My Story with Herpes

I’M READY TO BE REAL & END THE STIGMA. It’s time to talk about STD’s & sex ed with a new wave.🍆

*Disclaimer: each persons experience is different. Some may never see an outbreak while others do. This is my experience. I am not a Doctor. I do not have a cure. This is my experience. What worked for me may not work for you & visa versa.💫🖤

Since I’ve been getting into my late 20’s and even deeper into my spiritual journey, I’ve learned that most of our creativity, emotion, trauma is held in our sacral chakra & reproductive organs. BC suppresses us from that connectivity & healing power.🧡

I’ve been on some form of birth control for the better part of 10yrs.👶🏻

At the tender age of 17 I was diagnosed with Herpes Simplex 2. I had had 2 sexual partners at that point.🍆

This was especially mortifying because I had to ask my parents to take me to the Doctor, but before asking them I was in pain for weeks, terrified of the outcome.😥

The Doctor who saw me was especially in compassionate & judgmental. She took one look at me and without looking me in the eyes, she blurted it out, “Yep, that’s herpes.” I instantly broke down in tears, “Can I have children?” was my first ask. I don’t remember what she said, but the correct answer would have been, “Honey, of course you can!” I was a kid. A little empathy would have been nice.💔

To this day I don’t trust or like Doctors much. After years of taking preventative Western meds I became immune and was told I was out of options. That was around 24y/o. I digress.🙅🏼‍♀️

My Mom was in the waiting room and I came out hysterical. She was in denial about the whole thing even with the official diagnoses. I don’t blame her. With the stereotypes around STD’s & herpes, no parent wants that for their teenage daughter.💅🏼

I got my blood test done. It came back positive. I got the meds and they worked. I didn’t get another break out for several years.✨

Around 23y/o the virus went into hyper-herpe drive and I was experiencing breakouts regularly. The medicine wasn’t working anymore and turns out Vacyclivir is hard on your kidneys.🥜

After my HSV2 came back at 19/20yo Mom & I went to a STD Testing center. They were much more professional & sensitive to the matter.💕

I was given a little more education & the book “The Good News About the Bad News.”💁🏼‍♀️

I read the book & cried. I found something I could relate to that wasn’t all sad people on internet forums, desperately searching for a cure.💻

My take aways from the book:📖

This virus is EXTREMELY common & says NOTHING about your worth as a human or sexual being. You’re still YOU. You WILL date again. You WILL have sex again.❤️

I have spent a lot of my time trying to find a cure. What I’ve learned is, right now there isn’t one and having some love & compassion for yourself when you’re in pain will go a long way.❤️

By 23/24yo I’m really in it. I’m getting outbreaks every 1-3mon. I seek help & am told by another Doctor that I’ve become immune to Acyclvir & Vacyclivir after using them for so many years and I’m out of options.🤔

So begins my road down supplements, herbs, stress adaptogens, essential oils, obsessing over vitamins, exercise, diets & restrictions.🤯

One morning in particular stands out - I woke up to an outbreak before the last one was healed. I rushed to the kitchen and start swallowing pills & mixing tinctures. I was frantic. I was out of some specific herbs so my partner & I jump in the car. 🚘

Then we had to pull over & I threw it all up.🤮

I think we can agree that I was not remaining calm in this situation. I was completely stressing my body out and it wasn’t helping.😅

It’s hard to hear “Just relax. De-stress.” When you’re in the thick of it, but believe me THIS TOO SHALL PASS. Do things that will take your mind off of it. Go for a walk, wear soft clothing, stretch, read, take a bath, go to work, make some tea. Yes, take your meds but don’t overwhelm your system.❤️⚡️

Step 1 be kind to yourself & GET YOUR IMMUNE SYSTEM UP. Your body wants to be well. Give it the space to do so.🌿

Minimizing stress & trusting your body to heal itself is #1. Get back in touch with your Self & intuition. What’s your body trying to tell you?🤔

Try and keep your foods mostly healthy. Limit processed foods & sugar. Stay hydrated. Eat your greens.🌿

I would suggest not to use all of these at once. Try one at a time and see what works. If you have too many variables going on you won’t know what’s working and what isn’t.💁🏼‍♀️

Herpes is a virus so anything anti-viral is good.🌈

TOPICAL TREATMENT: DoTerra or Young Living are amazing PURE essential oil brands. Tea tree oil (can also be taken orally) lemon balm (can also be taken orally), baking soda with a couple drops of water for pulling out fluid from the site. All has helped at one point. Apply a drop or two of TT or LB 1-3x per day. Leave it be the rest of the time.⭐️

IMMUNE SUPPORT: Lysine (have this in your cabinet always), Elderberry, OnGuard by DoTerra, B Vitamins (have a direct impact on energy levels, cell metabolism & over all health), Vitamin D & Magnesium (aid in many cellular functions). I recently started using Propolis. Will do a separate post all about bee products if you guys want to hear about it!🐝

OTHER SUPPS: I’ve been having amazing results w/ Balance by @alaninutrition.🧡

PAIN RELIEF: Ibuprofen or Aleve if you can take those. A hot or cold compress, but not for too long as the cold can slow healing & leave scarring. We want warm & dry places for healing.☀️

TRY TO MINIMIZE: stress, excess alcohol and too many late nights in a row, foods high in Arginine (i.e. almonds, peanuts, coconut meat). Lysine may counteract Arginine so if I’m feeling like some PB & chocolate I take some Lysine before.💪🏼