Newly diagnosed with genital herpes, help please :(

Yes I've been reading about being healthier, I currently work myself into the ground, barely sleep and barely eat. I really have to change my lifestyle now or I am going to be sick all the time. I don't even know where to begin. How did you make changes?

I've been looking at supplements to take too, do you take any? Considering starting on multi vits high in vitamin E and also starting l-lysine if this is available in supplement form. 

I know, and I read somewhere the transmission rates are really low. Hopefully I won't be rejected for life. I hope everything goes well with this person you have met. Have you considered how you will break the news yet? I have no idea how I would do it. Terrifying. 

I know it all could be worse, we could have HIV for heavens sake, but right now, when the news is fresh, it really does hurt that this has happened. 

I'm scared that new blisters will keep forming forever. I'm scared my symptoms will never go away. I'm scared I will never feel normal again. I feel like a light has been switched off. Like something from inside me has been stolen. I am completely deflated and miserable at the moment. I wish I could rewind a couple of weeks to remember what it feels like to be happy. 

i started taking immune stimulants so i keep myself healthy. The second thing that helped me mentally was i started to box and it starts to become as more than a hobby. I was just angry with myself i felt its my fault that i trusted so much one guy and he let me down. And punching and hiting really helps even tho it sounds weird :d

My advice to you is to start training going to the gym lifting weights, it really does helps with the stress and also u makr ur body strong so those little ________ dont show again. Sometimes i am also afraid when it gets ichy i am like "___ nooot again" but i m just dramatising its still something new to me and we will get used to it. 

So keep ur immune system strong sleep well, eat clean, train and dont think about it and everything will be fine!

About the guy I have to tell, I am gonna start confident not shaking and worrying and starting with " after i tell u this u will probably not want me anymore.." Thats a wrong approach, i will start with " i really care about u and i trust u so i wanna share something with u ..." I am gonna explain everything to him and give him time if he wants to research it or just think and we shall see. Think of it as ur little secret. 

You will be happy give it a time, i am giving it. Its like those things that suck in life but after every bad thing there is something good!

Emis Moderator comment: I have edited this post due to the swearing. These are open forums so as per the T&Cs please do not use offensive language in posts otherwise they may be deleted.

What immune stimulants do you take? Are those like aciclovir? Do you take that all the time? 

Yes I know, I really need to look after myself as I really don't. I need to change the way I live and sleep more. It's hard because the guy who I am with now lives 11,000 miles away and we have an 11 hour time difference so I want to speak to him when I can. It is difficult. 

I've just spoken to him again and he is so miserable. He can't believe he has given this to me. I don't blame him but I am jealous he gets so symptoms. Oh to be a male ! I want to make it work with him so much. We are just both so down and depressed at the moment so it's really hard. 

If you don't mind me asking, how many outbreaks have you had? I'm so nervous this will never clear. I read I am to expect 6-8 outbreaks in the first year alone. I can't cope with that, no way. 

Your plan sounds good. I've been thinking about how I might tell someone. I read a website that said to change the language. It said to replace the word 'herpes' worth 'coldsores' and 'STD' with 'virus' and 'I have' to 'I get' so you don't have ownership over it all the time. It's all true still, but it makes it seem a little easier to digest I thought. I also read that something like 60-80% of people get cold sores. These people also need to tell new sexual partners they have herpes because obviously oral sex can lead to genital transmission. There are SO many people out there that need to have this conversation. There's a fairly good chance this guy will even have cold sores. (If he does, remember, if you didn't have herpes he would have to tell you the risks about getting infected down there!). 

Crazy. This whole thing is crazy. I'm so mad at the STI clinics. Why don't they test for herpes when so many people have it. No wonder it's an epidemic. Their reasoning is that most people don't get symptoms and finding out you are positive for herpes can have serious negative psychological impacts. I think that is completely unfair. So those with symptoms have to go through it alone. If everyone was tested then there would be so much less stigma attached to it. So much less. So frustrating !!!

I am not from the uk but i am a student there so basically i live there, however i waited for the spring break to go home cuz in england i probably had to wait a lot and i dont know...... i felt comfortable just going to a doctor back home. So i went to the doctor and she just told me that i just need some immune stimulants doesnt need to be specific for herpes. She gave me a cream to put on its called Aldara, i think its international, its serious cream so i just put it for like 2-3days max. During this perioud i didnt take any pills/drugs things like that, i was very suprise how quickly it went away i felt a burning pain and on the next day it was gone. 

I had so far one outbreak but i am not sure its completly gone there is nothing but ... i guess i am just new in this i know it takes time.

About the immune system thing, there are a lot of things on the market. The thing i have i am not sure u can find it in the uk i am gonna check when i come back but may be it will be similar. U have to look for like vitamins, or pills that their main ingrient is herbs or some things like that not so much chemicals. A lot of pills that have sea plants in them they are a good immune stimulant! If u eat a lot of oranges or grapefruits or if u drink squized lemon juice thats also fine. Look in a different websites for more BIO products, may be there is a store called holland and .. barrets i think.... they may have something cuz they have a lot of suppliments. 

About telling someone- I told my best friend who is a guy and he told me that  if he likes the girl he doesnt care if she has herpes or dont cuz that doesnt really define her in any way, which helped me a lot. I really hate it that guys can deal with the herpes easily and we are more capable of catching it.... 

I am not so sure how to tell the guy (that i told u about) i dont know how to call the .. herpes like virus ,,,,mm dont sound good also.. There is a lot of time until i do it cuz may be things wont work out anyway.. But its something that i think about a lot, i dont want him to think that i am a wh**e. And i never been rejected sooo i have no idea how i am gonna react..

I remember something that i ve been told - Now that u have genetal herpes u can get HIV easily than other people, may be thats not true i am not sure 

Your friend sounds really wise and lovely. I'm glad you have a friend like that that you could tell. I know, so frustrating. I just feel really unclean, I hate the sores and the pain and I am sick of wearing sanitary towels. I must have sores on my cervix as I have the discharge. My other half has literally zero symptoms. So unfair ! 

I know how you feel, I didn't like seeing the doctors when I was abroad the last few weeks. Feel so much better seeing them in your own country. 

Thanks for the insight, I will do a bit more research about diet and supplements. I need to eat more and better, I've gone down to under 8 stone now through just not eating and being miserable. I need more fruit and vegetables. To even eat 3 meals a day would be a big achievement for me. I'm going to try and start each day with a good breakfast. 

I have dragged myself out of bed today, had a shower and feeling more positive. I haven't cried today which is good. Hopefully I will not cry anymore. I am beginning to feel like a normal person again. This illness will not define me in anyway. I am the same as before, I just have to tell people I have sex with now that I have a viral infection that they may also catch. I will tell them everything they need to know. And that is ok. It really is ok. The chances of them catching it are minute if precautions are taken which is really good. 

I found out my brother gets cold sores. It made me feel a lot better knowing someone else in my family has the herpes virus. So much better. 

So many people really have herpes. It's crazy. I think it should be treated differently. I think everyone should be tested for herpes or how can we stop it. 

Even when me and my partner tried to be careful with getting 'full' sti check ups, we didn't know this didn't include herpes. I doubt many people know the test doesn't include testing for herpes. It's not fair that those people who are positive and have no symptoms and don't know they are infected can go on leading normal lives, having unprotected sex and spreading the disease. Everyone should be tested to get it under control. 

Here's praying the work on the vaccine goes quickly and smoothly. The man who made the HPV vaccine is already on phase 2 trials. A vaccine that can help us control our new ailment would make life so much easier. To reduce the shedding rate would be brilliant. To reduce the risk of spreading and catching. That would be amazing. Fingers crossed it comes out relatively soon while we are still young. 

It would be great to hear off you, i dont think ive ever been so stressed out in my life!

I just got tested yesterday and should get my results in a day or so but it's definitely herpes as my symptoms are so bad. I've been put on acyclovir but I'm not sure it's done anything as yet. I'm also taking olive leaf extract after reading about the amazing anti viral properties it has and its ability to obliterate the herpes virus. How are you getting on? When do the initial outbreak sores heal? It's been a week since my symptoms started and I'm not sure how much longer I can cope with this.

What a great news

It would be nice for some treatment but I feel like it's taking forever

Hey, I know your post is three years old now but was wondering how long it took before you started to feel ok again? I'm feeling exactly as you describe above at the moment 😞