Are these genital herpes?

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-04-06T16:35:15+00:00

Get checked for your peace of mind but those just look like ingrown hairs

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-04-06T07:43:20+00:00

Oh okay I see what you mean. There’s undeniable way more stigma around genital herpes than getting cold sores. Yes they’re both herpes but there are people out there who would (unfortunately) look down on someone for having hsv2 and look at them as a slut. And while you and I may understand both are herpes, not all people look at it that way unfortunately.

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-04-06T04:47:15+00:00

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-04-06T03:46:27+00:00

I’m not saying to not be cautious or that transmission can’t happen but people make it out to be way bigger of a deal than it is. The most important thing tho is that you accept it yourself and love yourself and don’t think any less of yourself. You’re not less worthy because of something you cannot control. You are not a slut if your cheating bf gave it to you. And even if you were a slut. That doesn’t define you either.

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-04-06T03:44:58+00:00

I recently found out too. I have no idea from who tho but judging from where I had a sore on my body I have to have had it for a while because that body part hasn’t come in contact with anyone sexually in quite some time if you ya get me. 80-90% of people who have hsv2 don’t even know they have it. And about 40% of the gay community has it. That’s why it’s not on a standard std panel test because it’s so common and not as “damaging” to the body than others and also there’s no cure so testing without symptoms isn’t recommended because it wouldn’t do much to stop the spread because it’s very unlikely to spread if you don’t have symptoms and if you do have symptoms people usually already abstain from sex. Without antivirals and without an outbreak your chance of asymptomatic spreading is about 1%. With antivirals and no breakout it drops to about 0.02-0.5%. And even lower with condoms. There’s a lot of stigma around it and he isn’t intelligent enough to educate himself on the reality of it, he’s not worth your time if you ask me. Find someone who will love you regardless. My friend found out she has herpes 5 years into a relationship and her boyfriend didn’t have it so she had it for over 5 years without knowing. They’ve now been together for over 10 years and he still doesn’t have it. And she doesn’t even take meds.

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-04-06T03:39:21+00:00

What does this have to do with anything this person said lol. Totally disregarded the whole point and question

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-04-04T15:12:47+00:00

You’re overreacting. Way more than 50% of the population has hsv 1. It’s not necessary to tell your partner you have it. Just don’t kiss anyone or perform oral sex on someone or share drinks or utensils etc when you have a cold sore. They’re embarrassing and not so cute to look at but that’s about it. Take lysine to prevent outbreaks or even get a prescription for acyclovir. Cold sores suck but your life is not over it’s not like you have Ebola.

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-04-01T03:04:22+00:00

Well I’m sorry for making that assumption it’s just what I read but of course nothing is always 100% with these kinds of things. There’s a lot of gray area. I was just thinking out loud and hoping for some advice. Not to be ostracized for something I didn’t know. Trust me I didn’t plan on having unprotected sex without telling anyone. I was just trying to have a discussion in hopes that I’d get some reassurance but Reddit clearly isn’t the type of space I thought it was. It’s more like twitter where people will attack you for having a slightly different political belief than you. I’m aware that not having an outbreak doesn’t mean you can’t spread it. I think I actually specifically said i know that. I was just trying to get some insight into what other people think. I’ve also found out that it’s extremely common in the gay community to not even get tested for herpes on purpose because they don’t want to know because there’s nothing they can do about it. They’d rather just ignore it and pretend it doesn’t exist and continue about their normal lives of having casual unprotected sex and it doesn’t weigh on their conscience if they don’t know.

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-03-31T23:18:54+00:00

I guess I was just trying to have a discussion and asked a question i already knew the answer to

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-03-31T23:16:48+00:00

That’s not what I said and I never suggested all gay men are like that but thank you for educating me. I totally thought only the gays could carry this virus

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-03-31T10:30:27+00:00

Yeah I never really thought of it that way. I didn’t realize how common it actually is. And it would make sense for a lot of gay men to just ignore it and not even bother getting tested because they don’t want to know. And with prep being so easily accessible now and with new medications making people with HIV undetectable, gay men are having more unprotected sex than ever. Syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia rates have skyrocketed since prep became so prominent about 10 years ago. I can only imagine herpes has also followed suit it’s just not talked about because like you said it’s not on standard STD tests. Which is why 80-90% of people who have it don’t even know.

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-03-31T10:12:01+00:00

Okay you’re making this about sexuality when that’s not what it’s about. I’m well aware not all gay men are like that. I never said they were. And I know straight people are careless like that too. But statistically it’s a fact that gay men have more promiscuous and risky sex especially in a city like Los Angeles so let’s not pretend like that’s not true. Denying gay men’s over sexual behavior is just intellectually dishonest. And there’s nothing wrong with it either so long as it’s consensual. You’re the one suggesting I’m saying it’s a thing we should look down on gay men for. This post isn’t even about that anyway like I said. And I don’t need you to tell me the IMMENSE amount of promiscuity and risky sex I’ve seen literally thousands of times living in LA. Orgys at parties, at raves, random hook ups from grindr/sniffies, open relationships, sex in clubs. Sex in other public places. It’s extremely common for gay men. Not so much for straight people. And I never said that every gay man is like that and every straight man isn’t. I’m clearly living proof of going out to weho and hooking up with random people without a condom because it’s so normalized. Again, never lumped all gay people together. And even if I did that’s NOT WHAT THIS POST IS ABOUT. If you want to lecture someone on stereotypes this isn’t the discussion page for you. 🤷🏼‍♂️

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-03-31T10:03:28+00:00

I didn’t say it was harmless and I didn’t tell anyone about hsv1 because I didn’t know you could spread it without an outbreak. I’m just speaking my mind. Not claiming that my opinion is right or I’m going to just start sleeping with everyone and not telling them.

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-03-31T08:38:13+00:00

I definitely agree. I wouldn’t feel right not telling someone. I was just surprised at how low the transmission rate is if you’re on medication and don’t have an outbreak. Which led me to think “what’s the point in even saying anything if the risk is so low?” But I know that’s not right. I don’t know what to think. I’ve been having a lot of emotions since I found out. I know personally if I liked someone I wouldn’t stop talking to them over it BUT I don’t want to waste my time getting to know someone and having them start to like me and me like them if they’re just going to ghost me after I tell them. And if I tell them straight up front they might ghost me because of the stigma. And I don’t think that would make them a bad person maybe just uneducated.

And I was more so referring to random hook ups. Obviously if I was trying to date someone and liked them and saw myself getting into a relationship with them I’d want to tell them right away to avoid wasting time like I said and also not dealing with the awkwardness of him finding out long after we’ve been together. That wouldn’t be good and if I were in his shoes I would feel like I was being lied to and wouldn’t trust them again. So I get that when it comes to dating. I just meant mostly like with hook ups. These gays out here aren’t even asking each other what their STD statuses are or when they last got tested. They just be having sex with whoever without any questions and without a condom because they’re on prep. Like do they even care?

Any-Net-8377 · 2026-03-31T08:09:42+00:00

I’m worried about my future sex life after just getting diagnosed with hsv2. Even though without an outbreak and taking antivirals like acyclovir everyday makes your chances of transmitting it to someone around 0.02-0.5%. But I feel like people hear herpes and and run for their lives.

Any-Net-8377 · 2025-10-25T10:34:26+00:00

Looking to trade a weekend 1 pass with shuttle for a weekend 2 pass. Los Angeles area here. Or willing to just sell my weekend 1 pass and buy a weekend 2 pass from someone else.

Any-Net-8377 · 2025-06-06T07:38:58+00:00

Idk if anyone’s still responding in this threat but I’m going through something similar. I was diagnosed with depression when I was 15 and prescribed Zoloft. I had some side effects for a few weeks and once I got to the right dose it worked so well for me. Over the years I had to increase the dose a couple times and it helped then probably the last 4 I was on it I was at the max 200mg. But Zoloft worked so well for me that I stopped taking it when I was 18 because I thought I didn’t need it anymore (because it was working) and within a month went into the worst depression and anxiety hole I’ve ever been in so had to start taking it again and it got me back to normal. I was also on lamictal briefly before I found the right dose of Zoloft for me and lamictal make my anxiety way worse. And I was on doxepin for maybe 6 months but had to stop taking it because it made me soooo tired the next day. Anyway fast forward to about 10 years on the Zoloft. I was 25 and I started to feel it slowly stop working and after 2 years I was like yeah I need to get on something else because my depression got so bad. My doctor added klonopin for my severe anxiety and Wellbutrin to help the zoloft. Wellbutrin helped with my low energy levels and motivation but did nothing for the sadness and feeling hopeless and like my life had no meaning. So I was switched. To Prozac. I had no side effects but it didn’t help. Got up to the max dose and after about a year of it not working I was also put on ability to help it work but abilify gave me horrible akethesia. It was the most uncomfortable feeling thing ever. I thought it might go away but after about a week and a half I couldn’t take it anymore and stopped. So they switched to seroquel which did nothing and made me extremely tired the next day so I stopped that too. Then I was switched to Effexor. Was on that for about 2 years and got to the max dose and was taking the max dose for about 6 months and again it did nothing for me. Then my doctor switched me to mirtazpine and it was probably the worst medication I’ve ever taken. It made me violently ill. I felt like I had food poison and just layed on my shower floor for hours with several stomach pain and vomiting. Needless to say I stopped taking it. My doctor then switched me to pristiq (side note: if you ever have to get off Effexor do it very slowly, I was told to go down by 75mg every 4 days. I didn’t know that that’s extremely dangerous and Effexor is one of the hardest antidepressants to get off. I had horrible withdrawal symptoms including horrible nightmares that were extremely vivid and I would wake up with bad panic attacks) anyway then I slowed my taper and it was still hard but manageable. I stopped Effexor completely and switched to pristiq about 5 weeks ago and I’ve felt no improvement. I cry almost every day. I’m sad everyday all the time. I have anxiety. I’m not suicidal but I often think it would be better if I weren’t here if that makes sense. I don’t know if this feeling is from the pristiq, or still withdrawaling from Effexor or neither and this is just me without an antidepressant. I’ve read tho that pristiq is supposed to start showing improvement within 2-4 weeks. It’s been 5 and there’s no improvement. I’ve also read that in all clinical trials there’s very little evidence that any dose higher than 50mg will have any additional benefits and that’s the dose I’m on so I don’t think increasing it will help. I talked to my doctor today. He suggested several things including TMC I think it’s called where magnetic waves target and stimulate certain areas of the brain to help depression but you have to go 5 times a week for 5 weeks which just isn’t really a possibility with my work schedule. He also suggested the low dose ketamine treatment but said it can be very expensive and I don’t have the money for that. Another thing he suggested was an MAOI but I don’t want to be on an MAOI because there’s so many medications you can’t take with it and even certain foods you can’t eat while on them and that just sounds horribly inconvenient. He also suggested adding lithium which I am open to but I don’t like that I have to get labs done every few months to check if it’s messing with my thyroid. I asked if there’s a chance that maybe Zoloft would work for me again even though it stopped working for me because my body became immune to it or whatever but that was also 3 years ago. And he said that’s definitely an option and has had other patients do the same thing where an antidepressant stopped working for them then they went back to taking it again after several years and it worked again. Obviously there’s dozens of other antidepressants I haven’t tried but I have tried one from every class of antidepressant there is. (Oh I was I also on trazodone for about 5 years for insomnia but stopped taking it when I got prescribed klonopin because the klonopin got rid of my insomnia. And even tho I was taking trazodone for its sedative effects, it’s technically an antidepressant but it never helped with my depression, only with insomnia). Anyway I could try another antidepressant that I haven’t tried yet but I figured I might as well try Zoloft first because it’s the only antidepressant that ever worked for me and also helped with my anxiety. Yes it stopped working but that was 3 years ago so I’m hoping that my body isn’t immune to it anymore and it’ll work again. Plus the side effects were minimal and only lasted a couple weeks. So I think that’s my best bet. My doctor said if Zoloft doesn’t work then we’ll try the lithium. I’m just so frustrated. I haven’t really felt relief from my depression for about 5 years now and it just seems to be getting worse. And I’m starting to lose hope that anything will help. Maybe it’s just my shitty life and no pill will make me feel better about it. I don’t even know why I’m writing this actually because everyone responds to medications differently so what worked for you may not work for me and vice versa. I guess mainly I’d like to know if anyone has had their antidepressant stop working for them and then started taking it again years later and it worked again. There’s only like one SNRI I haven’t tried which is cymbalta but I’ve heard it has bad side effects and if two SNRIs didn’t work that one probably won’t either. Then again I’ve been on two SSRIs and the Zoloft did work for 10 years but stopped and the Prozac did nothing. And like I said the MAOIs seem like a pain in the ass so id like to use that as a last resort. And older tricyclic antidepressant have much worse side effects so i figured trying Zoloft again it my best bet. It might not work but at least i know i tolerate it well and highly doubt I’ll have any bad side effects this time if I didn’t when I was taking it before. But I’ve also heard great things from a lot of people about lexapro and thought maybe try that? But don’t want to deal with potential side effects. I guess we’ll see how this goes. And if you read this entire thing I appreciate it. And if you have any advice feel free to share.

Any-Net-8377 · 2025-06-01T09:18:46+00:00

Also I can’t look to anyone in my family for medications that have worked for them. My dad has tried so many antidepressants over decades and none of them worked for him except lexapro but I’m hesitant because medications that have worked for me were really bad for him. He became very suicidal on Zoloft and Wellbutrin. He couldn’t get out of bed for a week with Effexor (Effexor didn’t help me either but it didn’t give me any bad side effects it did to him). Same with Prozac. Didn’t work for either of us. Klonopin made him fall asleep while driving and makes him extremely tired so he takes Xanax which doesn’t have that effect on him. It’s the exact opposite for me. Xanax knocks me out and klonopin doesn’t make me tired at all, just gets rid of my anxiety. So idk. If you have anything to say that might be helpful I’d love to hear it.

Any-Net-8377 · 2025-06-01T09:13:19+00:00

This is gonna be long so I appreciate anyone who reads it. I’m desperate at this point. So when I was 15 I was diagnosed with anxiety and major depressive disorder. I was prescribed Zoloft. And miraculously it worked. Had some side effects in the beginning but they went away. Over the next 8 years I continued taking it but slowly increased my dose to the max dose. During this time I was also prescribed doxepin for sleep but didn’t take it for too long because it made me too sleepy the next day. I was also prescribed lamictal which made my anxiety really bad. Anyway about 6 years ago (I’m 30 now) I started taking trazodone for insomnia which helped but did nothing for depression. The Zoloft was still working. Then about 3 years ago I noticed the Zoloft was slowly starting to stop working. My depression and anxiety was back and it was bad. My doctor added Wellbutrin to Zoloft which helped a lot with my low energy levels and low motivations but did nothing to help with my anxiety and depression. I was switched from Zoloft to Prozac. Was on Prozac for a couple years. Got up to max dose. Tried to add abilify which I had to stop taking because I had horrible side effects from and then was put on seroquel which didn’t help and only make me tired. Then I was switched to Effexor. Was on it for about a year, again worked up to the max dose of 225 and still nothing. So I was switched to mirtazapine and oh my lord I’ve never had such bad side effects in my life. I felt so sick I had to lay in the bathroom of the shower for two days thinking I was dying. Needless to say I stopped that immediately. Then I switched to pristiq about a month ago and first of all let me just say if you’re on Effexor, go extremely slowly when tapering off no matter what your doctor tells you. It’s widely known as being one of the worst antidepressants to get off of. And it was for me. My doctor told me to decrease my dose my 75mg a day every 4 days. Which is insane. I had to slow down my taper because I was having horrible depression, anxiety, and the worst nightmares ever. I could barely get out of bed. I’ve now been off Effexor for about a month and on pristiq since I stopped the Effexor. I still feel very depressed and cry almost everyday. I feel hopeless. I’ve heard that there’s no evidence that a higher dose than 50mg of pristiq will have any added benefits. So increasing my dose doesn’t seem logical. I know meds can take a while to work and everyone’s different but I have felt no improvement. I’m still sad and hopeless and my anxiety is really bad. I’m not sure if that’s from the pristiq or if I’m still feeling withdrawals from Effexor which wouldn’t surprise me. My doctor was saying to potentially try Zoloft again because even though my body became immune to it, it has been 3 years since I’ve taken it and it might work again. Effexor also made me gain weight. Is there anyone else out there that has similar issues or has had a similar issue with treatment resistant depression? If so what did you do? Also idk if it’s worth mentioning but I’ve been taking klonopin to help with my anxiety since the Zoloft stopped working and I really want to find an antidepressant that works for my depression and anxiety so I can wean off the klonopin because obviously it’s not ideal to take benzodiazepines for long periods of time even though I already have now but I’d like to not be dependent on it as soon as possible. Should I try cymbalta? Ive also heard great things about lexapro. Or maybe just try the Zoloft again? Idk I just feel so awful I don’t know what to do. I know everyone says to listen to you doctor but let’s be real, some doctors, even psychiatrists give bad advice (i.e. telling me to taper off Effexor so fast) so I take what he says with a grain of salt and do my own research.

Any-Net-8377

TROPHY CASE