Art_Critic Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Points 6 and 7 nail it! Herpes is actually just a minor inconvenience for many - as oral herpes is for many many more. You can't 100% guard against either, unless you never kiss or engage in any sexual activity. I also would just like people to spread facts rather than fiction, and stop stigmatising each other for perfectly common and non life-threatening infections that the majority of us carry in one form or another. Nobody has mentioned the cost for medicine therapy for an entire lifetime as being a factor to consider not jumping into the herpes pool. Something tells me that the medicines are very expensive and the therapies and regimens can be very costly as well... Throughout a lifetime herpes could well cost into the 10's of thousands of dollars or even higher to properly care for.. Link to post Share on other sites
macon Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 As far as I know there is no definitive test for Herpes in the absence of symptoms. The fact is you can only know with 100% certainty that you have it - you can't know with the same certainly that you don't Link to post Share on other sites
dreamergrl Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 No I haven't.. honestly with the 90% statistic that gets thrown around I have no idea why.. I haven't done anything specific in regards to protecting myself from oral herpes.. With all the employees that I have working for me today ( +- 20 ) I can't think of any that have come to work with cold sores except for the one rep I mentioned in the last 20 or so years either.. Just because I'm curious, have you been tested for HSV 1 orally? Link to post Share on other sites
Art_Critic Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 How often have you asked a partner if they've had cold sores prior to oral sex or kissing someone? How often do other people ask this? I can't think of ever asking someone this or being asked this.. Link to post Share on other sites
dreamergrl Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 As far as I know there is no definitive test for Herpes in the absence of symptoms. The fact is you can only know with 100% certainty that you have it - you can't know with the same certainly that you don't Cultures are the only form of test that can guarantee a positive negative. Although, blood tests after 4 months of your last exposure are very unlikely to give you a false negative, although it's not impossible. Link to post Share on other sites
macon Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Are these just your personal speculations you're presenting? Because, as has already been said, the vast majority of people on this planet have one form of herpes or other ... that's the vast majority. Of these many have no symptoms or none beyond the first outbreak. Of those who do continue to have symptoms, the attacks tend to lessen as time goes on. There is only a very small and very unlucky percentage that actually have to maintain suppressive therapy - that's a very small percentage. Based on these facts I think your speculations are ill-informed, and very careless. "Throughout a lifetime herpes could well cost into the 10's of thousands of dollars or even higher to properly care for.." Seriously, we're adults here yes? Can we deal with facts rather than emotive and misleading statements presented as truth? Link to post Share on other sites
Art_Critic Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Just because I'm curious, have you been tested for HSV 1 orally? I have had the HerpeSelect blood tests done once for both a while back ago.. and only the HSV1 test done as recently as when I got married last year... Link to post Share on other sites
Nutshell Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Nobody has mentioned the cost for medicine therapy for an entire lifetime as being a factor to consider not jumping into the herpes pool. Something tells me that the medicines are very expensive and the therapies and regimens can be very costly as well... Throughout a lifetime herpes could well cost into the 10's of thousands of dollars or even higher to properly care for.. With all due respect, Art_Critic, you're posting a lot of misinformation. I wish people who had no first hand experience with herpes would refrain from posting their supposed knowledge about dealing with it. I've had HSV-2 for years. I don't take Valtrex. I get on the order of 1 - 3 outbreaks per year these days. When it happens I refill my prescription of Acyclovir which costs me a copayment of $10, the rest being covered by my insurance. I take that for 5 days (which uses up that refill) and it helps speed up the outbreak process. Basically, it makes it heal faster. So I spend roughly $10 - $30 per year on medication. I spend much more than that per year on coffee. As for protecting your health, herpes is no harsher on your health than the common cold. Link to post Share on other sites
dreamergrl Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Nobody has mentioned the cost for medicine therapy for an entire lifetime as being a factor to consider not jumping into the herpes pool. Something tells me that the medicines are very expensive and the therapies and regimens can be very costly as well... Throughout a lifetime herpes could well cost into the 10's of thousands of dollars or even higher to properly care for.. But the thing is you don't need the medicine for a life time. After about a year your immune system fights it with little to no problem. Viral shedding is less, outbreaks are less, and eventually non existent. Link to post Share on other sites
blind_otter Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 so you don't think you could miss out on a great person just because of their hair color? I don't particularly care if I miss out on great people because I don't like dating people with blond hair. That's my personal preference, and that's that. At least we still have the option of picking out who we would like to date, thank GOD. Strangely enough...I've had coldsores a couple of times a year since I was a child. I've kissed many partners, and I think I've ever had oral sex with them - none has ever had an outbreak. How odd. Link to post Share on other sites
macon Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 I can't think of ever asking someone this or being asked this.. Well, can you not see it is as important to ask or disclose, as genital herpes? Both oral and genital can infect your partner. Again, I assume people don't disclose or think to disclose oral herpes because for some reason they don't see the link with genital! It is more socially acceptable to have oral herpes - most kids get it when they are just that - but we need to acknowledge the link and stop saying one version is ok, and stigmatising those who have the other version from inside our glass houses. Link to post Share on other sites
dreamergrl Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Strangely enough...I've had coldsores a couple of times a year since I was a child. I've kissed many partners, and I think I've ever had oral sex with them - none has ever had an outbreak. How odd. It's not really odd at all because the outbreak could not come for years or at all. Link to post Share on other sites
Art_Critic Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Based on these facts I think your speculations are ill-informed, and very careless. Get off your high horse... I know that medication isn't cheap... If a person's lifetime living with herpes is lets say 50 years... then $10,000 divided by 50 would be $200.00 per year.. Well within any expectation that a medication would cost... Lets all be adults here Link to post Share on other sites
pandagirl Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 I can't think of ever asking someone this or being asked this.. That's the thing. The only difference between coldsores and gential herpes is its location. It's the association with sex, and the societal judgements on sex, that make genital herpes "dirty" and "bad" and oral herpes "OK." Link to post Share on other sites
macon Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Not odd at all! I've had several long-term partners who I've had sex with without condoms over periods of months and months - and they've never caught herpes from me either Yup, herpes isn't necessarily a big deal. I'm just trying to get people to see that oral and genital are the same virus, and that we shouldn't stigmatise either ideally. For some reason currently we only stigmatise one. Link to post Share on other sites
macon Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Get off your high horse... I know that medication isn't cheap... If a person's lifetime living with herpes is lets say 50 years... then $10,000 divided by 50 would be $200.00 per year.. Well within any expectation that a medication would cost... Lets all be adults here Did you understand any of my previous post at all? Did you get the point that only a very very very small percentage of people require repeated medication? Did you get that over 90% of the population carry herpes? No high horse - just like to live in a world of facts rather than fear Link to post Share on other sites
dreamergrl Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Get off your high horse... I know that medication isn't cheap... If a person's lifetime living with herpes is lets say 50 years... then $10,000 divided by 50 would be $200.00 per year.. Well within any expectation that a medication would cost... Lets all be adults here OMG those with HSV don't go on a life time of medication. Reread Panda's post about that, she isn't on it. Her own doctor told her she doesn't need to be on it. Link to post Share on other sites
Nutshell Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Get off your high horse... I know that medication isn't cheap... If a person's lifetime living with herpes is lets say 50 years... then $10,000 divided by 50 would be $200.00 per year.. Well within any expectation that a medication would cost... Lets all be adults here Referencing my post above, I spend $10 - $30 per year. So let's say an average of $20 over 50 years which equates to $1000 over my lifetime. Not tens of thousands. Link to post Share on other sites
blind_otter Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Not odd at all! I've had several long-term partners who I've had sex with without condoms over periods of months and months - and they've never caught herpes from me either Yup, herpes isn't necessarily a big deal. I'm just trying to get people to see that oral and genital are the same virus, and that we shouldn't stigmatise either ideally. For some reason currently we only stigmatise one. Personally I wouldn't be offended if someone didn't want to date me because I get cold sores. That's their bag, baby. I once knew a guy who had an intense foot fetish. Although we had great chemistry, he wouldn't date me because I have a huge scar on my left foot. We remained good friends until he moved back up to Philly. Link to post Share on other sites
Trialbyfire Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 People don't normally die from chickenpox but most Canadian and American children get vaccinated. It's up to the individual if they're willing to be exposed to HSV or not. I'm uncertain why this is such a difficult concept to accept. Link to post Share on other sites
macon Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 And you may be one of the unlucky ones. I can say I haven't spent a single pound on this irritation - I get it maybe once every year or two, and it goes away within 5 days ... hardly the end of my life! I have friends who may buy one Zovirax lipsalve a year too - about a cost of £2! I've spent more on sun tan lotion - now skin cancer, that's a disease worth spending cash to avoid! Link to post Share on other sites
Art_Critic Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Nobody has mentioned the cost for medicine therapy for an entire lifetime as being a factor to consider not jumping into the herpes pool. Something tells me that the medicines are very expensive and the therapies and regimens can be very costly as well... Throughout a lifetime herpes could well cost into the 10's of thousands of dollars or even higher to properly care for.. With all due respect, Art_Critic, you're posting a lot of misinformation. I wish people who had no first hand experience with herpes would refrain from posting their supposed knowledge about dealing with it.. Reread my post.. I quoted above for you.. No where did I say I knew what the medicines did cost .. in fact.. I asked a question about if anybody had ever considered the cost... I'm not as far off the mark with the cost.. Quoted from a forum Valtrex is very expensive. If you buy it from a drugstore like Walgreen's or CVS the 500 mg pills cost about $6.00 apiece. The 1,000 mg pills cost about $10.00 apiece. If you require Valtrex for a year of suppressive therapy, this will cost close to $1100. Other factors are insurance.. Does your insurance cover your medicine therapy ? Link to post Share on other sites
macon Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 "It's up to the individual if they're willing to be exposed to HSV or not. I'm uncertain why this is such a difficult concept to accept." This is a slightly more complex debate than just our freedom of choice. Freedom of choice is not a difficult concept, and I think most of us debating here 'get' that one. But our freedom to choose doesn't mean we should shrink from debating those choices. If we did who'd ever learn anything from anyone? Discussion should help to inform our choices ultimately Link to post Share on other sites
Nutshell Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 Other factors are insurance.. Does your insurance cover your medicine therapy ? Yes. In the post you quoted I already stated it does. I don't use suppressive therapy because I don't need it. The outbreaks are infrequent and those I do get aren't severe. When I do get an outbreak, I take Acyclovir which is the generic version of Zovirax. I have a friend who does take Valtrex and she says it's cheap and also covered by her insurance. I don't know exactly what she pays but she said a refill costs her $10 as well. That may be for a month. It's only going to cost you $1100 per year if you don't have insurance and you're paying everything out of pocket. I don't pay nearly what you think it costs. Like I said, let the people with first hand experience speak to the costs and drawbacks. Link to post Share on other sites
Trialbyfire Posted May 28, 2008 Share Posted May 28, 2008 This is a slightly more complex debate than just our freedom of choice. Freedom of choice is not a difficult concept, and I think most of us debating here 'get' that one. But our freedom to choose doesn't mean we should shrink from debating those choices. If we did who'd ever learn anything from anyone? Discussion should help to inform our choices ultimately Here's how I see it. If someone doesn't want to date me because I don't have the ideal bodyshape he wants, that's okay. I don't have D or Double-D cups or a bubble bottom. If he needs to have this to be sexually attracted, he's welcome to find someone who does. It's really okay. It's his choice. I also am a brunette. If someone doesn't want to date me because I'm not a blonde, I'm not going to try to convince him that it's not acceptable and that he should date me because brunettes are so common. I also won't dye my hair to suit his taste. It's okay. Link to post Share on other sites
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