I think I have herpes, what do I do?

[Anonymous]

im 15 and i want to find out without getting my parents involved. can i go alone to find out? where do i go? what will happen?

[Anonymous]

I also have herpes, so I know what your going through. I never thought I'd ever get something like this in my life! I lost my virginty to my husband so I've only ever been with one man. So finding out absolutely distroyed me.

My husband had 3 past sexual partners so we automatically assumed it came from him even though he showed no symptoms of it, only I did. In the end after testing they found out it was type 1 which is the same as the cold sore virus. Apparently it's rare to get that on your genitals but that I was very lucky because you usually never have another outbreak (I did). The doctors figured out my husband has had cold sores all his life and they asked if he gave me oral sex and when I said yes they explained that's how it happened. My husband had carried this virus for God knows how long and he never knew it would turn into this.

Whenever we have a flare up his is cold sores on his mouth and mine is on my genitals, luckily I've only ever had it twice and it's been years.

It's not a nice thing to have, when it flares up it hurts so bad! It's almost impossible to pee without screaming in pain. If you find out you don't have it please be careful and don't have unprotected sex, it's not worth the risk... Trust me! If you do have it, I can totally sympathise with you, I never expected anything like this to happen to me. I thought sexually transmitted infections only happened to sluts... I was so wrong!

If you go to a GUM clinc is totally anonymous and no one will know, including your parents. not even your doctor will know. Good luck! And if you need any help im happy to answer any questions

[Asker]

omg thank you for this!! I've never had sex though! but I had my first makeover kiss with my boyfriend and not long after , I broke out with sores inside my mouth.. and I think it could be herpes? but I'm not sure ! can it be spread like this? he's only had one other girlfriend

[Opinion Owner]

I'm glad I could help you 😊 It could possibly be cold sores which are the same as herpes. The way the doctor explained it to me was that hsv type 1 was the cold sore virus that most of the public has and most don't even know it, you can get it on your mouth, genitals and anus but it's rate to get it anywhere other than your mouth (im in the Unforunate bunch!). They told me you can get it even from kissing someone who gets cold sores. They told me hsv type 2 was only sexually transmitted and you could only catch it through having sexual intercourse. I was lucky enough to have type 1! If you do have it then it will be type 1, when I found out I was so upset but after the doctors explained it to me I realised it really isn't a big deal. I hope you don't have it but if you do it's totally manageable and you can only pass the infection on if you have a flare up. I think it's something around 87% of the population have type one and most don't even know it!

[Opinion Owner]

The best thing to do is go to your closest GUM centre or sexual health centre and get it checked out but make sure you go while the sores are still there because they can only test for herpes/hsv when you have sores. Don't be scared, it's totally anonymous, they are so friendly and they don't judge at all. They were so nice when I got upset too. It could also be mouth ulcers too, try and Google them both and see what they look like to get a good idea :)

[ChaosKilledTheDinos]

A walk in clinic, planned parenthood (maybe? I know they do breast exams), talk to your school nurse, take yourself to your doctor? Apart of being mature enough to have a sex life is being willing and able to take responsibility for the consequences. Learn from the experience and take action now to take care of yourself. You definitely don't want to wait on this too long. It's not the worst thing if your parents find out, yeah they won't be happy at all, but in a way it shows a type of maturity in that you're taking responsibility for the consequences and am working on fixing them.

[Amanda2]

I am guessing you are speaking of genital herpes. To have herpes you must have an outbreak with swollen lymph nodes, open sores that tingle at first, then open, painful sores that leak a clear watery fluid ( color varies). You may have symptoms of the flu, have a headache and/or be feverish and it will be painful to walk and wash the area. If you do not have such symptoms you DO NOT have herpes

[JoeCensored]

Planned Parenthood or whatever your local clinic is called. Most locals do not have laws requiring your parents to be notified. A more detailed answer would require knowing where you are.

[echoaj]

planned parenthood, they will help you out although they will ask for your home address but they haven't ever mailed me anything. If anything they will call if they need you

[SarahsSummer]

Go to either your OB/gyn or a free clinic. And stop having unprotected sex!!!

[Dtegesd123]

family doctor or walk in clinic.