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The Secret Society: An Online Support Group for Herpes Community
Finding out you have herpes can be a difficult and isolating experience. When Alexandra, the founder of The Secret Society was first diagnosed, she felt alone and without support. That's why she created The Secret Society, an online support group for people living with herpes.
The Secret Society is a place where people from all over the world come together to find support, make friends, and talk about their herpes journey. It's a safe space where people can be open and honest without fe…
Thyroid Disease, Herpes and Epstein–Barr - Gain Back Your Health with Coach Sarah Joy
Coach Sarah Joy helps women with thyroid conditions find their root causes.
She got oral herpes, was diagnosed with Hashimoto's and Epstein–Barr. After years of dealing with symptoms like exhaustion, fatigue, anxiety, insomnia, muscle weakness, panic attacks, and so much more (she herself counted around 25 symptoms), she managed to get her health back, reverse her diagnosis - after years of dealing with the symptom and trying to get answers from doctors. The real blow to her was the death of …
Accepting My Flaws and a Herpes Diagnosis - There Is More than Just Herpes
There are way bigger fish to fry in a relationship than having herpes. We always put the herpes issue as the worst possible thing that you could have and you'll never be accepted because you have herpes. Well I'm not saying its not a big conversation and I'm not saying that you'll always be accepted and won't get rejected but what I'm saying is that there are other big things too.
Someone asked me to talk about this as a blog topic. Saying that having herpes is just one of the things your p…
Wellness Products for Herpes Outbreaks
This is one of my favourite topics but I realize I don't talk about the Secret Society Wellness products that often. So I'm doing you all a disservice!!!!
Let me back up and tell you a bit about the products. They are designed and formulated to support herpes outbreaks. The formulation took over a year to make and a ton of research went into it. The Secret Society Wellness products started out with just one product and it was the Lifesaver SPF Lip Balm. The concept started when you guys wer…
What to Do If You Were Just Diagnosed with Genital Herpes
When we are diagnosed with genital herpes or oral herpes our hearts sink. We feel totally alone and like nobody understand what we are going through. This was exactly how I felt when I was diagnosed with genital herpes back in 2011.
Something that doesn't help us with this 'alone feeling' is that when we are alone we can go down a rabbit hole and start creating worry which leads to depression or anxiety. I call this phase of just being diagnosed with herpes the Eeyore phase. When we are dia…
Being Promiscuous Will Get You a Herpes Diagnosis
Well, yes and no. Yes, it's a numbers game and the more people you’re exposed to, the greater chance you have at contracting it. However, with over 80% of the population having herpes it makes it so common that even being monogamous, you can wind up with herpes.
What we need to get away from is associating promiscuity with getting herpes and beginning to look at the fact that the majority of the population has it. I’ll get trolls on the internet tell me that I’m disgusting because I have h…
Asymptomatic and Living with Herpes
What does asymptomatic mean and how does this relate to living with herpes?
Let me assume that you are either reading this because you just found out you have herpes but have never gotten an outbreak. Or you've had one outbreak and haven't had any more outbreaks in years. The unique thing about the herpes virus is it has the ability to go dormant in our system, thus making the person living with herpes asymptomatic.
According to Oxford's dictionary the definition of asymptomatic is, "(of…
Being Diagnosed with Herpes Later in Life (40s, 50s, 60s,...)
Somebody once said something along these lines: Maybe that's easier when you're diagnosed at a younger age, but I'm over 40, it's so hard for me to accept this now.
It's easier to be diagnosed with herpes in your 20's. It's easier to get diagnosed with herpes in your 50's. These are all things I hear on a weekly basis. We always think the grass is greener on the other side.
I want to talk about this today because I've had a lot of people recently come to me and say that it would be way e…
Is Herpes Always Genital or Oral?
This is such a great question. I still get people who are shocked at the fact that both HSV 1 and 2 can go to either location.
If that came as a surprise to you let me then explain.
Traditionally we believed that HSV1 was only oral herpes and it could only be oral herpes and that was the good type of herpes. At the same time we believed that genital herpes was always HSV2 and it would only stay in the genital region and it was the bad kind. Firstly, there is no good or bad kind of herpes. An…
You Have Herpes Questions, the Top FAQ's Answered - Oh Sh*T Anniversary Pt.4
One of the things I distinctly remember when I was in the waiting period and wondering if I had herpes I also began to ask myself questions about living with herpes. I mean, what if I had herpes? How would my life look differently? How would I ever date again? Would I have to marry this guy that I was dating? Would I just be having constant outbreaks all the time or would I never get another outbreak ever? Literally, there were so many questions.
So I can imagine that if you were just diagn…