This Is What No One Tells You About Getting (And Having) Herpes

Can you have herpes but never even know it? And how do you navigate the maze of sex and dating when you know you are infected with herpes? Those are among the questions recently posed by readers of the Consults blog.

MPWH – “Meet People with Herpes” (HSV-1 & HSV-2) – The Best Herpes Dating & STD Support App for Positive Singles who are living with Genital Herpes.

I’m not religious at all, I’d describe myself as an atheist, but when aged 21 I started getting sores around my penis, I must have prayed 50 times a day that it would be something other than herpes. I felt such shame and I think that’s due to the fact no one seems to talk about it. This form generally appears as cold sores around your mouth but it can be passed to your genitals through skin on skin contact which is becoming a more common way of contracting genital herpes.

Before I was officially diagnosed, I googled my symptoms and scared myself silly. Based on my internet research I diagnosed myself with herpes – and reading articles and forums full of false information made me feel like it was the end of my life as I knew it. I basically read that it was incurable and could result in regular flare-ups.

This made me think that nobody would ever want to date or sleep with me again. I’d struggle to get to sleep after compulsively reading articles online, then I’d jolt awake early in the morning, panicking.