A User's Story between MPWH.com and Reddit

Jan 23, 2022

Hi, I am new here, and I have had a problem with herpes. In the past year or so, I have been going to strip clubs, and one of the strippers gave me what I believe was herpes. At first, I put it off as a yeast infection because that is all I knew about STDs, and that is what my private doctor thought it was too.

I went to my local clinic, and they gave me a blood test to see if I had herpes. It came back negative, but they did not do a culture test on me, giving me a definite answer. The doctor there told me not to worry about it and that it was most likely a yeast infection and sent me on my way.

I got another job at the end of April this year and asked for a medical exam before working there to be insured. They ran tests on me, including the blood test for herpes which came back positive, which in reality means that I have been carrying the virus for years now.

The doctor then said that he needed to take another blood sample from me to send it out to find out which strain of herpes I had been infected with. So, he ran some more tests on me, including a culture test for herpes, HIV, syphilis, and chlamydia. I was in the office for six hours before I saw him again. Once he took my blood and ran the new tests, we discussed my situation.

Telling Me the Truth

"I have some news for you." He told me in a very serious tone. "The blood tests you took came back positive for two different strains of herpes."

"What?" I was shocked. "How is that possible?"

"Well, it's possible that you were exposed to both strains at the same time or one right after the other. It's also possible that someone with one strain would be more likely to contract the other strain and not even know it. That's because most people don't know they have herpes and they could be spreading it unknowingly."

I was dumbfounded. I sat there staring at him, realizing that my life had just changed forever.

Dealing With the Truth

I know what you're thinking. How could you have gotten herpes? You must have been a slut back in the day. That's what I thought, too. And then I read about the so-called "silent epidemic" of genital herpes. It seems that 1 out of 5 people between the ages of 14 and 49 in the U.S. has genital herpes, but 90 percent of them don't even know they have it.

I had just assumed that if I ever got herpes, it would be from a one-night stand with some guy who didn't know what he was doing or some skank at a frat party. But it turns out that neither is likely to give you herpes.

Light At The End of The Tunnel

Eventually, I made peace that I had herpes, and I had to live with it. I was a bit concerned about how my dating life would go. At first, I was skeptical because why would anyone date someone with herpes? But, reading other stories from the Reddit herpes community gave me hope. So, I took to Google and searched for dating while living with herpes. I realized that some people had shared their dating experiences. I also bumped into MPWH.com. This site is specifically for single people living with herpes looking for love and support. The people are also kind, despite the current predicament. Using this site, I began my herpes dating journey. I won't lie; looking for love and support in herpes dating Reddit community can be tasking. Unfortunately, a lot of people are ignorant of the matter. It is sad to see people with herpes beating themselves about it because they have lost hope of being desirable to another.

I had similar thoughts at first until I came across MPWH.com. This site offers inclusive herpes dating and herpes support for singles. Therefore, anyone in the Reddit herpes community should not condemn themselves to singlehood. Just visit MPWH.com!