just a virus...... (My Experience of Herpes)

Member Name: slam19uk

Product:	My Experience of Herpes
Date:	09/10/02 (388 review reads)
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I'll start this opinion of telling you a little bit about this disease.

" Genital Herpes is an infection caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV). There are two types of herpes and both can cause genital herpes. HSV type 1 commonly infects the lips causing sores known as fever blisters or cold sores, but can also affect the genitals and produce sores there. HSV type 2 is the usual cause of genital herpes, but it can also affect the mouth during oral sex. A person who has genital herpes infection can easily pass or transmit the disease to an uninfected person during sex.

Both HSV 1 and 2 can produce sores (known as lesions) in and around the vaginal area, on the penis, around the anal opening, and on the buttocks or thighs. Occasionally, sores also appear on other parts of the body where the virus has entered through broken skin.
HSV remains in certain nerve cells of the body for life, and can produce symptoms off and on in some infected people.

Many people do not know that they have the virus as they suffer no symptoms or don't know what the symptoms are.

Early symptoms of a genital herpes outbreak include:

itching or burning feeling in the genital or anal area.
pain in the legs, buttocks, or genital area.
discharge of fluid from the vagina.
feeling of pressure in the abdomen."
Extracted from www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/stdherp.htm

This is my story.......

When I was pregnant with my son, I developed sores around my vaginal entrance. I had suffered pain while peeing and itchiness fro about a week before they developed. I though that I had a really bad case of thrush. I treated myself with canestan cream. It took away a bit of the pain but didn't clear up the sores. It didn't work so I went to the doctor. I saw a female doctor instead of my normal GP. She took a swab and told me to go to my doctor in a few days for the results.

I went to the doctor a
nd he told me I had genital herpes. I just sat there and cried. I couldn't believe it.

Thoughts where flying through my head - had my partner been unfaithful? Why did I have this disease? How was I going to tell my partner?

My doctor explained what having this disease meant. He told me I had HSV type 1. I had suffered cold sores for years. He explained that my case of genital herpes was not caused sexually but that the disease had simply attacked another part of my body instead of my lips. He said that although there is no cure for herpes, they can treat the attacks.

Unfortunately because I was only a few months pregnant, they were unable to treat me as the risks to my baby outweighed the benefits of the treatment. I was told that the disease can reoccur in some people. Some people may only have a few attacks in a lifetime, others can have several attacks a year. I was told to come back if I had another attack.

My attack continued for a week after seeing the doctor as I had to let it clear up on its own because of the pregnancy. It was agony. I found that having a jug of warm water next to me as I had a wee helped. I would pour the water as I had a wee and it would wash the urine away from the sores straight away so it didn't sting as much. I couldn't sit down properly as it was too painful.

When I was 34 weeks pregnant, I had another attack. I was devastated as I had been told that if I had an attack near my due date, I could risk infecting my baby during labour so I would have to have a caesarian.

I went to my doctor to see what he could do. He said as I was out of the danger stage of my pregnancy, I would be able to be treated. I was given the treatment and painkillers. I had to pop loads of pills for the next week. The doctor had given painkillers that were safe to take with my pregnancy.

Thankfully the attack cleared up within a few days of treatment. If you can get the treatment bef
ore the sores develop then they probably won't develop at all (this is a really good thing, believe me). I was able to have my baby normally and he suffered no effects at all.

This was a really terrible event in my life as my husband and I rowed about this quite a lot. We both had slight doubts about how I came to have it. I think he believed I had cheated on him and I had to be reassured that he hadn't done the dirty on me. We both went to the G.U.M. Clinic to be sure that he hadn't contracted the disease. Luckily he was cleared. It still causes the odd argument but we worked through it together.

I felt that I had no-one to talk o about it. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do when I told my mum about me having herpes. But she was great and really supportive. I was really depressed about it for a while but she helped me snap out of it. I did a lot of research in to herpes and chatted to people online who also had it. This made me feel a lot better about it.

There is still a lot of stigma about herpes. Most people I know suffer from cold sores so they too have the herpes simplex virus. It shouldn't be seen as a dirty disease.

Thankfully, I haven't had another attack since I had my son so I'm counting myself very lucky. But I do worry that if I fall pregnant again I will have another attack but I will face that as and when it happens.

I hope my story helps others that have this disease to feel more normal and to help those suffering from a first attack not to get too upset about it. Don't dwell on the fact that you have it as chances are you won't have many attacks.
Don't judge people who have it, because I'm a "normal" person, happily married and faithful but I still got it. And if you suffer from this, don't be ashamed.

For more info go to http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/stdherp.htm

Thank you for reading this and please don'
t judge me or others because of this disease.

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