Hmmm, where to begin…  January 1, 2000, I found out that the love of my life of 5 years had completely lied to me and also infected me with HSV-2.  Yes, I celebrated the New Year with a broken heart and the initial breakout of my herpes virus.  So much has happened since that horrible day.  I so wanted to die that day, but being a single mom, I couldn’t give up on myself of my life.  With the help of a few inspirational friends on this website and an old friend from college, I was able to go back into the world of dating without feeling dirty or tainted.  Since then, I’ve forgiven my ex’s ignorance about transmitting this “gift” to me.  He really did not know the facts, but with the help of this site and others, I was able to inform him of the facts and hopefully, he isn’t out there infecting others without their knowledge.  I also ended up having a wonderful, loving relationship with a great man for nearly 5 years.  I lost him to cancer over a year ago, but I am so fortunate to have had the time that I had with him.  We were blessed up to the very end.  He didn’t suffer at all and had one bad day, unfortunately it was his last day.  We knew his time was short after his diagnosis, so we got to say all the things that needed to be said.  I was blessed to have him in my life.  He loved me and accepted me, faults, herpes and all.  We took all the necessary precautions to keep him from contracting the “gift” and luckily he never experienced a single episode or breakout! 

Now, I am ready to get back out in the world and start living again.  I figured I needed to have a place to go to find some support, so here I am.  Maybe I can help someone else or maybe someone can help me.  I just know that it is comforting to be able to talk to people that actually know what I am feeling when it comes to HSV, so here I am…

Name: prissy (Angie)

Age: 39

Sex: F
Occupation: Office Manager

Type:  HSV-2 & HSV-1

Yr Infected:  Exposed sometime between 1995 – 2000, having my initial breakout January 1, 2000

OB’s per year:  I suppose the first year was the worst going through OB every other month for the first 6 – 8 months after initial OB.  The following years, 2 – 3 OB’s per year.  After my husband’s death, my stress levels were elevated and I probably had an OB every other month with menstrual cycle.  It has been 4 – 5 months now without an OB.

Prodromes:  Aches shooting down my inner legs and below my buttocks.  Tingles followed by slight pain around infected area.

Method of control:  Acyclovir, Famvir, & Valtrex.  I find Valtrex works best for herpes symptoms, but it causes me to have major migraines.

Medical Experiences:  Love, love, love my gyno!  He and his nurse are so matter of fact.  They are knowledgeable of all the different medications and answer any and all questions I have.

Telling:  I’ve had very positive experiences in this area.  I tend to just blab it within the first few dates.  I find drinking 2 to 6 Miller Lites can make it much easier for me to reveal.  LOL  It has been quite a while since I’ve had to open up that can of worms with someone new.  I struggle with the time frame of telling because I don’t think that it is fair to let someone go into something and invest their time and heart without being informed of all the facts.  I’m honest to a fault. 

Original Bio info from 2000

Name: prissy
Age: 32
Sex: F
Occupation: Executive Assistant

My Story: All I can say is that I was/am in-love with the jerk who gave this to me. Not only has he lied to me, he gave me herpes without telling me. I began the new year with this new knowledge and have since started seeing a therapist to help me cope. I have a lot of problems other than the herpes, including depression. Being a single mom, I have to find a way to pull out and make my life better. It is still so hard to get the energy to get up some mornings, but I do. I hope that I can help others do the same. I try hard to share a love of laughter with people. I am extremely lucky to have a great family and friend support to help. I hope I read this 6 months from now and feel better than I do today. I will feel better. It does get better every day, just take one day at a time.:)