My Herpes Story
It took me a long time to come to terms with the fact that I had herpes. I contracted it at 16 years of age, a time when life can be so stressful and difficult to manage on a daily basis, even without an STD to worry about. Of course, when several of my peers in high school caught wind of my situation, my social life became even more unbearable and depressing. At that time, I automatically started taking prescription medication, which was extremely expensive and didn’t have much of an effect on my outbreaks. I stopped taking the medication soon after. I continued to live with shame, guilt and denial following me around wherever I went. My teenage years were not as enjoyable as they could have been, had I known how to seek help and accept the reality of what was happening. Luckily, I only had to deal with outbreaks every few months, so I was able to ignore the herpes for longer periods of time. I had a few relationships in which I was able to tell my partners openly about it. The relationships I allowed to continue without being honest never ended up working out. I spent a lot of time worrying myself sick and not liking who I was. I thought I’d be single and alone forever. I became a single mother at 20 years of age, went to college and started a career in health care, and found myself slowly coming to terms with herpes throughout my early 20’s. By the time I was 25, I was still having outbreaks and they were becoming more frequent. As often as once a month. I finally decided to contact Christopher Scipio when I was 26, and when we spoke about my situation, it was easy to see that this was something I could gain control over. I started taking the remedies, which I believe jump started the healing process for me. I became more careful of what I ate and drank. It took several months, but I finally was able to report to Christopher far fewer outbreaks, and generally feeling better all around. I became happier and more accepting of myself. At this time I was in the beginning of what remains a wonderful, loving and honest relationship. I also have found that the biggest and most important element to me controlling the frequency of my outbreaks is complete avoidance of drinking coffee. I was only a cup-a-day drinker, and as I weaned myself off, the headaches were extremely unpleasant, but I eventually gave it up. Christopher reiterated to me that I was to stay completely off of coffee for the rest of my life if I wanted to continue having less outbreaks. I didn’t realize at first how crucial this was, until, I gave in and had a coffee. Several times I allowed this to happen and found myself paying for it physically a week later. It took a couple of unexpected and discouraging outbreaks to really see what the direct relation was. I now know for a fact that I CANNOT drink caffeinated coffee or else I will have an outbreak within one week. This fact was finalized for the last time I accidentally forgot to order a decaf beverage at a coffee shop. I thought about this halfway through the beverage, but thought perhaps since it wasn’t a cup of coffee I might be safe. Absolutely not the case. A week later I was suffering. That was the last time I drank coffee. That was the last time I had an outbreak. That was in May 2012 and I’m writing this in late September 2012! I don’t doubt for a second that if I remain coffee-free, then I will remain herpes-free as well. Of course, everything else I have done leading up to this realization deserves some credit as well, especially the emotional aspect. I hope that reading a bit of my story will help those of you who still suffer, as I know reading other peoples articles really helped me to see that there was a way to live with this part of myself. Take care of yourselves, and by all mean
– Anonymous
Save up to $100 on Fall Discounts from Christopher Scipio- Herbalist (offers expire Nov 9 2012)
It’s already cold and flu season, Many of you have already had a dose of it and the worst is yet to come. Keep your herpes under control and protect yourself and your loved ones from the cold and flu.
Save $50 on the cost of four months of Immune Formulas and Anti-Viral Sex Gels. (normal price $580, discounted price $530)
Save $100 on the cost of six months of Immune Formulas and Anti-Viral Sex Gels. (normal price $680, discounted price $580)
Save $20 on the price of my Milena Cold and Flu Formula. (normal price $70, discounted price $50)
If you haven’t emailed me in the past two months, please do reach out and let me know how you are doing. I care! And don’t forget to use your antiviral gel at least once per day whether or not you are having sex, to help prevent outbreaks and to help protect against giving and receiving the virus during sex. If you don’t currently have any of my antiviral gel, email me.
Even if you greatly limit the frequency and severity of your outbreaks, even if you are outbreak free for vast stretches of time, that still isn’t enough of a safeguard against infecting others with this lifelong viral illness.
The fear of passing Herpes on to loved ones kept myself and keeps many others reluctant to have a sex life at all and having a happy and active sex life is a crucial step for people who have herpes and hpv reclaiming their lives and not feeling like lepers or outcasts.
Condoms are of course a great tool in making sex safer but they only offer a 30 percent protection against herpes and may not offer any protection at all against HPV. There are other problems with condoms-they can break or slide off. They don’t offer much help if the man’s site for Herpes or genital warts are in locations other than the penis, i.e. buttocks, legs, etc. Dentals dams and saran wrap cannot protect if the site of the viral shedding isn’t the vagina or the mouth.
I had been working with seaweed gels as part of my holistic herpes and hpv protocol for a couple of years before learning research that was done on the effect of carrageenan and other components of Red Marine Algae and other Seaweeds on Herpes and HPV.
My Red Marine Algae Sex Gel is the only completely natural carrageenan containing lube on the market and the only one made by a herbalist who is a holistic herpes and hpv specialist. My gel is also the only one that is made by hand from seaweeds that have been ethically hand harvested either by myself or select colleagues who are all phds in phycology (the science of seaweeds).
My gel is also the only one avaiable in the world that is preservative-free and custom-formulated specifically for people with herpes and HPV.
Because the gel does not contain preservatives it must be stored in a fridge between use.
Joy’s Story
My story with HSV started in 1985 when I was 19 years old. I had just broken up with the love of my life and had a rebound relationship with an older man at work. A few days after becoming intimate, the symptoms began. At the time I lived at home with my parents in the country, and there was one doctor in town, so I went to see her. She came into the office, brusquely examined me, and proclaimed that I had herpes, it was incurable, and I need to use condoms for the rest of my life. I was hysterical and couldn’t believe what I was hearing. She left the room with me sitting on the exam table in my paper gown sobbing. I was certain my life was over. “Who would ever want me if they knew my secret?”, I thought. The shock wore off, and the outbreaks subsided after a while. I settled into a pattern of 1-2 outbreaks per year without taking anti-virals. I decided that my only chance at having a relationship was to hide my “disease”, so that’s what I did. When I was 22 years old I got married and we stayed together for 11 years. He never knew of my HSV. At one point during our marriage I was having an outbreak and went to the doctor. The nurse asked why I was there, and I told her. She glanced at my wedding ring and said incredulously “You’re married??” “How does that work?” I was stunned and couldn’t believe her ignorance. I thought to myself “Obviously this is worse than I thought, and I really need to do a better job of hiding it.” During this marriage I had a planned pregnancy that ended in miscarriage at 4 months. I was in such denial over my HSV that I never informed my gyn. I went on to marry again and didn’t disclose my HSV to him either. The marriage was unhappy, and a significant emotional upset caused my once a year outbreaks to turn into near-constant outbreaks. I started taking Valtrex and was up to 1.5 grams/day and had outbreaks for more than half of every month. I had nerve pain down the insides of my legs and into my feet that drove me crazy and I was sent to an infectious disease specialist. He shrugged his shoulders at my dilemma and prescribed Lyrica to reduce the symptoms. The Lyrica didn’t help, and made me feel so weird that one night I passed out and fell onto the bathroom floor, prompting my husband to call 911. I was frantic and didn’t know what to do. How could I hide my “disease” with all of this happening? At this point I found Christopher Scipio through a Google search. I followed his protocol and it helped, but I still had outbreaks. I’d become frustrated and wouldn’t follow the protocol for a while, then I’d become compliant again. This went on for a couple years, and my frustration mounted. I was healthy and doing everything I could to get my body back to my normal 1-2 outbreaks a year, yet I just couldn’t get there. I finally looked within myself and slowly the answer came to me. I had denied the existence of the HSV in my body for so long that for some reason it decided that I needed to acknowledge it. The HSV screamed at me to pay attention to it through non-stop outbreaks and nerve pain. Acknowledging and even embracing something that I hated and felt that it made me something of a leper was the most difficult thing I have ever done. I talked to the virus and made peace with it. I told my husband about it, and he was very accepting. Our marriage later ended, but I’ll be forever grateful to him for accepting my HSV better than even I did. I decided then and there that I would only be cared for by health professionals who were kind and compassionate towards me and my HSV. I have opened up to friends about my HSV as well. As a 45-year old who has had friends die of cancer, the prospect of having a virus that presents itself every once in a while has been put into perspective. Accepting the HSV in my body is something I work on every day, but I’m getting better at it. I hope that my story somehow helps you.
Joy – Washington, D.C.
