Sexual Health Buzz

There are 23 days left until Operation Santa which will provide toys under the tree for more than 5,000 poverty-stricken children on Christmas morning.

This is only made possible because of each one of YOU and your desire to make a difference in the life of a child who is less fortunate. Above in the clickable photo you will find a list of the most URGENT ITEMS needed to make Christmas brighter for children.

Please consider picking up a few items, TODAY. Or, if you would like a collection canister or poster for your office, church, or group contact James at jcummings@opendoormission.org or 829-1554.

Visit www.opendoormission.org for your life-changing volunteer opportunities.

PERSONAL NOTE

This is a charity that I donate to on a regular basis. I had the opportunity to correspond with the Open Door Mission today and there is a HUGE need for children’s hats, mittens and fleece blankets.

Sometimes the perception is the Open Door Mission is so big that they don’t need these things BUT reality is that they are big and that makes the needs even bigger. Especially, when it is small donations from thousands that add up to make the difference.

If you know of somebody that has these items in bulk that would be willing to donate them for the needy will you encourage them to contact the Open Door Mission as to what the best way is to accomplish this?

Thanks so much you guys! Please feel free to repost this information on your own blogs OR to track back to this post at will. THANKS!

Sure you can still use tampons if you want to. It just depends on your comfort level.

Something about genital herpes that you might not realize is that it resides in the ganglia at the base of the spine. What that means is that it hibernates in the nerves at the bottom of your spine when it’s not active and showing itself on the surface of the skin.

So when the virus activates itself it travels to the surface, and for a person with genital herpes, it can show up anywhere below the belt line. THAT usually happens in the boxer shorts area.

So back to the question…

Sometimes people that have a herpes outbreak while they are on their period find tampons to be uncomfortable. If that is the case for you then you might want to switch to wearing a pad instead of a tampon.

It’s about personal choices and what you feel comfortable doing.

I personally prefer to wear a pad if I am having an outbreak while I’m on my period. But that’s just me and where I’m at with my own comfort level.

I don’t know… how do you feel about it?

This might be one of those questions to save and ask your doctor to see what they suggest too.

No, oral sex is not out of the question if you have herpes. It’s all about how you and your partner would like to proceed.

I think the most important thing in a relationship is to keep the communication between the two of you open and honest.

Talk about your STD status. If you don’t know what that is then make a date to go and get tested. Make sure that the clinic will test you for herpes because some places do not include routine STD testing as part of their process.

If it turns out that you and your partner have herpes, try and find out which type you have. Do you have genital herpes type-1, genital herpes type-2, oral herpes type-1, oral herpes type-2, OR nothing at all?

Obviously if you have a sore that can be cultured try and get that done within the first 24 OR 48 hours of the sore appearing. Ask the doctor to remind the lab technicians to have it typed in the process so you will know which one you have.

Read more about HSV-1 and HSV-2, ok?

I will tell you that oral sex has never been an issue for me because of herpes. It’s all about personal choices. Having herpes will not keep you from doing things that you want to do with your partner provided that you make these type of decisions together.

Read more about Oral Sex and Herpes

I got this in my inbox the other day and apparently this person wanted me to share their e-mail with you. So.. I will post what they had to say along with my response which will be in a different color. I’ll keep it festive by using RED and GREEN for my comments.

First and foremost, as a fellow follower of Christ, I greet you happily. Just a quick note I wanted to share….I am a law student who is studying intellectual property law (patents and trademarks)and will be taking the bar next year. I am currently practicing through an internship though.

To keep a long story short, pharmaceuticals caught my attention as a career path for patent law. I have learned a lot along the way and want to encourage you to be careful about bashing the natural drugs.

Firstly, those that know me understand that I don’t bash anything unless I think it’s totally warranted. Just because somebody writes me and says something works for them doesn’t mean I automatically believe it to be true.

I like to do my homework. I research stuff and I look for the proof that’s supposed to be in the pudding. I don’t just take somebody’s word for it AND if it sounds too good to be true and it’s not in line with how the herpes virus works then I don’t buy into the idea.

After my research and my findings that the natural companies often CANT get the necessary research because of a push from the pharmaceutical companies (remember, MONEY is the root of all…), i decided to try them and both BHT and Monolaurin both work WAY better than Valtrex. NO break outs. I mean NONE. And cheaper with no side effects.

I know towards the end of your note too make you make mention that you have HSV-1 and not HSV-2. Have you ever stopped to think that is the reason why you are not getting any more outbreaks as much OR as often as you used to? The fact that you are talking about HSV-1 alone vs. HSV-2 could be why that is!

The drug companies lobby for certain laws that affect natural drugs’ ability to make the true claims that their products do in fact work, so the doctors HAVE to make the so called admissions that their evidence is only empirical and not scientific. To gather what is called scientific evidence in the US takes BIG bucks, and the bigger companies wont put that kind of money into naturals because they can’t be patented due to the fact that they are naturally occurring and not invented by anyone. Even a particular blend like Lauricidin can only make so much $, so they often can’t obtain the certification they actually deserve. This is one instance where the conspiracy theory stories are true.

Conspiracy Theorists want their theories to be true so they will do and say anything that will support their point their way. The fact that the scientific community was able to discover that suppressive therapy with Valtrex would reduce asymptomatic shedding by about 95%, transmission by about 50%, and keep outbreaks under control is always going to piss off the people that put together “natural” mixtures.. why do you ask? Because they have money to make to! Ha Ha!

What this all boils down to is doing your homework whether you are wanting to take something that is OTC verses something that’s been clinically proven to do what they say they will do (ie: prescription meds) — doesn’t really matter as long as you understand what is going on with your health situation as well as what you are wanting to take to treat your health issues.

It’s all about choices. You can either choose to do your homework on both alternatives and prescriptions OR you can go with what “feels good” for you! But to bash one OR the other and then base it on what you think you know and then assume that you understand where I stand on this issue is kind of funny to me.

I just wanted you to investigate this when you get a chance, because at this point, without knowing it you are backing and encouraging support of the drug companies and undermining the natural drugs, when they actually do work in many cases, and people who trust you may not try something that would probably work better for them, and would DEFINITELY be cheaper and safer than drugs.

First of all, I can only share what I know based on my own personal experiences. I’m not going to sit here and say wonderful things about stuff that I have not personally tried and I’m not going to try something that totally freaks me out just because you tell me it’s “safe because you say so.”

I tend to do my own homework on stuff. I appreciate your opinion, you’re entitled to it, but I have a right to make up my own mind and just because Valtrex is what works for me doesn’t make me one-sided as you would like to believe.

Remember….we are Christians so we both understand that what man makes can’t compete with what God has already created–even when it comes to treatment of disease.

This has nothing to do with Christianity. But as a Christian I will go ahead and challenge you since you want to take me there. Man has done a lot of things with the stuff that God has made and it’s not all that good. You can take lots of “natural” substances and mix them together and it doesn’t make it “safer” OR “better” just because it’s “all natural” and not manufactured by men.

God also gave us a brain so that we could discover and create for the good of man kind… and there’s nothing wrong with that! If that means there are things that scientists can put together to help people with their situations then that’s a good thing in my opinion as long as we aren’t trying to take God’s place in the process.

We have to be careful we don’t begin to place man-made “medicine’ on a higher par than we should….i know its just a matter of being constantly taught that the western ideas of medicine are best though. Remember, the word says to TEST EVERYTHING! God bless.

Just make sure YOU go out and test everything and don’t assume that just because you don’t have an outbreak that all is good OR that somehow your herpes has disappeared. 90% of those that have genital herpes have no idea because they don’t have any signs OR symptoms that can be seen OR felt.

People that have had HSV-1 OR HSV-2 for long periods of time tend not to get frequent outbreaks anyway. So it’s probably coincidental that you don’t get outbreaks any more. Lord knows you don’t have the proof that says BHT and/or Monolaurin did the trick.

Oh, sorry, this is Cortney again. I forgot to mention that I have herpes simplex 1, but I used to get really severe cold sore outbreaks that looked HORRIBLE and I did not want to go anywhere! I also wanted to let you know that you can post this on your site, but if so please include that it is simplex 1 i’m talking about, just in case my husband or someone in the family were to somehow come across my posting and be confused about what I was actually talking about! Thanks!

Sounds like you’ve got a lot more homework to do on the Herpes Simplex Virus. You might want to start here.

Well, I am a 28 year old woman living with Herpes. I have been for about a year and a half now. I was married for 4 years, together for 5 with my ex-husband. When we separated, I thought it was going to be the start of a brand new life. I will find myself and find true love finally.

I started a new job and met this wonderful, sexy, confident, smart, guy that I fell in love with instantly. He was a real charmer. He knew the secrets to what a woman needs. I thought I had found what I had been looking for. We spent more and more time together, and I fell more and more in love. A love that was unconditional and pure.

Four days after we had slept together I noticed a cold sore in my mouth. We had some wild sex so the pain between my legs, I thought, was just the after effects of wild mad sex that I’ve never experienced in my life. Well, when the sore became worse and more painful I started to panic.

I got a mirror out to see what was going on and I saw what looked like the sore in my mouth only 10 times bigger. Denial set in and I just hoped it was just a friction burn. Well, one sore became two, two became three, and so on. It was the most painful thing I had ever experienced in my life.

After searching the internet and doing much research, I called my co worker and explained that I have symptoms and I’ve not been with anyone else, so I know It was more than likely him. He proceeds to tell me he’s never had any of the symptoms described and he will soon get tested. I then called my ex-husband just to cover all of my bases. He immediately got tested and came back okay.

My ex was very supportive and understanding and was the best friend he had always been. As days turned to a week I went to the doctor and laid on the table bawling my eyes out while the Dr. swabbed my sores. As many of you know, it was humiliating and I felt so dirty that all I could do was cry. I saw the pity in the nurses eyes and heard it in the Dr.’s voice, I just cried harder.

I felt that I had to justify that I’ve only been with two people in the past 5 years and I was married to one. I cried and cried for myself. All that could come out of my mouth was, “the one person I choose to sleep with after my divorce, ” I leave the office with a red nose and puffy eyes and a sense of acceptance. I was ready to face it on full force.

My co worker and I started seeing each other as “friends” I thought he has it and I love sex, so what the hell. He, by the way, was also sleeping with two other people at the time. A month passed and he decided he wanted to be with just me, so our relationship began. He was in real denial about our illness. I tried to use condoms when I had an outbreak, but he denied.

I then realized that maybe he had known all along. It took a year to finally discuss what we both had, and I got an apology. I never really blamed him, I just loved him. I mostly felt sorry for him that he couldn’t accept what he had. I fell for this man, and loved and supported him for one and a half years.

Today we are not together and the wounds of a love lost are still fresh. I’ve had a wonderful support system with my friends and my parents, but I feel like the intimate part of my life is now over. I have two wonderful boys, and shortly after I found out about my virus I had my tubes tied because I didn’t want to take any risks in the future, and my shame was too much to bear.

So, I go on with this illness and wonder how to take each step forward. I am scared and I feel alone. I don’t ever want to have the “I have herpes” conversation with any new prospects, so I feel like I have to close the book of love. The fairy tale book I have always wanted to live in.

I just wanted to share my story. I don’t talk about herpes much, and it seemed like a great opportunity to. I work in the medical field so it’s not something I share openly. I am glad I’ve found this site and commend you for letting people share their lives. It is really helpful and gives me hope for a life with herpes. Thank you.

If you would like to vent and share your story I would love to hear more from you! You can read more stories like this one over on my True Stories pages…

Talk about this YouTube Video

Herpes Help

A year after the first vaccine against human papillomavirus (HPV) was approved, women say they know that Pap tests are important, are having them regularly, and rely on their doctors more than any other source for information to help them make health decisions, according to a new nationwide survey of 1,421 women ages 18 to 45 who have heard of the new HPV vaccine.

However, the survey also revealed that nearly one in four uninsured women (24 percent) have not had a Pap test in the last three years, and Latinas are less aware than other women that HPV is sexually transmitted. The survey was conducted by Lake Research Partners for the American Social Health Association (ASHA) in June – one year after the Food & Drug Administration approved a vaccine that protects against the four strains of HPV responsible for 70 percent of cervical cancer cases.

Women who said they had not heard of the HPV vaccine that protects against cervical cancer were excluded from the survey, but more than 90 percent said they had heard of it. Of the women surveyed, a strong majority (85 percent) say women should get Pap tests once a year, and 87 percent say they have had one in the past three years.

Women understand the link between HPV and cervical cancer – more than eight in ten say that HPV is a cause of cervical cancer, and two-thirds (66 percent) say it is a major cause. Still, many also cite genetics and family history (80 percent), herpes (46 percent) and smoking (45 percent) as causes when, in fact, cervical cancer is caused by HPV.

Gardasil is the only cervical cancer vaccine

Let’s talk about HPV

Scientists in Australia are one step closer to discovering a vaccine for the common sexually-transmitted infection, chlamydia. A team from Queensland University of Technology and Harvard Medical School has already identified proteins that are able to protect against chlamydia and plan to breed mice with these immune fighting cells.

These cells, known as T-cells will be specifically directed to protect against the mouse strain of chlamydia. In doing so, they’ll be able to learn about what is involved in protecting mice against chlamydia infection and then duplicate those responses with vaccines.

“We’ve been testing these proteins as part of animal trials…and we think we’ve got the answer. It is possible that within three to five years we’ll be finished the animal trials and be looking at clinical trials in humans,” said Professor Peter Timms, from QUT’s Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI).

With 3 million new cases per year, Chlamydia is the most commonly reported STI in the U.S., especially among teens and young adults. The infection can be particularly dangerous for women, as many experience few or no symptoms and are unaware of their infection. Left untreated, chlamydia can cause serious complications and irreversible damage, including infertility.

Talk about Sexually Transmitted Diseases

I’m frustrated and tired.

I’ve got news alerts set up for the keywords STD, Herpes, and Yoshi2me to see what new stuff I can find to let my readers know about.

It seems that the only bit of news that these alerts will pick up on any more are from sites OR blogs that come across mainly as spam-type sites.

There are people out there that are scraping my content too. That’s horrifying to me and I don’t think the search engines care.

It’s frustrating to me that Google and yahoo would have these news alert type of services and not monitor them for quality content.

I have no choice but to delete myself from these services and stick with credible news agencies for the new information that I’m looking for.

I’m also tired of link exchanges.

People want me to link to them but they don’t want to link to me in a way that satisfies me.

I’m doing away with link exchanges unless I’ve had excellent rapport with you over the years.

People want me to link them from my home page but they don’t want to return the favor.

People want me to put them on my herpes dating page but they don’t want to link to that page specifically in return.

People want me to list them on my blog but they don’t want to link to my blog.

I’m so over it! I’m also over trying to keep track of it as well as the correspondence with those that don’t even bother to stay in the community long enough to keep their own content up.

I’m tired of the hurt feelings and over being made to feel like a complete and utter link-fool.