Everything worth knowing, calmly explained.
Plain guides to living with herpes — what it is, what to do first, how to manage it, and how to talk about it. Read them in any order. Nothing here is medical advice; it is here to help you think clearly.
If you are new to this, or new to a diagnosis.
The two pages most people want first — the plain facts, and a steady way through the early days.
If you are still trying to work out what this is.
The pages for the part that comes before a diagnosis — the searching, the worrying, and the getting-tested.
Is it herpes, or something else?
What it usually looks like, the ten things it is most often confused with, and the only way to know for certain.
Read →How herpes is tested for
Why the swab is the one that counts, what a blood test can honestly tell you, and why it is not in the standard screen.
Read →Is herpes dangerous?
Cancer, fertility, whether it can kill you. Straight answers, without panic or false comfort.
Read →Symptoms in women
The typical first episode and what comes after — including why it is so often treated as thrush or cystitis first.
Read →Symptoms in men
The typical first episode and what comes after — and why mild recurrences get written off as ingrown hairs for years.
Read →HSV-1 vs HSV-2
Cold sores and genital herpes are the same family. Why one is a shrug and the other a crisis — and where shingles fits.
Read →Living with it, day to day.
The practical side: what sets off an outbreak, what lowers the risk of passing it on, and what changes when you are pregnant.
Outbreaks and triggers
What an outbreak is, what tends to set one off, and how a plan handles it when it comes.
Read →Suppression and transmission
How it passes on, what lowers the risk, and the numbers you can bring to a conversation. Reduced, never removed.
Read →Herpes and pregnancy
Why timing matters more than the diagnosis, what to tell your midwife, and how delivery is usually handled.
Read →Aciclovir and valaciclovir
How the two relate — one becomes the other in the body — and what actually differs in dosing and cost.
Read →The conversation part.
The side of herpes no pharmacy touches: dating, disclosure, and telling someone without the drama.
Telling a partner
When and how to raise it, the facts worth bringing, example openers, and handling whatever comes back.
Read →Dating with herpes
When to tell someone, how it usually actually goes, and what to do when it goes badly. You are not disclosing something rare.
Read →Reading is free. So is the clinician review.
When you want to move from reading to a plan, these two pages show exactly how it works and what it costs — no forms to finish before you see a price.