Herpes Nation's topics - tribe.net

UPSET and ANGRY

2008-06-10T03:16:26Z

Just a bit of background information before I get this off my chest. I've been living in Germany for nearly 12 years now - I'm English, my husband German. I have a reasonable command of the language now. Have had HSV for 24 years now. I suffer with depression which, funnily enough, is terrible before an attack, during and until it's gone. I believe I know how my body works better than anyone else and believe my depression is linked with the herpes and that it started about the same time.

For the first time, I decided to trust my GP here and tell him what I thought. I want to slowly come off the anti-depressants, because I feel they are not doing me any good at all. Well, he said I could do what I wanted, but wouldn't advise me to do that. In fact, he told me that it was actually the depression that caused the herpes and that EVERYONE has herpes in their body, even him and my husband!! Eh? I am afraid I reacted very badly and just cried my eyes out. I did try to be adult about it and discuss it with him, but he really didn't like me disagreeing with him - I told him I knew how my body worked and am in tune with it but he then went on to tell me about his training, blah, blah, blah! He really just dissed everything that I said and I felt like a complete idiot. Also very angry but not able to deal with it. My husband was with me but didn't say a word. He thinks doctors are gods. Idiot too.

I am just so ANGRY, I asked for blood tests to clarify another matter and then he asked if we should check for the herpes virus. Can anyone tell me what the point is of that? I've had the bloody virus for so long - I know what I've got. Have I missed something? What is his point?

I have tried the acicylovir but it didn't have any effect on me. My Frauenarzt (Gynae) here in Germany has told me that I know more about herpes than she does and she doesn't know what else she can do for me. At least she's honest. I don't really want to take any more chemical drugs that I'm taking already for my "depression".

By the way, I've even spent 2 months in a clinic to get help for my depression. All that did was give me a jolly good rest, I did loads of sport, no having to look after my family (2 kids, 6 and 9), no cooking, no cleaning etc, etc. Guess what? I got an attack of herpes whilst I was there !! Another thing that upset me about my stay there was that I was asked to spray the toilet seat with a disinfectant every time I used the toilet!

So, if anyone out there has got any ideas for me, I'm all ears!

Take care all of you and stay strong,

Ruth xx

posted in Herpes Nation - 3 replies

Coming Out

2008-06-10T03:08:26Z

So, I was watching all the stupid drug ads tonight, and I was thinking about coming out as an H carrier.
There was that HUGE AIDS coming out about 18 years ago..........so how do we claim OUR coming out?
Because I'm tired of it being a scary thing. Or a bad joke. Or a reason for someone to walk away.
And WHY is it still so scary? 1 in 5 (so they say......I'm sure it's more)............so why must it be scary?

posted in Herpes Nation - 1 reply

New Holistic Herpes Newsletter

2008-05-25T18:23:14Z

I have started a new holistic herpes newsletter to broaden the message of de-stigmatizing herpes and to share insights, advice, recipes, encouragement and empowerment to our herpes community. I am especially trying to reach out to those who feel isolated or ashamed of having herpes with the message that there is support and solidarity to be found. Please do email me at holistic@natropractica.com if you'd like to receive the first edition of the newsletter and be added to the mailing list. And I would love your contributions if you are inspired to send in articles, poems, songs, laments, jokes, interviews, news, anything and everything to do with holistically living with herpes. Your contributions can of course be anonymous or under a pen-name. There are already more than 900 subscribers and the feedback from the first issue has been great so please do join us.
regards
christopher scipio
holistic viral specialist
person with herpes

posted in Herpes Nation - 0 replies

Why I am not Ashamed to have Herpes

2008-05-09T01:39:51Z

Why I am not Ashamed to have Herpes

Why Should I be?

I will not allow myself to be ridiculed, stigmatized or disrespected by others for having a disease. Disease is a natural part of life whether you are human, animal or plant. Nobody is exempt from disease, almost no one will live their full life without getting at least one sexually transmitted disease. These are the facts.

Some people are afraid of diseases and those who have them, that is an ancient, primal fear and one I understand well, but it doesn't excuse anyone from mean-spirited, ignorant behaviour towards those with diseases.

When I was a kid we made fun of "retarded" and "handicapped" people. i am deeply ashamed of that now, but children can be quite brutal. adults need to hold themselves to a much higher standard.

Those who make sick jokes about herpes are not only aping the same mentality as those who make racist or sexist jokes but they are also exposing their own lack of courage. It's much easier to ridicule the things you are afraid of rather than having the courage to face those fears. They are creating a stigma that causes millions of people with herpes unnecessary grief.

At least 60% of the population has herpes above or below the waist.
70% of the population will get hpv as genital warts or cervical dysplasia. 80% will get chlamydia at least once- most women will get it more than once.

All animals with backbones get herpes including cats, horses, elephants and salmon. Most animals without a backbone get herpes including worms.

Having herpes doesn't make me less moral, less attractive, less ethical, less worthy of respect, less sexy or less of a great catch, so why would I be ashamed to have herpes?

I am not afraid of my body. I know that sometimes I will get sick.. I know that my faculties will decline as I age and that i am destined to die. This is the beauty of life- the contrast and balance between health and disease, between happiness and sorrow, summer and winter, fullness and emptiness, life and death.

I am a natural person, I am not shamed or at war with any part of my body, including the herpes virus. I am at peace with the virus, my body and my place in this world as a person with a lifelong herpes infection.

I am most definitely not ashamed.

christopher scipio
homeopath/herbalist
herpes treatment specialist
http://www.herpesnation.com
http://herpesnation.blogspot.com

posted in Herpes Nation - 9 replies

Women Impowerment

2008-05-06T15:56:14Z

To all the women out there with herpes,
I want you to know that you shine and glow as any other women.
You reflect such beauty by how you feel about your self...... Love your self.
You are a mother and devine spirit......... Love your self
As a women you cary the essents of mother earth, you are strong like her.
Be like her, lets learn from her, mother earth, the one supporting are feet.

I have had herpes my self for the past 2 years now and for the past 17 months have had regular out breaks every month. Yes I am tierd... exhusted of feeling dirty and ugly. Looking a pictures of other women, wondering if any one would ever look at me with the same attention. I want to stop feeling powerless, and you know what would help? Is if you felt impowered too. If you with herpes can shine a smile, and laugh for while, regardless of the fact.... It will help me get through this trial. Love your self not only for you, but for all of us women. We may not phyically stand together, yet your energy affects us all. So let us all stand tall and not be ashamed. Lets stop the blame and just love our selfs.
I am turning 20 on May 7 and I want nothing more then to feel amazing about myself. Please if not for you, then maybe for me and her, feel incredible about yourself. I will too, and spread my love through the cosmos that connects us all.

All the vary best to you
with Love

Naomi

posted in Herpes Nation - 0 replies

Support Group

2008-05-01T17:55:25Z

Being on this tribe has been so norishing, I'm thinking about starting a support group in my area.

The closest ones are St Louis and KC, and seeing as we are smack dab in the middle and a college town to boot, I think it could work.
I'm thinking an AA sort of set up.
Any ideas, suggestions?
Have you ever been to such a group?
Do we need to have a medical professional there to answer questions?

Thanks

posted in Herpes Nation - 0 replies

snacks and trail mix?

2008-04-29T15:37:29Z

Now that almonds, cashews, and peanuts are mostly out of the picture, what do people eat for snacks? I don't eat meat other than seafood, so beef jerky is out, but if I'm hiking, traveling, or just trying to hold myself over until a meal, I'm at a loss for things to grab and run.
I also have trouble digesting garbanzo beans (hummus) and other lugumes.
can one make an interesting trail mix with sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and pinions?

posted in Herpes Nation - 1 reply

new singles herpes group

2008-04-27T17:14:24Z

I just started a new group, if anyone wants to join. My hope is to get TONS of people to join and to start having activites for people in different areas, just so we can meet people we dont have to have "the talk" with and just to make some friends with poeple going through the same thing. if anyone is is interested please join and help me get this started the tribe is called singles with herpes http://tribes.tribe.net/singleswithherpes

posted in Herpes Nation - 0 replies

Refused Health Insurance

2008-04-11T19:46:36Z

That's right. I am now self-employed and on a tight budget and I need to find individual health insurance. Blue Shield turned me down because of H.....and I don't even take pharmaceuticals and I very rarely have any issues.....they told me I could join their PPO program for a mere $500 a month, plus $40 co-pay if I need to see a doc, plus a huge deductible if anything nasty happens....
Anyone in the states know of a low cost individual health insurance provider who will cover people like us?

posted in Herpes Nation - 1 reply

Airborne

2008-04-09T17:59:34Z

I just wanted to pass on a tip. The last time I felt a breakout coming on I didn't have insurance or the money for Valtrex so instead I started myself on a regimin of Airborne. Since all it is is intense vitamins, it helped to boost my immune system and it didn't last very long. Just thought others could try it and see if it works for them?

posted in Herpes Nation - 2 replies

Please Help Tell the Truth About Herpes

2008-04-08T14:07:17Z

6 out of 10 people have herpes.
Not 1 out of 5

Please do help spread the truth.
One of the ways of stigmatizing herpes and misleading the public
is pretending that people who get herpes on their face are somehow
not included in herpes statistics. This is especially dangerous when the majority of new cases of herpes above and below-the-waist are from oral sex by people who get herpes on their face.

Please do help spread the truth about the real herpes statistics. Post it on your blogs, tell your friends and loved ones, talk about it at herpes support groups and on online discussions, forward it to your email list, do whatever you are inspired to do. We will all be better off if the truth about herpes is more widely known.

I am starting a holistic herpes newsletter to help tell the truth about herpes, de-bunk the many myths and de-stigmatize herpes. If you may be interested in writing about your experiences, thoughts or feelings about herpes, wish to share your herpes diet recipes, or contribute in anyway, do let me know and your submissions can be anonymous or under a pseudonym to protect your privacy if need be.
regards
christopher scipio
homeopath/herbalist
holistic viral specialist
http://www.natropractica.com

posted in Herpes Nation - 1 reply

Herpes: The Great Illuminator

2008-04-07T21:51:02Z

Herpes: The Great Illuminator

I have written before about the positive aspects of having a life-long herpes infection, and there are several, today another one has made itself known to me.

Herpes can be a great illuminator.

When you are having an outbreak or herpes-related symptoms it can bring to the surface some of your deepest, darkest fears, insecurities and neuroses.

Some of the ones that my patients tell me that come up most often are insecurities about body image, memories of past sexual abuse, fear of not being desired/being unattractive, fear of rejection, fear of infecting others, fear of ridicule and fear of being outed.

If you were struggling with your body image before having herpes, having outbreaks sends that fear right up into the stratosphere. This is the proverbial double-whammy. For some people until they make peace with their feelings about their body they will not have the virus under control. For others, until they make peace with herpes, having outbreaks will make the schism between themselves and their body way worse and there will be no reconciliation between themselves and their body until making peace with the virus first.

For those who were the victims of past sexual abuse or who were coerced into sex-work as young people, having symptoms of outbreaks can bring some ugly, terrifying or emotionally paralyzing feelings up to the surface, some of them long-buried. If the person was infected with herpes as part of the sexual abuse or exploitation, that adds another huge layer to the issue. This is the most daunting of the herpes illuminations but it is better to have this illuminated and on the surface rather than repressed. Herpes can provide an opportunity to understand and work on this issue. Holisticallly healing your herpes can help change your relationship with yourself in an empowering way which can be part of a larger programme of healing these past wounds and vice-versa.

It’s very challenging, obviously to feel attractive and desired when having regular outbreaks or symptoms, this is one of the many reasons why having a supportive, understanding partner/s is crucial for someone with herpes and why I encourage people to let go of anyone they are having an intimate relationship with who isn’t supportive and understanding.

As human beings we tend to fear rejection more than almost any other fear. The advertising industry is largely propelled by re-inforcing this fear in order to sell everything from antiperspirants to plastic-surgery. It is especially crushing to be rejected for something you have no control over like race, height, or having herpes. Twinned with this fear of rejection is a fear of ridicule. There are a number of cruel people out there (thankfully only a small minority) who have said and continue to say harsh things about people with herpes. Most people are far more loving and tolerant than this but the fear of being ridiculed like the fear of rejection can get blown up way out of proportion.

The fear of infecting others in and of itself can trigger symptoms and outbreaks.
This is a healthy fear in so far as it can be a motivation for treating your herpes and practicing safer sex but you should not allow it to become an overwhelming fear or it may get in the way of reclaiming your sex life which is a important step in living a holistically healthy life with herpes.

We could all make the fear of being outed a thing of the past by coming out of the closet and talking about herpes, educating the general public about herpes and herpes prevention and by claiming our place in the sun as a majority of the population, but because we don’t do this, we have self-imposed on ourselves the status of a dis-empowered ashamed community. I am always amazed by how far some people will go to not have to out themselves as a person with herpes. People have the right to keep their private lives private, but many of the people in the public arena who willing admit to me in private that they have herpes won’t admit it in public and this includes radio and television talk show hosts, porn stars, sex-educators, health-care workers, etc.

Until gays and lesbians started coming out of the closet in the 60’s and 70’s they had no rights or influence in this society and so it will continue to be for us until we decide to change.

No matter how well you feel that you are doing on the emotional, mental and spiritual levels in dealing with herpes it won’t be until you are tested by outbreaks and symptoms that you will know where you truly are. Herpes is the great illuminator shining a piercing light on your deepest and darkest fears and insecurities related and un-related to “the gift”.

christopher scipio
homeopath/herbalist
holistic viral specialist
http://www.natropractica.com
http://www.herpesbook.com

posted in Herpes Nation - 1 reply

some newbie questions

2008-03-13T02:50:27Z

im new to the group and new to knowing i have herpes. there are a few things i need to know that may have been posted before, and dont see in any of the medical articles ive read. first, i get cold sores, my grand kids get cold sores. i know they can infect others with them.. are they going to have to worry about future relationships and kissing their other relatives now? and my story, my ex boyfriend had a bump on his penis..he thought maybe he had scratched himself. then i blistered. he went to the dr and got tested.. the dr said he didnt have herpes and the ex said that we had had oral sex before a cold sore i had was totally gone. i went to my dr and got tested and he said i have both 1 and 2. my ex started wearing boxers to bed and that was pretty much the end of our sex life.. anyhow his blisters looked like ones i seen pictures of.. my dr told me i may have had an outbreak and never known .and another question, i need more information on shedding and spreading the virus. evidently there is no way of knowing how long ive been infected and i know i will have it for ever.. ive read all the posts from others about telling potential partners and im all for that. but for right now im just gonna chill until i get a better handle on this new chapter in my life. thanks for listening.. its a good thing to be able to talk about it for a change.

posted in Herpes Nation - 1 reply

Happy Birthday Herpes!

2008-03-12T04:47:38Z

Ok, so this may be totally retarded. But I'm sayin happy birthday to my H.

I got it in May. 3 years it's been with me now. I can't believe it's been that long.

How about all of you? How long have you had it? what have you learned? And what advice could you give to newbies or people non-h pos. being with a pos. H partner?

:)

posted in Herpes Nation - 8 replies

For Our Recent and Not-So-Recent Members

2008-03-05T03:28:23Z

Don’t Let Herpes Make You Into A Victim

We live in an affluent, highly privileged society. We spoil and indulge ourselves shamelessly. We consume way more than our fair share of the planet’s resources. We drug ourselves with coffee, cigarettes, alcohol and comfort foods. We distract ourselves with junk culture coming from our televisions, radios and print media. In the midst of all this the temptation is there to want to identify ourselves as a victim so we can have an excuse to feel sorry for ourselves.

There are many real victims out there: children who are being sexually abused, women who are the target of men’s rage, seniors being targeted by con artists or mistreated in nursing homes. For those of us with herpes there is no need to buy into to the victim role and feel sorry for ourselves.

Herpes is a minor sexually transmitted skin disease. It’s easily managed and you can effectively protect your intimate partner/s from being infected. Between herpes, HPV and Chlamydia alone there’s probably no one you know who has had more than six sex partners who hasn’t caught a sexually transmitted disease, so having herpes isn’t unusual- you haven’t been singled out by God for punishment, you are simply dealing with the reality of life in the 20th century, we are hosts for a variety of microorganisms, some of them sexually transmitted.

I don’t expect anyone to throw a “I’ve just been diagnosed with herpes “ party, but why all the doom and gloom? Must we really buy into this false stigma? Is it all that bad?

No it isn’t all that bad. Get down on your hands and knees and be grateful that you don’t have a real illness like my patients with M.S. and Cancer and HIV. Make peace with that little red virus inside of you and go on with you life. Love and laugh and enjoy the blessings of being in a wealthy, peaceful, abundant society. Face whatever challenges life throws at you with dignity and courage.

MY feeling is that we with herpes have no right to behave like victims. I reserve that right for the women in Africa who have endured genital mutilation, for the people starving all over the world, for the children scavenging for scraps to sell in garbage dumps, for the families destroyed by war and its aftermath. They’d all trade their fates for a simple herpes infection any day of the week.

Christopher Scipio
Holistic Viral Specialist
African Bush Doctor
www.herpesbook.com
www.natropractica.com

posted in Herpes Nation - 1 reply

Why Your Doctor May be the Last Person You Should Speak with about Herpes

2008-02-19T20:36:08Z

Why Your Doctor May Be the Last Person You Want to Speak with About Herpes

1. Most doctors are uninterested and unsympathetic to persons with herpes: Doctors are busy seeing lots of patients making lots of money. Herpes is a disease very few doctor’s have taken an interest in. There is no glamour involved with herpes like with cancer or heart disease. There are no big charities or foundations with millions or billions for research, and it’s incurable. Other than writing a prescription for an acyclovir-based drug there’s not much else seeing a doctor can do for persons with herpes. Very few doctors are going to invest the time and compassion in discussing the mental and emotional aspects of having herpes. Very few doctors will want to discuss having safer sexuality with you.

2. Many doctors and even a surprising number of dermatologists are not that competent at diagnosing herpes: Most doctors cannot accurately diagnose herpes sore just by visual inspection. I was mis-diagnosed for two years by a series of doctors who not only visually inspected my sores but also took swabs and gave me false negatives. Herpes can appear in a wide variety of forms on the skin form the typical colony of pin-prick sized liquid-headed lesions, to a single small pimple, a single-large pimple, a tear or slit in the skin like a fissure, to various rashes, to impersonations of ingrown hairs and skin-tags. If you suspect you have herpes insist on a type-specific blood test. The Western-Blot test is the most accurate one out, but there are others. You local chapter of planned parenthood can help you get a test if your doctor is reluctant.

3. Many doctors are surprisingly uninformed about herpes: I spend a lot of my time correcting bad information given to my patients by their doctors. Some doctors are even still telling people that they cannot spread herpes to others when they are not having an outbreak. Many doctors also exaggerate the hype about asymptomatic shedding and overstate the effectiveness of drug therapy for herpes in order to aid the drug companies in their marketing efforts.

4. Most doctors give the public mis-information about the effectiveness of natural therapies for herpes: The medical profession in alliance with the drug companies have been discouraging the general public from seeking natural treatment for herpes by repeating the lie that there are no effective natural treatments for herpes. Drug companies don’t want to spend the money to study natural therapies because they cannot patent such therapies and although governments won’t spend the money because they don’t want to validate safe, natural, inexpensive therapies which would compete with the expensive and highly-profitable drug therapies despite the fact that the drug therapies cause negative side-effects, Even in this climate, there still have been dozens upon dozens of studies which demonstrate the merit of natural therapies for herpes including simple things like doing Hatha yoga regularly. Melissa Officinalis, Olive leaf, Garlic, Lomatium Dissectum, Prunella Vulgaris, Lauricidin and many other natural substances have been shown to be effective in clinical studies. I have seen over 170 clinical studies about natural treatments for herpes. The scientific communities and the medical establish play games with the public by trying to invalidate these studies by saying that the sample size was too small for their liking or that because they were conducted overseas they are somehow invalid. It’s amazing that there have been any studies done at all since no one stands to make money from them.

Don’t expect an unbiased opinion on natural medicine from your doctor. I have written before that asking a doctor to comment on natural medicine is like asking an atheist to comment on the bible, or asking a Muslim cleric to comment on the Talmud.

We don’t need clinical studies to prove that natural medicine works. Natural practitioners have hundreds of years of clinical results with their patients to prove the effectiveness of their methods. If you treat patients and can the results yourself over and over again that is the most concrete way of evaluating natural medicine in my opinion. People can quibble over the results of studies but no one can tell my patients they haven’t gotten better if they have.

posted in Herpes Nation - 4 replies

iclicku.com

2008-01-18T08:12:58Z

Hi people, I just got back from a really fun trip(my virgin voyage) to Las Vegas with a group a people I met on a website called iclicku.com. I had a great time, and met some cool people. The best thing was I didn't have to worry if I forgot to pack my acyclovir. Anyway, the site give you a 1 month free trial and I'm definitely going to sign up for the year. I'd love to see some more folks on there.

posted in Herpes Nation - 0 replies

Even Coral Reefs Get Herpes

2008-01-14T16:57:32Z

Herpes Virus Killing Coral Reefs

By Andrea Thompson, LiveScience Staff Writer

posted: 20 June 2007 09:16 am ET
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NEW YORK—Corals get cold sores too. Only, for corals, a herpes virus infection isn’t just annoying. It can be lethal, and it and other diseases are possibly a big factor in the deaths of coral reefs that humans are causing throughout the world’s oceans, new research shows.

Scientists have known for years that humans are killing corals indirectly and directly through global warming, overfishing and pollution. Many reefs off populous coasts have been decimated, while those near uninhabited areas are often thriving.

“For some reason, when you put people next to reefs, they die,” said microbiologist Forest Rohwer of San Diego State University at a recent symposium at the American Museum of Natural History here.

A 2004 study found that 70 percent of the world’s reefs had been destroyed or were threatened by global warming and other human activities.

But just how these problems translate into a death sentence for corals has been difficult to work out.

Millions of microbes

Corals reefs are some of the most stunningly diverse habitats on the planet. They are home to thousands of species at all levels of the food chain: invertebrates such as sponges and starfish, small fish such as angelfish and clown fish, big fish such as parrot fish, barracuda, groupers and snappers,and even sharks.

“These are basically the most beautiful thing on the planet,” Rohwer said.

But the most amazing variety, he said, is actually found in the realm we can’t see: “We know [from DNA sequencing] that the most diverse things on a coral reef are actually the microbial community.”

There are about 10 million bacteria and 1 billion archaea on every square centimeter of coral, and two neighboring corals can have completely different microbes living on their surfaces.

The reefs are also constantly interacting with the water surrounding them—in only a milliliter of ocean water (about one-fifth of a teaspoon) there are about one million bacteria and 10 million viruses.

Organic carbon, a food source for the microbes, is produced by algae around the reef, but is usually gobbled up by small fishes, which are eaten by big fishes, which in turn are eaten by sharks, so very little of the carbon is left in the water column to feed the microbes.

“This allows the coral to actually control their microbial community by providing the food source to them through their mucous,” Rohwer explained.

Normally, corals use their cilia (tiny finger-like structures) to pass the bacteria along and push them off in balls of mucous that come off the corals and burst, Rohwer said.

But when humans come into the picture, microbes get the upper hand.

A microbial explosion

When humans overfish a reef, there’s nothing left to eat the food produced by the algae, so all that carbon builds up in the water column and feeds the microbes, sort of like "MicrobeGro" fertilizer, building up their numbers and overwhelming the coral.

“The coral is actually losing control of its microbial community,” Rohwer said.

Even though these microbes normally live in a harmonious balance with the coral, they are still potential pathogens.

Rohwer and his colleagues tested their idea by putting pieces of Panamanian corals in cups with seawater, and adding different “treatments” to each cup, and essentially “just look[ing] for the coral to die,” Rohwer said.

Organic carbon was indeed the biggest coral killer.

Herpes outbreak

Rebecca Thurber, one of Rohwer’s postdoctoral researchers, also took pieces of coral and changed conditions such as nutrients, temperature and water pH, then cut up the coral and sequenced the DNA of the microbes that grew on their surface.

And what was the number one disease affecting the corals? Herpes viruses.

“They dominate almost all the viruses that are present,” Thurber told LiveScience.

Herpes viruses are naturally found in many different animals (95 percent of humans carry some kind of herpes virus).

“Everybody in this room has at least a couple herpes viruses running around,” Rohwer said at the symposium, causing some in the audience to chuckle. “And when you get stressed, or immuno-compromised, they’re going to start hopping out and giving you little cold sores or other wounds that we won’t talk about.”

“That seems to be what’s going on in the corals too,” he added.

Rohwer and Therber’s findings suggest that these disease outbreaks are just one of the many ways human activity is killing off corals.

“They’re screwed no matter what we do to them,” Rohwer said.

posted in Herpes Nation - 0 replies

Leg Pains

2008-01-06T05:54:47Z

When I about to have an outbreak I get leg pains, it normally on one side. Is there anyone else who get pain somewhere other than the break out zone before or during an outbreak?

posted in Herpes Nation - 14 replies

Herpes and mood swings.

2007-12-11T18:59:48Z

I quite often find, right before I am about to have an outbreak, I get very irritable, angry, short tempered and sometimes even depressed. This isn't because i know an outbreak is going to start. It happens even before knowing. Does anyone experience this or anything like it? I'm beginning to believe there is a connection with mood and this virus.

posted in Herpes Nation - 2 replies

suicidal

2007-11-27T16:25:36Z

I posted here not too long ago when i was a couple months into my initial diagnosis with herpes.

I feel so out of sorts and overwhelmed. I'm losing control of my life and my family.

I assumed I got herpes from my current partner since he was never tested for it and still refuses to get tested to this day.

I was diagnosed via a culture and had some valtrex thrown at me and was hurried away. I was also a new mother only three
weeks postpartum with my daughter and scared out of my mind.

My relationship with m fiance was a fast one. Three months in and i was pregnant but I thought he loved me.
I have never been treated with such disrespect and felt so worthless from another human being as I do when I am with him.

He says all the worrying about my supposed "pain" has ruined the relationship and I failed him and my daughter.

With that being said I just want to jump off a bridge. I have no support from family or friends, everyone just lives their
own lives and I suffer silently.

I tried counseling and her response was, "it's just herpes". I felt like she said to me to just get over it.

I never went back.

I do nothing all day except to let my mind wander about all the shit I have failed at in my life and why I can't
ever have a happy ending.

I can't enjoy being with my daughter because i feel like a leper. I'm so afraid that in the beginning I would wash my
hands relentlessly out of fear of transmission to her.

MY partner just ignores me now and makes me feel worse. When he's had enough he'll just leave me here to take care
of our daughter on my own. Which I'm am used to but don't feel capable.

I requested a type specific IGG antibody test which came back negative...or a .09 for both types. I don't know why and no one
can explain this.

I don't know where herpes came from but its running my life and making me want to end it most days.

I used to be a happy person, but i don't know where to even begin.

I want help but i only work a small amount of days in the evening and thats if her father shows up to watch her.

I just don't know what to do anymore.

posted in Herpes Nation - 8 replies

how long do I wait after an outbreak?

2007-10-27T21:14:56Z

How long should one (HSV2, genital) wait to have sex after an out-break? With an HSV 2 positive person is the time frame different than a negative or unknown?

posted in Herpes Nation - 1 reply

How Easy is it to get Herpes from Oral Sex?

2007-10-23T20:05:30Z

There is no such thing as genital herpes or oral herpes, these are old and useless terms from back in the days when we didn't know better. There are 8 different kinds of herpes viruses, herpes simplex 1 and 2, chicken-pox, the epstein-barr virus and 4 others. With herpes simplex there is simply type 1 and type 2. Type 1 prefers being on your face but It can be anywhere you have skin including your genitals. Because of the popularity of oral sex many people who have genital herpes have type 1 not type 2. Type 2 herpes prefers to be in your genital area but can also be on your face, although this is rare, and yes your would likely in this situation only have a primary outbreak and may never again see symptoms.

A number of people have both type 1 and type 2 herpes at the same time.

The only way to tell if the herpes you have on your genitals is type 1 or type 2 is to have it diagnosed with a type-specific blood test or swab. So just because you have herpes on your genitals don't assume that it is type 2.

Some information claims that type 1 infections of the genitals don't produce many outbreaks. This is a myth. No two people get herpes the same way and there are many factors which will determine how many outbreaks you get and how severe they will be.

So of you have type 2 herpes on the genitals and someone performs oral sex on you there is a slim chance that they will get type 2 herpes of the mouth. If you have type 1 on your genitals there is a much better chance that someone will get type 1 of the mouth from you if they don't already have a type 1 of the mouth infection.

If you have type 1 herpes of the face-and please don't be in denial by labeling it as "cold sores", please be aware that there is a substantial risk of you infecting others when you perform oral sex on them and that the risk exists whether you are having symptoms you can notice or not. Just because you are not having an "outbreak" doesn't mean you are not contagious. If you have ever had a cold sore in your life, it means you have a life-long herpes infection no matter how long it's been since you have had an outbreak. You should avoid intimate contact with anyone when having any itching, tingling, burning or numbness anywhere on your face.

There are no clear numbers on what the actual statistical risk is. I encourage everyone to consider lowering the risk by avoiding intimate contact during any possible symptom of the virus being active (itching, tingling, burning, or numb sensations anywhere below the waist),treating their herpes daily with real herbal medicine from a herbalist or drug therapy and practicing safer sex with a condom/saran wrap and an anti-viral gel such as the one I make, http://www.antiviralgel.com.

Also keep in mind that according to statistics it is three times easier for a man to give herpes to a woman than for a woman to give it to a man, and that herpes infections are higher in the African-American and Hispanic populations than it is in the Caucasian population. I am Black myself, so I always want to encourage my brothers and sisters of colour to help get the message out in our communities about herpes awareness and the need to practice safer sexuality.

christopher scipio
homeopath/herbalist
holistic viral specialist

http://www.natropractica.com
http://herpesnation.blogspot.com

posted in Herpes Nation - 3 replies

Risk and Herpes

2007-10-22T17:36:58Z

I believe that it is misleading not to disclose risk even if that risk is considered to be small.

This is why the government requires drug companies disclose side-effects even when they are rare- so that people can have the information and make their own decisions on whether or not they wish to take that risk.

There is no such thing as perfect immunity, that is a myth. Having herpes does not guarantee that you cannot auto-inoculate yourself or be re-inoculated by someone else with the same or a different strain of herpes after antibodies are formed. The consensus is that the risk is small but there is no quantitative proof of just how small. We warn people to be careful of auto-inoculating their eyes and other body parts even though the risk is small. We warn people not to share wet towels or face-cloths even though the risk is small. We warn pregnant mothers about the risk of having an outbreak during delivery even though neo-natal herpes only happens in 1 out of every 5500 births.

I also believe that it is unethical to not warn people of your herpes status before being intimate with them, no matter if it's only for casual sex or sex-for-hire.

I understand the temptation to try and downplay the risks of herpes.

It's easier to stay in the closet and not advise people of the full spectrum of risks associated with herpes but I cannot support that practice. I believe in disclosure and allowing individuals to decide what risks they are willing or not willing to take.

Christopher Scipio
Homeopath/Herbalist
Holistic Viral Specialist
http://www.natropractica.com
http://www.herpesbook.com

posted in Herpes Nation - 6 replies

VIRAL SHEDDING....SOMEONE EXPLAIN!!!

2007-10-22T04:15:05Z

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD...someone explain to me viral shedding. For when there is potential to sleep w/ someone, and that person has been informed of my HSV2 status....how do I fully explain viral shedding. I understand it as skin to skin contact....so if basically, I'm not having an outbreak, even if their skin comes into close proximity to where I have my outbreaks (anal) that they might be subjected to possibly getting HSV2. HERE IS THE CATCH....how could it ever be possible that someone catch HSV2 through skin to skin contact though if I was having an outbreak....and sat on a toilet (now this is all hypothetical) and my HSV2 got on it, and by some fluke it touched another person....it was my understaning that the virus doesn't live outside it's range....on or inainmate objects....that person would in fact have to have a cut for it to be transmitted right!?

SO, if I'm not having an outbreak, and we have PROTECTED sex, just how much at risk is that person.....basing on casual sex?

PLEASE, advise!!!

posted in Herpes Nation - 18 replies

Herpes and the Stigma- a Clinical Study

2007-10-20T18:11:54Z

Chronic genital herpes and disclosure…. The influence of stigma

Itnl Jf STD & AIDS, Sept 2007;18(9): 589-592 Bickford J.
http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/rsm/std/2007/00000018/00000009/art00002

The objectives of this study were to assess the nature and effect of stigma
on disclosure of diagnosis to sexual partners among those with problematic
disease. Data from questionnaires and semistructured interviews were
collected and analysed. Data regarding anxiety were also collected using a
validated tool. Ethical approval was received from the Chelsea and
Westminster Healthcare National Health Service (NHS) Trust. Disclosure of
diagnosis tended to occur in the context of established relationships.
Herpes-related stigma was associated with non-disclosure of diagnosis to
sexual partners. The point prevalence of moderate to severe anxiety in this
sample was 32%. The use of suppressive medication did not affect anxiety
scores. In conclusion, the reaction to a diagnosis of genital herpes is
influenced by a socially constructed understanding and the decision to
disclose or not is influenced by this. Stigma is a barrier to disclosure of
genital herpes diagnosis. Management strategies aimed at encouraging
disclosure to partners must address perceived stigma.

posted in Herpes Nation - 0 replies

Heat Rash?

2007-08-21T03:26:47Z

The last couple days, I've gotten what seems to be a heat rash on my outer labia (hot humid missouri!).
It comes and goes and feels like herpes, but I don't have any lesions. This has happened one or twice before but not twice in three days!
Anyone ever experience this?

posted in Herpes Nation - 2 replies

just a some stats

2007-08-10T12:57:26Z

One out of five of the total adolescent and adult population is infected with genital herpes.

Infection is more common in women (approximately one out of four women) than in men (almost one out of five).

Male-to-female transmission is more efficient than female-to-male transmission.

One in five Americans have genital herpes (yet at least 80 percent of those with herpes are unaware they have it).

About 80 percent of American adults have oral herpes (cold sores).

An estimated 25 percent of American adults have genital herpes.

Genital herpes affects approximately one in six Australian adults

Approximately two-thirds of people who acquire STDs in the United States are younger than 25.1,3

About one in five people in the United States over age 12 (approximately 45 million individuals) are infected with HSV-2, the virus that causes genital herpes.2

According to the A.H.M.F. (Australian Herpes Management Forum) genital herpes is under-diagnosed — of people with genital herpes simplex virus infection only 1 in 5 are diagnosed and, up to 80% of cases of genital herpes are not recognized as such by clinicians.

At least one in four Americans will contract an STD at some point in their lives.

Up to 1 million new HSV-2 infections may be transmitted each year in the United States.1

Costs associated with genital herpes totaled approximately $237 million in 1994.3

Genital herpes infection also is more common among African Americans (45.9%) than among White Caucasian (17.6%).

Since the late 1970s, the number of Americans with genital herpes infection has increased 30%.

The largest increase of genital herpes is among young White teenagers.

Genital herpes infection is now five times more common in 12- to 19-year-old White adolescents.

Genital herpes is twice as common among young adults ages 20 to 29 than it was 20 years ago.

Estimating how many sexually transmitted disease or infection cases occur is not a simple or straightforward task. First, most STDs/STIs can be "silent," causing no noticeable symptoms. These asymptomatic infections can be diagnosed only through testing. Unfortunately, routine screening programs are not widespread, and social stigma and lack of public awareness concerning STDs/STIs often inhibits frank discussion between health care providers and patients about STD/STI risk and the need for testing.

-- ASHA. Sexually Transmitted Diseases in America: How Many Cases and at What Cost? December 1998.

More than half of all people will have an STD/STI at some point in their lifetime. [1]

The estimated total number of people living in the US with a viral STD/STI is over 65 million. [2] Every year, there are at least 19 million new cases of STDs/STIs, some of which are curable. [2,3]

More than $8 billion is spent each year to diagnose and treat STDs/STIs and their complications. This figure does not include HIV. [4]

In a national survey of US physicians, fewer than one-third routinely screened patients for STDs/STIs. [5]

Less than half of adults ages 18 to 44 have ever been tested for an STD/STI other than HIV/AIDS.

Each year, one in four teens contracts an STD/STI. [6]

One in two sexually active persons will contact an STD/STI by age 25. [7]

About half of all new STDs/STIs in 2000 occurred among youth ages 15 to 24. [8] The total estimated costs of these nine million new cases of these STDs/STIs was $6.5 billion, with HIV and human papillomavirus (HPV) accounting for 90% of the total burden. [9]

Of the STDs/STIs that are diagnosed, only some (gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, hepatitis A and B) are required to be reported to state health departments and the CDC.

One out of 20 people in the United States will get infected with hepatitis B (HBV) some time during their lives. [10] Hepatitis B is 100 times more infectious than HIV. [11]

Approximately half of HBV infections are transmitted sexually. [12] HBV is linked to chronic liver disease, including cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Hepatitis A and hepatitis B are the only two vaccine-preventable STDs/STIs.

It is estimated that as many as one in five Americans have genital herpes, a lifelong (but manageable) infection, yet up to 90 percent of those with herpes are unaware they have it. [13]

With more than 50 million adults in the US with genital herpes and up to 1.6 million new infections each year, some estimates suggest that by 2025 up to 40% of all men and half of all women could be infected. [14,15,16]

Over 6 million people acquire HPV each year, and by age 50, at least 80 percent of women will have acquired genital HPV infection. [17] Most people with HPV do not develop symptoms. Some researchers believe that HPV infections may self-resolve and may not be lifelong like herpes. [2]

Cervical cancer in women, while preventable through regular Paps, is linked to high-risk types of HPV.

Each year, there are almost 3 million new cases of chlamydia, many ofwhich are in adolescents and young adults. [8] The CDC recommends that sexually active females 25 and under should be screened at least once a year for chlamydia, even if no symptoms are present.

About two-thirds of young females believe doctors routinely screen teens for chlamydia. [18] However, in 2003 only 30% of women 25 and under with commercial health care plans and 45% in Medicaid plans were screened for chlamydia. [19]

At least 15 percent of all American women who are infertile can attribute it to tubal damage caused by pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) , the result of an untreated STD. Consistent condom use reduces the risk of recurrent PID and related complications: significantly, women who reported regular use of condoms in one study were 60 percent less likely to become infertile. [20]

Consistent condom use provides substantial protection against the acquisition of many STDs, including statistically significant reduction of risk against HIV, chlamydia, gonorrhea, herpes, and syphilis. [21,22,23]

Some studies show that, for those who already have a clinically apparent genital HPV infection, using condoms promotes the regression of HPV lesions in both women and men. [24,25]

posted in Herpes Nation - 0 replies

Some Recent Reviews of my Herpes Book

2007-07-27T14:53:34Z

Raw and real. A credible, courageous and compassionate introduction to the unique and multi-faceted healing journey called herpes. Whether reading for prevention or viral management, "Making Peace With Herpes" offers holistic salve to truthseekers. Christopher Scipio's non-ordinary message and methods are congruent and sorely needed. I heartily recommend both this supportive book and its author's generous complementary work. Potent medicine for empowering more conscious living and loving.

Shallah Ray Montaine
Vancouver, BC
July '07

"Written with compassion & brawn, Scipio's is the first book I have read that truly approaches herpes from a holistic stance. Making Peace with herpes walks you through vitamins, guided meditations and real life experiences on a path to wellness. This book is about emotional intelligence: rediscovering truth, the earth & our sacred selves. A must read irregardless of your herpes status."

A. Bacon, Sex Educator

A MUST read for anyone struggling with the virus. This is not your standard medical type book, filled only with cold hard facts. The author speaks to you directly with compassion and understanding. You will come to understand that it IS possible to manage this condition and come to peace with it. You will also come to understand how to control the 'triggers' and, most importantly, how to keep your partner safe.

Anonymous, IT Technician

This is a book most especially for those who want an alternative to western medicine and an approach that will be truly holistic, addressing emotional and social issues surrounding HSV 1 & 2, as well as medical ones. It is warm and caring and full of wisdom. I'm grateful to Christopher Scipio for helping me understand this virus and learning how to deal with it without shame and as part of being a human being despite misplaced social stigma.
W. W. L. Au

I bought this book because I was looking for other answers than those provided by medical sites. It definitely provides information on statistics and forms of transmission as well as ways of protecting others. But more importantly it offers a spiritual/emotional approach to dealing with the often devastating news as well as the lifetime "companion". The author's personal experience is something we can all relate to and it is comforting to know that one is not alone. Actually knowing that we are a majority is in a way empowering. There are no quick fixes for this and our emotional and psychological health is extremely important when dealing with this virus. Christopher Scipio makes a good point to touch on this throughout the book. I am one of those people who does not buy into the big drug companies and quick fixes, so am drawn to holistic medicine.
C. Devine

This is a book most especially for those who want an alternative to western medicine and an approach that will be truly holistic, addressing emotional and social issues surrounding HSV 1 & 2, as well as medical ones. It is warm and caring and full of wisdom. I'm grateful to Christopher Scipio for helping me understand this virus and learning how to deal with it without shame and as part of being a human being despite misplaced social stigma.- Arize

Christopher's book was a life saver. It is informative, it responded to my doubts and fears, it answered my questions. It showed me a way to live with herpes holistically. It taught me to think positively about something that was making me very negative.

I have given the book to several family members and friends who have herpes and they have loved it too. I highly recommend this book. - Charlotte in San Diego

The New Holistic Herpes Treatment Book

By Holistic Viral Specialist, Christopher Scipio. A must read for anyone with herpes. Effective, Empowering, Inspiring. Optional Self-Hypnosis CDs maximize the effectiveness of the book.

http://www.herpesbook.com

posted in Herpes Nation - 0 replies

Prodrome

2007-07-23T05:40:09Z

Well..I've finally pinpointed a warning for myself.

My legs feel like they are burnt. Like someone poured burning water all over.
Then...within a day bam..OB.

I've finally discovered this after almost 3 years. I hate how this virus seems to play tricks on my mind and it changes.
After the first OB I didnt do so bad. Lately I'm having one a month. It's awful. I'm single again and for a minute I actually thought that regular sex helped the OB's to not happen..is that even possible?

posted in Herpes Nation - 4 replies

What should a Newly Infected Person do/not do in the Initial Outbreak

2007-07-23T01:54:53Z

Hi Everyone.

I'm new to this tribe but not new to genital H. I don't know exactly when I first got it but I first found out I had it when I transmitted it to a former lover about 7 years ago. What a horrible shock that was. For most of that time between then and now I've been single and celibate afraid of transmitting the disease and/or being rejected by the many women who I've told about my having H. I'm mostly at peace and out in the open about having H but this posting is still a call for help.

I've just found out that I've transmitted H to my current lover. Its definitely a challenging doorway in our relationship that we are walking through right now and I have some questions to ask and I'm also asking for some support.

I am feeling a mix of emotions. Guilt and shame are very present. I could have done more. Yes, before I ever had sex with my beloved, I told her about my having herpes. Yes, I even told tell her about asymptomatic shedding and that it could be passed on when I didn't have an outbreak. I also told her that I didn't have outbreaks that often which is true. We have chosen to have unprotected sex. I feel like it was my fault in not being more careful. I didn't have a outbreak that I was aware of when I passed it on to her. She trusted me and I thought it would be OK but it wasn't.

We're dealing with the reality that she now has herpes lesions on her ass, perineum and on the labia and near the urethral opening of her yoni. Its not very pretty and its not the end of the world either and we're both feeling a lot of things at different times --- sad, stupid, angry, ashamed, wrong, confused, peaceful, accepting, madly in love, grateful to be together, and wondering what steps to take at this point to minimize the impact. There doesn't seem to be much information on the net specifically directed towards what to do in the initial outbreak.

This is what we've done/are doing so far. Several hours after we noticed the first pimples we were in the health clinic and she is now taking acyclovir 3x a day. Her naturopath gave her a calendula gel to help heal the lesions which she has been applying about once a day. She's done the tea bag application thing too to help with the irritation. We're both being careful about not touching the open sores then touching other parts of her body before washing our hands. She's been getting lots of rest, talking to a counselor and getting lots of love and support from me and her close friends. We eat very healthy organic food cooked at home. I'm holding space for her and just letting her have her emotions while encouraging her gently to generate empowering, healing positive thoughts around all of this. Like its not the end of the world, its a manageable minor skin condition and that it can actually call both of us forht into living in even more healthy ways.

So its been 5 days since the initial outbreak and a new sore showed up this morning. That was hard to take but I guess its normal too. We're putting out some questions in hopes that people have some good advice. Emotionally we're actually doing ok just riding the waves and doing our best to accept and be peaceful with what is happening and not burden ourselves with shame. Life happens and we're in love and committed to just being honest with how we are feeling and supporting each other with lots of love.

So just putting out some questions here. We discussed this and my lover asked me to post here.

I guess the biggest thing we are concerned about is spreading the disease to other parts of her body (auto-inoculation) or to other parts of my body and wondering if there are things we can do/not do in this initial outbreak that will minimize future outbreaks. If the virus tends to outbreak in the same areas where the initial infection was it makes logical sense to limit the number of sites of the initial infection. Is that possible?

Some other questions though.

Is swimming ok? We want to go hiking and camping up to a mountain lake.
Is it good to put something like cream on the sores or cover them up with band-aids?
If the infection is worse the first time is it likely to be worse the in future outbreaks?
The more sores you get the first time does it mean the more you will get in subsequent outbreaks?
Can you spread it within your genital region yourself?
What sorts of topical things would be good to put on it to avoid it spreading to different parts of the genitals?
Can we spread it from the genital to other part of the body?
How long will it take her body to develop it own immune resistance to the virus so that it doesn't spread to other parts of her?

What about passing it back to me say if I was kissing/touching her around her yoni or ass? Could I infect myself in the mouth? We have passionate amazing sex and its so much of what we find healing in our relationship. Right now, understandably, she's not feeling so good about intercourse because she is worried of spreading the disease deeper inside herself. So thats not even being considered. But what about external stimulation of her yoni by me with tongue and or fingers? Is that safe for me or her? Is it safe for me now since I already have H? Will it be safe for her in during future outbreaks? I certainly want to encourage my Goddess to continue to feel good about herself and let her know how desirable I find her even if she does have an outbreak.

Thanks for reading and for any help you might offer.....

posted in Herpes Nation - 3 replies

Looking for support

2007-07-21T06:18:21Z

I am new to this community so first of all I will say hello.
I have been aware of having both HSV 1 and 2 since October of 06. Very much a shock. I've been trying to deal with it by myself but have found it to be very difficult since none of my close friends have it, and no members of my family either. My family is aware, as well as my close friends, of my status and they have been helpful to a point, however they do not necessarily understand what I'm going through emotionally.
I think the worst part is that I have not observed anything that seemed to resemble an outbreak, however I've been experiencing a lot of highs and lows. I also have been without health insurance since I found out, which doesn't help.
Relationship-wise it's been difficult also. Since the time I've found out, I have had no stability in that domain. I did go through a period where I just wanted to shut myself away and not get emotionally involved with anyone ever again. But I didn't think it was fair to punish myself like that. It already feels extremely unfair that I would get this when I do not have a high risk lifestyle, when I've known plenty of people with extremely high risk lifestyles who have not contracted it. I've always been open and honest with people and let them know of my status before anything sexual happens or deep feelings develop, and of course some who were considering me for companionship suddenly put me in the "friends" category the minute they found out. It's a bit difficult to handle that kind of rejection and I'm trying to tell myself that they were just not the right person for me and that they are concerned about their health. However it's disheartening.
I'm trying to keep a positive outlook but it is difficult for me at this time.
It just feels extremely unfair because I've always been a loving, affectionate and understanding person towards others. Always giving them a shoulder to cry on and offering them support, being open-minded and accepting of differences. It's going to make finding someone to share my life with just that little bit more complicated.
Sorry if I sound like a whiner.

C.

posted in Herpes Nation - 12 replies

Being Positive for HPV, and Casual Safe Sex.

2007-07-17T23:49:51Z

Hello all....I'm new to tribe, and new to accepting my HSV2. I really find this to be a blessing in disguise.......to have HSV2 that is vs. HIV or something A LOT more life altering. For me, I take this as a positive thing....(literally...hahaha)....walking away from the negative, and turning it into a positive....allowing my HSV2 to be a filter for future partners. I feel it is my obligation to FULLY inform a partner whom I feel I may be intimate with that I have HSV2. However, I did want to know what some people's outlooks are. If you always practice safe sex, and oral sex isn't involved.....do you feel it's your obligation to inform the person you're going to sleep with that you have HSV2?? Most of us just want to stay away from the social stigma....I however do openly talk to my friends about it, b/c if they are wise they will learn from my mistake. But, if you're sexually active w/ HSV2, take Valtrex on a daily basis, and practice safe sex.....SERIOUSLY...how much of a risk is there for your partner???? I know some of the stats, but I'd rather hear of personal stories....the stats I don't think are all that accurate. Besides, each person has a different strain of HSV2, some more severe than others....PERSONAL experiences...no copy and pasting from a web MD site....

-Thanks!!!

posted in Herpes Nation - 17 replies

Factory Medicine is for Factory People

2007-07-13T14:41:09Z

Factory Medicine is for Factory People

Are You mass-produced, or are You one of a kind? If your body is Your hardware and Your mind Your software, what kind of operating system do You have running?

Are You a product of mass-production, with Your morals, ethics, world-view, self-awareness, habits and loyalties programmed into You by outside influences? Or are You an independent thinker with a healthy sense of skepticism? Do You believe the hype they are trying to feed You?

What do You eat? How do You eat? How much of Your diet is mass-produced factory food arriving in a box, bag or can with dead energy and depleted nutrients?
Or do You make time to cook most of the time and make meals full of Your own intent? Even if You don't cook, eating food made by someone who loves You or a chef that loves to cook is a very different experience than eating mass-produced factory food.

The same can be said for medicine. Someone I greatly admire, a master herbalist once said that "maybe factory people are best served by factory medicine". This was said at an herbal medicine conference and created some controversy, but it certainly captured my attention.

I think my esteemed colleague is probably right. Maybe if You are living a mass-produced factory lifestyle then maybe mass-produced drugs and supplements are best for You. Maybe You are too alienated from the natural world for holistic medicine to resonate as strongly with You as it would for someone who is more connected to themselves and nature. Maybe You wouldn't be ready to take charge of Your own healing and have the highly individualistic and demanding experience of tuning into Your own body. Maybe You wouldn't be willing to give up your bad habits and make the changes and distinctions needed for living a healthier lifestyle.

The ironic thing is that science is slowly catching up to what healers have known for eons, that the presence of a human being and his or her intent makes all the difference in the world. Quantum physics theorizes that that the mere presence of an observer changes how particles behave. Human involvement in any process makes a positive impact whether it be cooking or the making of medicine or anything else.

We usually value hand-made, personally-made things far more than the mass produced. Hand made cars such as rolls royces or ferraris are valued the most. Hand-made one-of-a-kind designer couture clothing is far more expensive than their mass-produced ready-to-wear lines in stores. An original painting, sculpture or persian rug is far more expensive than factory reproductions. A home designed by an architect specifically for You and the site You've chosen and the life You lead will give You a home much different than a pre-fab factory house.

Don't get me wrong, I love mass-produced things. My macintosh computers are mass-produced as is my volkswagen jetta tdi and my clothes and almost everything else I own, and I appreciate them and appreciate consistency and quality control in mass-production. But I don't depend on those things for my health or healing. When it comes to my food and medicine I run away from sterile, dead mass-production as much as possible.

There are no quick-fix gimmicks in holistic medicine and many of its modalities are ancient and low-tech.

Instead of that flashy pill You're seeing over and over again on TV there are healing teas You can make in Your own kitchen, yoga You can do on Your own home, healing plants You can grown in Your garden, seaweeds You can soak your feet in, and so much more.

Who convinced You that your great-grandparents were wrong? That the natural medicine they believed in and relied on for 30,000 years or longer is now something to ridicule or ignore? Something to exile to the fringe , to dismiss, to deny? Maybe it's the same people who promised You better health and instead gave You a long list of harmful side-effects, massively expensive medical bills and a lack of caring.

If You are a factory person ready to go wherever the medical industrial complex wants to blindly lead You to, then factory medicine is likely the best fit for You.

If You are not a product of mass-production, if You are interested in cooking some or all of Your own meals, eating better, supporting organic farmers when You can, exercising, stretching and tapping into Your own unlimited healing potential then the ancient low-tech world of natural medicine has more than a life-time of wonders for You to discover.

christopher scipio
homeopath/herbalist
holistic viral specialist
http://www.natropractica.com

posted in Herpes Nation - 0 replies

Herpes and Natural Childbirth

2007-07-11T06:11:31Z

Herpes and Natural Childbirth  There's a lot of misinformation being circulated about the risk of a mother infecting her infant during natural childbirth. Neonatal herpes infection is a serious and sometimes fatal problem, but it is also a rare one. There is less than a 1 in 5000 chance of it happening. Through the use of Natural Medicine. hypnotherapy and valtrex during the last month of pregnancy almost any woman who wants a safe natural childbirth can have one.  The medical system pressures women to have c-sections which are less healthy for their babies, so that the risk of malpractice suits are lowered and so doctor's don't have to miss their regularly scheduled golf games to deal with the unpredictability of when a baby is ready to come into this world.  There are also effective Natural methods to help a man greatly reduce the chances of infecting his uninfected female partner during her pregnancy or during their attempts at conceiving a child.  I am the guest of a radio show hosted by hypnobabies- an organization that helps women have holistic natural childbirths with the aide of hypnotherapy. The show airs air on Friday, July 13th at 9 AM Pacific Time, and again on Saturday July 14th at 1 PM Pacific Time on  http://www.healthylife.net. It will then be archived at the same web address for about 2 months, starting a few days after the first air date, so that listeners can hear it at any time that is convenient for them.  regards christopher scipio homeopath/herbalist holistic viral specialist  http://www.natropractica.com 

posted in Herpes Nation - 2 replies

Herpes: The 1 Million Pound Gorilla in the Room

2007-07-09T13:47:47Z

I asked the following question to my yahoo herpes support group:

POLL QUESTION: Herpes: The One Million Pound Gorilla in the Room

I woke up today still astonished by how a disease like herpes which affects at least 60% of the population above or below the waist and that is spreading like a California wildfire can be virtually ignored by the media. You don't hear about it in the news, you don't see it mentioned in movies, television shows or on mainstream radio. People with herpes are invisible and silent for the most part. Would you be willing to help humanize herpes by telling your own personal herpes story on a dvd, website or in a book?

CHOICES AND RESULTS
- yes votes, 77.78%
- no votes, 22.22%

This is very encouraging to me because the more of us willing to come forward to put a human face on this disease the better a climate of understanding and tolerance we can create for our selves but more importantly for our brothers and sisters who will be getting herpes in the future. We will also help some people protect themelves from ever getting this lifelong gift.

If you are at all motivated to share your story please do write to me and let me know who you are. info at natropractica dotcom

Let's tear down the walls of this collective ghetto of shame.
regards

christopher scipio
homeopath/herbalist
holistic herpes treatment specialist
http://www.natropractica.com

posted in Herpes Nation - 0 replies

There is No Magical Quick-Fix for Herpes, So Don't Look for one

2007-06-28T14:46:59Z

Most of the true treasures of this world lay in the depths of things.
If you were to content yourself with superficial things-think of what you'd be missing.
If you only swam on the surface of the water you'd miss the wonders below. If you only ate the skin of fruits and vegetables you'd be in a sorry state. If all you ever read of a book was it's first few pages, or if all you ever wanted to see in a film were the trailer, well you'd certainly be missing the big picture.

There are no quick fixes for herpes.
The virus lives deep within you in the core of your nerves cells. It has access to all the thoughts and feelings that course through your body. When you are in equilibrium the virus is likely dormant-when you are out of balance, angry, scared, anxious, ashamed the virus is likely going to be active.

To truly manage your herpes in a holistic way you have to take a deep personal inventory. What are your triggers? Are you at peace with the virus' permanent presence in your body? Have you been successful in rejecting the superficial and mean-spirited stigma placed on people with herpes and regained all the self-esteem and confidence you lost when you found out you had herpes? Are you living a life of integrity by informing your potential lovers beforehand of your herpes status and doing your best to manage your herpes so that your are less likely to infect others? What are you willing to start doing to manage your herpes better? What are you willing to stop doing to manage your herpes better? Are you fixated on the negative aspects of having herpes or are you looking at the brighter side of things?

Once a unflinching personal inventory is taken it's possible to see the whole picture of having herpes. There are no completely negative or completely positive experiences in life. Herpes doesn't have to be a completely negative experience. There are positive aspects to having herpes.

Herpes can act like a barometer which sends you an warning when you have become too far out of balance.

Having herpes can be like a litmus test to show you who really cares about you. If after telling someone you have herpes they are less interested in pursuing a romantic and sexual relationship with you they didn't care enough about you to begin with. If after telling someone who is a friend or family member that you have herpes and you feel their lack of support-then you more clearly see where you stood with them all along.

Having herpes challenges your personal integrity. It challenges you to tell an uncomfortable truth to lovers for their own protection and challenges you to take measures to protect the health of others.

If you have never experienced what it is like to be scorned or being prejudiced against because of something out of your control, herpes helps you experience that reality so that you can sympathize better with other discriminated against people in our society.

Having herpes is a cold slap of humility in our all too arrogant existence as human beings on this planet. We have been taught by some of our religions and philosophies that we are the dominant force on the planet when in reality microbes have always been dominant and continue to be dominant. As I have said in other writing we are a sideshow-most of the real action in this world happens on a microscopic level. We are a home to hundreds if not thousands of viruses, bacteria, fungi and protozoa. We could not digest food without the hundreds of bacteria in our mouths and intestines. We are colonized by microbes. Most are beneficial or neutral some are harmful. Maybe with more humility we would be less likely to abuse the plants, animals and environment around us and see the bigger picture.

Staying in healthy balance with your own thoughts and emotions including making peace with the herpes virus is the most important step in managing herpes in a healthy holistic way. Herbal medicine, drug therapy, supplements, yoga, hypnosis, etc can all help, but going deep within and creating peace and harmony in your life is the key.

Christopher Scipio
Homeopath/ Herbalist
Holistic Herpes Treatment Specialist
http://www.natropractica.com
http://www.herpesnation.com

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Please Don't Be Your Own Worse Herpes Enemy

2007-06-27T00:22:11Z

It has been said by others that there are no incurable diseases, only incurable people.

If you are struggling with persistent herpes symptoms- how much are you beng an obstacle to your own healing?

Which of your thoughts, beliefs, actions may be getting in your way? Is your inaction or unwillingness to change an obstacle?

We all to some degree limit ourselves. What are you doing to challenge your own limitations?

Self-sabotage is part of human nature. We all have a comfort zone, for many being ill is more comfortable than being healthy. If you believe yourself to be a victim or somehow unworthy, then you may also believe that health isn't your right.

If you haven't made peace with herpes in your heart and head then you have been unwilling to lay the foundation for overcoming herpes.

Self-criticism isn't the most comfrotable thing to do. But exanding your comfort zone is empowering. Being able to take an unflinching inventory of yourself is emancipating.

Please don't be your own worse herpes enemy.

christopher scipio
holistic viral specialist
http://www.natropractica.com
http://www.herpesnation.com

posted in Herpes Nation - 2 replies

We Are The Real Virus

2007-06-23T07:38:11Z

Just Who Are We Calling a Virus?

We are the virus. We are the epidemic.

Up until fairly recently we (human beings) were a relatively benign presence on the earth. We lived in harmony with the earth. We didn’t have much choice. Our survival depended on it.

Then our “intelligence”, arrogance and greed mutated us into the worst plague the earth has ever seen. We are making the planet sick and if we don’t change our ways soon the earth will die.

At last count we are making 40,000 or more species of plants and animals extinct every year, ironically destroying the very sources of medicines which may cure the diseases that plague us.

A virus cannot live independent of its host. A malignant virus wantonly reproduces until it exhausts all of its host’s resources until the host dies.

The way herpes and hpv treats us compares favourably with how we treat our environment.

Again ironically, one of the few therapies available to the ecosystem to try and fight the plague of human civilization is to use lethal viruses and other pathogens to reduce our numbers to manageable levels.

The earth hasn’t employed this treatment against us as yet. I believe it’s because nature is still hoping to make peace with us and live in balance with us. But if we continue to ravage our host Gaia, our mother, She will have no choice but to purge herself of us in the near future. Either that or we will destroy the planet.

Herbal medicine and all forms of natural healing is a key component in us living in harmony with the earth. When you treat yourself with natural medicine not only are you helping yourself make peace with the disease in your body, but you are also reconnecting yourself with the plants in your medicine and the viral forces of the planet which are embodied in the plants. It is an antidote to the impersonal, synthetic, mass-produced industrial drugs from the same collective mentality that is raping and plundering the planet. Natural medicine is an act of self-love and an act of respect for nature. It is an act of harmonization. Drug therapy is almost always an act of alienation.

Sometimes drug therapy is necessary and life-saving. Just as some harvesting of the planet’s resources will always be necessary. But whenever possible nature should be the therapy of choice.

The next time you think about herpes of any other virus, ask yourself who is the real virus?

Christopher Scipio
Homeopath/Herbalist
Holistic Viral Specialist
http://www.natropractica.com
http://www.herpesbook.com
http://www.herpesnation.com

posted in Herpes Nation - 2 replies

HSV2 TRANSMISSION

2007-06-18T14:21:22Z

Hey everyone,

I just wondered.....HSV2 is just spread through open lesions, and viral shedding correct? Not through sexual fluids....I just wanted some confirmation on this.

Thanks.

posted in Herpes Nation - 1 reply

Stigma, what stigma?

2007-06-11T15:25:55Z

I started this group as an empowerment and encouragement zone for those of of with "the gift". Just because a few mean-spirited and ignorant people wish to continue the stigma doesn't mean we have to buy into it.

Most people are reasonable, open and supportive, if you give them a chance. And if you run into some of the destroyers out there, that's okay too, it's all part of life.

We can't control what others say or do but we can control ourselves. We can be be honest, upfront and unashamed.

There is no more reason to be ashamed of having herpes than having acne or arthritis.

There is no excuse in the world for not disclosing your herpes status before you have any kind of intimate contact with anyone.

There is a lot to life, and herpes is a tiny part of it, unless you blow it up way beyond what it actually is.

People newly diagnosed will likely be angry, ashamed, stunned, numb, scared, etc. But let's do our best to at leats keep this list positive and progressive.

regards and love
christopher scipio
homeopath/herbalist
holistic viral specialist
http://www.natropractica.com

posted in Herpes Nation - 0 replies

Choosing to risk it

2007-06-09T02:47:41Z

I know a lot of folks (probably most) find out they have herpes without realizing they had been exposed.
Have any of you (previously negative for the virus) consciously chosen to expose yourself to the risk by being with someone you know has it?
Anyone regret that decision?

I'm contemplating this delimma right now. I've met someone I like, who's been up front about it, and now I'm in the position to choose to risk catching it, or forgoe an intimate relationship with this person.
I realize that if I do choose to be intimate with them, I should assume that I'll get it, because assuming I'll luck out is just foolish. So - do I want to do something that will impact my sexual relationships for the rest of my life?
This is especially hard because I understand how messed up and unfair it is for people who have it, and I don't want to make anyone feel bad. But this is my health and my life here, forever after, so...I'm not sure what to do.

Any insight would be helpful.
Thanks!

posted in Herpes Nation - 2 replies

Herpes/Her-Peace

2007-06-04T16:29:19Z

Herpes /Her-Peace

In my experience as a clinician it became apparent almost immediately that herpes is a very different disease for women than it is for men. It is easier for a woman to be infected with herpes than it is for a man. Women tend to experience more severe symptoms than men. Women are more likely to feel stigmatized by having herpes since we still live in a culture where many people (including many women) expect women to be purer than men. We embrace bad boys, we tend to punish “bad women”. My three years of research with sex workers proved this point over and over again to me.

Women are more in touch with the forces of the universe than men are. Women tend to be the ones in any culture that maintain balance and hold families together. Women give birth to life and nurture life, too many men destroy life- human life, animal life, plant life.

In many societies it has been the women that have preserved the healing knowledge of the local plants. This is true in my African-Caribbean culture.

If you are a woman who has herpes it’s vitally important that you use your feminine instincts to make peace with the virus, reject any notion of yourself being dirty or compromised by having herpes, and reach out to your community for support and love. Some people ridicule the notion of making peace with herpes and write to me asking me how to make war on the virus. I always tell them that one of the fundamental rules of the art of war is to never fight a war that you cannot win. Some people are inclined to be negative, they prefer to be angry and resentful and bitter- towards the virus, towards the person who gave it to them, towards life, even towards me for even suggesting that making peace with herpes is possible. They prefer to say no when they can say yes. These people never do well with managing their herpes holistically. These people rarely experience the fullness of health and happiness.

Herpes lives in the base ganglion of your nervous system. If you have type two herpes it’s right there in the sacral region of your spine. Herpes is tapped into every major nervous system in your body. Herpes can feel when you are unbalanced and negative and will respond by activating itself and it can sense when you are balanced and at peace and will tend to stay dormant.

I have only had one outbreak in the past four plus years because I am at peace with the virus in my body and with my body and with my life and with my community. I live a positive life. I enjoy this gift of being alive. I am happy. I don’t need to take any supplements or remedies any longer to control my herpes. The peace and balance in my life has proven to be the most effective medicine ever.

Without peace and balance herpes will be the least of your problems. You will be more vulnerable to cancer and heart disease and everything else.

There’s too much trouble in this world already. I encourage you to make your own life into an oasis of love and harmony. Sound too easy? You are a human being with virtually unlimited power and potential. You can make almost anything you want to happen happen, if you believe and if you do the work.

Christopher Scipio
Homeopath/Herbalist
Holistic Viral Specialist
http://www.natropractica.com

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Have to Have Holistic safer Sex

2007-06-02T15:07:01Z

A Holistic Guide to Safer Sex

Have Sex:

A happy and life-affirming sex life is your God/dess given right. Don’t feel that you have to opt out of the joys of life just because you have a life-long herpes infection. It’s not easy to feel sexy when you are having regular outbreaks, especially if you are a woman, but it’s important to feel like a whole, clean, desirable person.

I’ve written before and I’ll write it again that having herpes or hpv doesn’t make you any less attractive, or sexy or moral or clean as you were before you got herpes or hpv. Perception can be very deceptive; especially the way many people choose to see themselves. You have the power to change how you see yourself for the better. If you want sex and are not having any symptoms of an outbreak or prodrome there’s no reason in the world not to have sex. Beyond the physical pleasures, intimacy is vital in this all too cold world.

Have sex but be responsible with your sexuality.

Whether or Not to have Safer Sex:

In my opinion, it is the right and responsibility of any two or more consenting adults about to start a sexual relationship, even if it’s a casual one, to have a conversation about whether or not they wish to practice safer sex. I encourage people to have safer sex but no one has the right to tell anyone what to do with their own body. Some people like taking risks; some are down-right self-destructive and destructive to others. Some choose to smoke cigarettes or do recreational drugs. Some eat junk food. Some watch Wrestlemania.

Whatever the two or more people about to begin a sexual relationship decide it should be a mutual agreement. Don’t leave it to assumptions or reading between the lines. Don’t have your head in the sand. Don’t fantasize that God or Spirit or good luck is a substitute for a safer sex strategy. Talk about it openly and decide what level of risk is appropriate for the situation.

Know Your Partner: Get Tested

Having sex with any person who hasn’t recently been tested for sexually transmitted infections including having blood tests for herpes, hepatitis, and HPV is like playing Russian roulette. Not only would you not know what you may be exposing yourself to, but the person in question may be in the dark themselves. Some people would rather not know than know. Knowledge is empowering and in this matter not knowing is simply foolish.

Don’t be intimidated to ask. In this day in age it isn’t disloyal or rude or unromantic to ask about someone’s sexually transmitted infection status. Make sure that you have been recently tested yourself if you are not in a long-term monogamous relationship.

If you do not know your partner’s test status it’s best to assume that they have at least one sexually transmitted infection and to govern yourself accordingly. If you do not know your test results you should also assume that you have at least one sexually transmitted infection and should take the appropriate precautions to inform and protect your partner/s.

Know Your Limits: Stick to Your Comfort Zone:

A lot of people, especially women, get intimidated by their partners into engaging in sexual acts that are outside of their comfort zone. Do not allow anyone to pressure you into doing anything you are not ready, willing and able to do. It’s your body, exercise the fullness of your rights.

It’s all a matter of choice. No one is less cool or less committed to any relationship by sticking to their own sexual boundaries.

Use a Condom/Dental Dam:

Safer sex means using a condom for genital, oral and anal sex if there is a penis involved or a dental dam or saran wrap if there isn’t a penis involved. If someone is allergic to latex there are polyurethane condoms available. For oral sex there are flavoured condoms as an option.

Please don’t use a condom that contains a spermicide as these tend to irritate your mucous membranes and make the people involved more likely to get a sexually transmitted infection.

Don’t develop a false sense of security with condoms/dental dams/saran wrap. These do not cover areas of the body that can still transmit and be vulnerable to infection, using an antiviral gel on possible transmission and infection sites can help lessen this possibility. For example if a man gets herpes sores in his pubic hair area or perineum or buttocks, wearing a condom will not protect his partner; using an antiviral gel will.

Condoms can also break or slip off. Using an anti-viral gel underneath a condom will help protect in the case of a broken or slipped-off condom. Using a water-based lube or anti-viral gel outside of the condom will reduce the likelihood of the condom breaking.

The condom should go on as soon as the clothes come off if not before.

Once a man has ejaculated, he should remove the condom from his penis and remove his penis from intimate contact with his partner as condoms are very likely to slip off as the penis becomes flaccid.

If you are practicing fisting, latex gloves are recommended.

Use an Antiviral Gel:

I have been treating herpes holistically for 16 years now, starting with my own. Even during the heady days four years past when I finally was able to put together an effective protocol for controlling herpes outbreaks, I was still left with a daunting challenge.

Yes, now I knew I could greatly limit the frequency and severity of outbreaks with the virus for myself and others, in fact I could keep many people outbreak free for vast stretches of time, but that still wasn'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 ironically, having a happy and active sex life is one of the best ways to keep the virus dormant. Happy, sexually active people are less likely to have outbreaks.

Condoms are of course a great tool in making sex safer. But there are 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.

We developed our own microbiocide with Carrageenan and other substances we were already working with in the protocol and developed our own formula. Our Red Marine Algae and Carrageenan Anti-Viral Gel is edible, completely non-toxic and can act as a lubricant. It is not meant as a replacement for condoms, it's designed as a supplement to condom use to make it less likely to infect your loved ones. It's effective for genital, anal and oral sex.

You use the gel as a barrier so the best way to use it in terms of heterosexual sex is for the man to put some on his penis and then put a latex condom on the penis. Then a small amount of gel would be applied to the labia of the woman and also inside her vagina. The gel should be reapplied every 30-45 minutes. Even after being sucked or licked there is enough of a coating of the gel to be effective for 30 minutes. The gel can be used as a barrier in anal sex, oral sex, lesbian oral sex and even for kissing.

The gel must be used with a latex condom or a dental dam/saran wrap. The gel is not a contraceptive and will not prevent pregnancy.

If you are a woman, regardless of whether or not you are sexually active you should place a small amount of the gel inside your vagina three times a day every day to help prevent outbreaks and viral shedding. If you are a man and have symtpoms after sex or masturbation you should apply the gel three tmes a day to the areas where you have previously ahd sores.

To inquire about ordering the gel email me or visit http://www.antiviralgel.com

Urinate After Sex:

It is crucially important for women to urinate as soon after sex as possible. I recommend that it be within 15 minutes of completing the act. Failing to do so on a regular basis can lead to urinary track and bladder infections.

I recommend that men follow this advice as well.

christopher scipio
homeopath/herbalist
holistic viral specialist
http://www.natropractica.com

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