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There are way bigger fish to fry in a relationship than having herpes. We always put the herpes issue as the worst possible thing that you could have and you'll never be accepted because you have herpes. Well I'm not saying its not a big conversation and I'm not saying that you'll always be accepted and won't get rejected but what I'm saying is that there are other big things too.

Someone asked me to talk about this as a blog topic. Saying that having herpes is just one of the things your p…

This is one of my favourite topics but I realize I don't talk about the Secret Society Wellness products that often. So I'm doing you all a disservice!!!!

Let me back up and tell you a bit about the products. They are designed and formulated to support herpes outbreaks. The formulation took over a year to make and a ton of research went into it. The Secret Society Wellness products started out with just one product and it was the Lifesaver SPF Lip Balm. The concept started when you guys wer…

When we are diagnosed with genital herpes or oral herpes our hearts sink. We feel totally alone and like nobody understand what we are going through. This was exactly how I felt when I was diagnosed with genital herpes back in 2011.

Something that doesn't help us with this alone feeling is that when we are alone we can go down a rabbit hole and start creating worry which leads to depression or anxiety. I call this phase of just being diagnosed with herpes the Eeyore phase. When we are diagn…

Well yes and no. Yes, it's a numbers game and the more people you’re exposed to the greater chance you have at contracting it. However with over 80% of the population having herpes it makes it so common that even being monogamous you can wind up with herpes. 

What we need to get away from is associating promiscuity with getting herpes and beginning to look at the fact that the majority of the population has it. I’ll get trolls on the internet tell me that I’m discussing it because I have he…

What does asymptomatic mean and how does this relate to living with herpes?

Let me assume that you are either reading this because you just found out you have herpes but have never gotten an outbreak. Or you've had one outbreak and haven't had any more outbreaks in years. The unique thing about the herpes virus is it has the ability to go dormant in our system, thus making the person living with herpes asymptomatic.

According to Oxford's dictionary the definition of asymptomatic is, "(of…

Somebody once said something along these lines: Maybe that's easier when you're diagnosed at a younger age, but I'm over 40, it's so hard for me to accept this now.

It's easier to be diagnosed with herpes in your 20's. It's easier to get diagnosed with herpes in your 50's. These are all things I hear on a weekly basis. We always think the grass is greener on the other side.

I want to talk about this today because I've had a lot of people recently come to me and say that it would be way e…

This is such a great question. I still get people who are shocked at the fact that both HSV 1 and 2 can go to either location.

If that came as a surprise to you let me then explain.

Traditionally we believed that HSV1 was only oral herpes and it could only be oral herpes and that was the good type of herpes. At the same time we believed that genital herpes was always HSV2 and it would only stay in the genital region and it was the bad kind. Firstly, there is no good or bad kind of herpes. An…

Everything feels so out of reach when you are first diagnosed. Everything comes crumbling down and you feel like you're never going to be able to come up for air. It's suffocating and terrifying at the same time. Would love to tell you after I was diagnosed I picked up and was able to straighten my life out right away. That wasn't the case and I did not have a rebound in one day or even the week later.

Back when I was diagnosed I was really struggling. So now it's the 4th of July. I had pla…

It's Friday July 1st and this was the day that changed my everything. This was the day 11 years ago that I got diagnosed with genital herpes. I still have the dress that I was wearing when I was diagnosed with herpes so I thought I'd be fun to try it on.

If you can remember I had gone for my annual physical on Tuesday, so I was patiently awaiting my results. I was thinking that if I don't get a phone call by 3:00 then I'll have to call the doctors because otherwise it's a holiday weekend w…

In case you're just tuning in and haven't been following along this weeks series, let me bring you up to date. This is my "oh shit anniversary", aka the week I got diagnosed with genital herpes. So I'm bringing you along for the emotional ride and sharing what my diagnosis was like.

At this point in the week I still had not received my diagnosis and there was still so much up in the air. I remember feeling so unsettled and was in limbo wondering if I had herpes and if it was going to change…