I have extreme anxiety over the herpes virus. mainly genital herpes as that is a "big" social status complication. In the last 2 months I have gone to my own doctor, the sexual health clinic, and two walk in clinics when I thought I had symptoms of genital herpes. All of which they said it wasn't but did not tell me to take a blood test.. which I have asked for. They say if you have herpes hsv1 orally then it will come back positive and there is no telling which area or which hsv (1 or 2) it is, via oral or genital. I to this day still am anxious. and it does not help reading the Internet about it which I should know by now. It has taken a huge part of my family/friend/lover relationship's. I currently am doing cognitive behavioral therapy to try and teach myself how to calm down. It is still really hard. I have yet to be diagnosed with genital herpes but still feel like I might have it. reading about it you can have no symptoms, mild symptoms (itching redness rash ) or severe blisters... doesn't make someone like me very comfortable knowing I had an itch or redness so a blood test would be I have extreme anxiety over the herpes virus. mainly genital herpes as that is a "big" social status complication. In the last 2 months I have gone to my own doctor, the sexual health clinic, and two walk in clinics when I thought I had symptoms of genital herpes. All of which they said it wasn't but did not tell me to take a blood test.. which I have asked for. They say if you have herpes hsv1 orally then it will come back positive and there is no telling which area or which hsv (1 or 2) it is, via oral or genital. I to this day still am anxious. and it does not help reading the Internet about it which I should know by now. It has taken a huge part of my family/friend/lover relationship's. I currently am doing cognitive behavioral therapy to try and teach myself how to calm down. It is still really hard. I have yet to be diagnosed with genital herpes but still feel like I might have it. reading about it you can have no symptoms, mild symptoms (itching redness rash ) or severe blisters... doesn't make someone like me very comfortable knowing I had an itch or redness so a blood test would be great... except every single doctor I've talked to does not recommend that even if I ask
great... except every single doctor I've talked to does not recommend that even if I ask
hi
i totally have the same anxiety you do, im currently talking to a councelor about my std anxiety.. even though ive tested negative for everything, im still scared.. i havent gotten the hsv blood test done bc my doc doesnt think its necessary but i many just have it done for some peace of mind.. it sad to say but im glad someone out there shares my fear of stds becuae a lot of my friends are not that worried about these kinds of things and sorta feel alone ..
I believe in talk therapy too. I don't really have any close enough friends these days to talk to about this kind of stuff, so internet sites like this one help a lot! :]
infants and toddlers can get it from sharing drinks and food, not adults.
I'm a fan of talk therapy myself. Medication helps with the chemical side of things but you still need good old fashioned talk therapy to improve your coping skills. You can't fix all of the problem when you are only treating 1/2 of it. You need to learn to recognize when you are in an anxiety provoking situation and learn how to deal with it before it gets out of control. It's also helpful to learn how to avoid anxiety producing situations when you can too. Unfortunately these are skills many of us just didn't get growing up in this world where everything is aimed at scaring the bejebers out of us and telling us we need to worry more :(
grace
I think I've read your posts a couple times about how usually as adults, we contract it mainly from romantic kissing. I've gone to so many websites about herpes, including the one you recommended and they all say you can get it from sharing drinks and eating utensils, so it makes me paranoid and confused!
I want to have him tested when I get my insurance back in a few months but might ask him to be tested before then just to ease my mind...hopefully, ease my mind. I think I wouldn't handle a positive result for hsv-1 too terribly because it is so common. It's just with my type of worry, I'd probably worry for the rest of my life about getting it down south.
I was last tested for hsv1 last october along with hsv2 by blood test. & also hsv2 just last month, blood also. All tests were negative. I mean, I've never had anything like the symptoms of that down there. Just my hpv warts make me nervous about the possibility of something else happening to my "oh so fragile sensitive sexual organs" as i think of it now.
i dont know if it's all as fragile as i'm thinking. i'd like to think it's just like the other parts of my body; strong and able to take care of itself!
& I was thinking I might need to try some anti-anxiety meds and probably talk to a sexual therapist of some sort as soon as i get my insurance cov back.
http://www.ashastd.org/herpes/herpes_learn_oralherpes.cfm is a terrific site for info on oral herpes. as an adult you are most likely to contract oral herpes from romantic type kisses, not from sharing drinks or cigarettes.
why not have your bf get tested for herpes to know his own status so you know if you have to worry or not? have you been tested for hsv1 too or just hsv2?
obviously your anxiety about this is crossing the line at this point and is interfering with your day to day life and happiness. have you thought about talking to a professional about this at all?
grace