Name: Butterfly
Age: 31
Sex: F
year infected: 1984
Type: Herpes simplex 2

Prodromes: White discharge, tiredness, irritation on genitals

Method of Control: L-Lysine, diet and exercise. Zovirax during outbreak.

My Story: I contracted this disease at the age of 16. At that time I did not have a sexual partner. To the best of my knowledge I got the "gift" from a damp towel I used to wipe with because there was no toilet paper. This was an instance when the drip-dry method would have been best (ha ha). My first outbreak was awful. I was very young and confused. The doctor was cruel to me. He had some college students who were interning at the hospital observe my examination. This was very humiliating and degrading. He told me as I was leaving the exam room that I should have kept my pants up. So much for professionalism and compassion from the medical field.

Telling: My first "telling" experience was my freshman year in college. We had dated for some time and things were progressing to the point that I felt he should know. We had three sexual encounters after, but he could not deal with it and he dumped me. This was very hard on me. In fear of rejection, I did not tell my next two partners but used condoms.
At the age of 19 I met the man I would marry and confided in him. He was very accepting and it was never an issue. We have been married for 9 years and have two beautiful children, which I delivered vaginally. At this time we are divorcing due to
other factors and the "telling" has now become an issue in my life. I have started to become involved with someone and things have progressed sexually.
As my husband had never contracted herpes and we had never used protected
sex, I felt confident that it was not an issue. Sometimes we are rudely awakened. For the first time in six years I exhibited the symptoms of an OB. Terrified, I began taking medication. My biggest fear was that I had infected the person I had become intimate with. I immediately told him of the condition and provided him with numerous amounts of information from the Internet. Our sexual relationship has been put on hold. He is very grateful that I informed him of this and he is planning to get tested for all STD's for my safety, which I took for granted. From this experience, I will
always tell a partner in advance, so that they have a choice. I feel confident
that he is accepting of my condition and values me more than his fear. We will
see.

For the future: My recent stress and subsequent outbreak has forced me to face an issue that has been a part of my life for 15 years. I don't feel that I have ever faced this disease and dealt with it. I have been uneducated and inconsiderate of others. I feel I've learned more in the past week about herpes than I have in the past 15 years. This site has helped my knowledge a great deal. I hope I can learn whatever lesson it's there to
teach me.