Little Known Facts about Herpes

As many of my Crazy Girls know by now, I am an amateur hypochrondriac. Whenever I learn about a new disease (the common ones–not the ones that make people grow uncontrollably), I am sure that I have it–or some mild “sleeper” version of it. I freak out, get convinced by my boyfriend to go to the doctor, get some tests, a pat on the back, and have my life back again. I’ve been through a fake pregnancy, fake HPV, a fake UTI, fake diabetes, and today was my fake herpes day. I’m happy to say that I don’t have herpes, but for a whole three days I thought I might. I had some sort of cut on my kitty, and after close inspection with my magnifying mirror, I feared the relatively harmless-looking cut could be a lesion of some sort. My life was over.

Because I no longer believe in directing energy toward things you don’t want to happen, I refused to research herpes as is my usual hypochondriac routine. Instead, I immediately made an appointment, got tested, and just told the Universe that I would peacefully accept the results–and work my hardest to will it away via meditation if the test came back positive. (Yes, I believe you can meditate your way to health.) Today the test came back negative and I almost cried. I could continue my life herpes-free. However, I’ve since done some research on herpes, and I was astounded at how ignorant I was about it.

Facts about Genital Herpes from the Center for Disease Control:

1. Genital herpes is VERY common. 1 in 4 women have genital herpes. 1 in 8 men have genital herpes. 80-90% of people around the world carry the oral herpes virus.

2.You can get genital herpes even if the person doesn’t have visible sores. People are hyper-contagious when they have sores, but you can get genital herpes even if the person doesn’t have visible sores. You can also get herpes even if you use a condom.

3. You can give your partner genital herpes from your oral herpes. I guess this is why our Sex Ed teachers always tried to encourage us to use protection even for oral sex. Lots of us dismiss dental dams. This would definitely be a good reason to use one. Genital herpes caused by HSV-1 (oral herpes) causes less frequent outbreaks of sores in the genital area, but you can still get it.

4. You can get oral herpes anywhere from the waist up. You can get the sores on your fingers for example. So…be careful with that other funny business as well. You can also get herpes sores on your eyes after touching an infected herpes area (yours or someone else’s) and then touching your eyes.

5. Gential herpes infection makes you more susceptible to HIV infection. I don’t know why this is. Perhaps because your immune system is compromised?

6. If you do get herpes, you may never get sores. Although it can be very psychologically distressing to know you have herpes, most people never experience any symptoms.

I learned a lot from my latest misadventure in Hypochrondrialandia:

1. I need to add a HSV test to my STD test requirements for myself and my partners. This needs to be a blood test to get a real answer since most people don’t experience symptoms. HSV-2 is the most common culprit of genital herpes, so focus more on that one.

2. I will be less cavalier about oral sex. Now, I’m not one of those people who see oral sex as the new goodnight kiss. But I definitely wasn’t one of those people who saw it as sex sex. Considering herpes is so permanent, I don’t think I have any choice but to take oral sex more seriously.

3. I will be more sensitive when talking about herpes. I think people act like herpes is some mysterious disease only wildly promiscuous people get. If 1 in 4 women has genital herpes, many of my friends and colleagues have it.

Support groups for people diagnosed with herpes can be found here.

Viruses are forever. Take care of yourself, my Crazy Community.