Hasn’t stopped me in the past, probably wouldn’t stop me now. That was a few years ago and I’ve never shown any signs and I wasn’t all that worried about it anyway. Just play it safe and smart.
Right, I don’t want it, either. I don’t want cold sores on my mouth, come to that. And after more than ten years, I don’t have it. But if I were to get it, it wouldn’t mean more than a minor inconvenience–certainly not worth not having married Mr. Cameron, for instance. The “perspective” is about people who seem to have this dread horror of it, like the OP’s assumption that you could never get laid again, or that it would be some horrible barrier to having sex or a relationship. That just isn’t realistic.
A good friend of mine’s lady has it. Has had it for years.
I was lucky enough to be one of the few men that she had decided were good enough to sleep with outside of her primary relationship.
She is lovely, and wonderful, and were it possible, I would do so again in a heartbeat.
The sex was good, but the lying in bed with her and the closeness I felt at the time was much nicer than the sex, IMO.
And UncleBill, lets give Snake Legs a chance. Maybe the OP’er has no clue about herpes.
I apologize to any whom I may have offended or annoyed!
The question was not meant to point a finger at or ridicule any of those who have the virus! It was just a question of what would you risk to have that fantasy come true if you knew you would get (insert any annoying but not fatal kind of condition.)
Again, many apologies to those I unintentionally offended! I certainly didn’t intend to be insensitive!
Understood, sorry 'bout the snarkiness (snarkyness)?
Cite?
I’ll stick with my knee jerk reaction, thanks. VD is VD, and I don’t need painful, infectious wounds appearing on my body at random times for the rest of my life.
I’ve had plenty of luck “weeding them out” as well. Sorry if my active avoidance of catching diseases offends you. 
:rolleyes:
Had it 7 years now. Caught it from my girlfriend who was cheating on me with some rich fellow. The “bug” was how I found out. She ended up with a big house and several cars, and I ended up with a permanent virus. Not that I’m bitter or anything…
It’s less of a big deal than I thought it would be. My Doc put me on a daily dose of Valtrex, so I don’t have any more outbreaks. The Doc also told me that about 2 of every 5 patients he treated in my age group had it, which was a suprise.
I’m honest about it, and it was only a deal breaker once, but that one time pretty much sucked. She got a disgusted look on her face when I told her, and since no one ever looked at me like that before I took it badly and didn’t date for almost a year.
All my other girlfriend’s were ok with it I guess. Most of them already knew someone who had it. We were always careful and I never gave it to anyone. The worst part is telling a potential partner about it. It’s excruciating, for me at least. I almost feel like I’m in a dream when I explain it to them. I dread it so much that when I date someone I never initiate sex or even bring the subject up. Oddly enough, this seems to intrigue some girls, and they become rather aggressive. I’m afraid to lose them, so I end up telling them before I’m ready. But again, only one had a problem with it.
There are a few putzes who make you feel like you’re an untouchable, but they’re pretty rare. It’s a bummer, but it’s not the end of everything.
Really? I think that’s a bit of an overreaction. It would take one hell of a special guy for me to have sex with him knowing he had herpes. Whether it’s common or not, people don’t want to get it. Hell, I’ve seen the pictures of it and it is nasty and looks painful. That’s not being judgmental about people who have it, just being careful and protective of ourselves.
I think Snake Legs was pretty much asking who you’d want to have sex with so badly that you’d risk it. I don’t think she was trying to offend.
Indygrrl has the right of it.
(I am a he by the way ;))
Holy out of control bolding, Batman!
[hijack]
Could I ask a question about the HSV1 virus? I used to get cold sores in my mouth every few months or so when I was a kid, but I haven’t gotten any since I was about 8 or 9. Are cold sores caused by some non-permanent disease as well, or is there some other reason I wouldn’t have an outbreak in 10 years?
[/hijack]
here, and here, and here, and so on and so forth.
always note that a disease carrier may not have an active infection. things like herpes you can catch from someone who has never had a single cold sore/genital lesion in their life.
and nothing offended me, honey. i was merely amused at the knee-jerk reaction. i am allowed to feel that way, you know. 
super gnat, the virus doesn’t go away, i’m afraid. it just remains dormant. some people get away with having no outbreaks after the initial one. touch wood. there are a lot of good online resources you could refer to.
The pictures of herpes that are shown on most websites are the very worst possible case scenerios. They are generally from medical research sites. Most people with herpes don’t have outbreaks that remotely resemble the pics. If they do it is usually their very first outbreak.
A person who has herpes can be contagious at any time. You don’t have to be having a visible outbreak to spread it to someone else. The virus sheds 3-5% of a year’s time. There is no way to know or predict when that time might be.
It’s not the end of the world. For many it just becomes an occasional annoyance.
That is the very definition of ignorance, which he artfully demonstrated.
It’s an overreaction to stop laughing at a screenname? Seriously?
I said the guy was “ignorant”, he was. That is being remedied in the highest tradition of the SDMB. I said he was “insensitive”. It may have been directly attributed to the aforementioned ignorance, but insensitive is the way I see it. I do not think he was trying to offend, either.
Hmmmn. Well, Alec Baldwin, Daniel Baldwin, William Baldwin… and okay… Stephen Baldwin if he’s good.
I figure brothers count as one item, and if I’m getting a permanent STD, shouldn’t it be for a good reason?
Matthew Perry. I’d sleep with him no matter what he had!
~ poopsy ~
xoxoxoxoxox
Mr Capybara-- been married for 4 years, together for 8, his case is very mild and it’s only acted up once since we got together. I assume that if I had come up with it I’d have noticed. He notified me on the night that we hooked up and everything was in the open. Of course if I get pregnant I will make sure and get tested. It affects our life very little.
My wife (of six months).
We’ve been together almost two years now. She was terrified to tell me she had Herpes. Did it over the phone, then hung up crying. The fact that I showed up on her doorstep 30 minutes later (drove straight there) was enough to show her how much I loved her. And that was several weeks before I actually told her so.
Absolutely. My infrequent outbreaks have never been more than two or three very small sores in more or less the same location every time. I’m on a daily dose of Valtrex as well and haven’t had a problem. The only real inconveniences are really if you’re feeling way too frisky during an outbreak, and angry partners if you’re not completely honest about your condition. But as far as the second case is concerned you deserve whatever happens to you as a consequence of lying.