lot of soap to shave it's HIGHLY unlikely you will spread the virus anywhere else as the soap should kill the virus on contact. The other option is to get a trimmer that will clip the area very short but usually you can't use soap with them so I would actually say to use the razor and PLENTY of soap, and don't come in direct contact with the OB, and you should be fine....

I dunno... Thanks idea of a rectangular razor trying to maneuver it around a sore, doesn't sound like the best idea to me! Lol.... Kinda hard to go around that w a razor, but whatever works! :-)