Genital herpes

Do I have to disclose if I have never had an outbreak?

Found out through a blood test, not through symptoms. Never had anything appear. It feels strange to disclose something I have never experienced.

apple_crate 2 months ago

NoteMember experience, not medical advice. Symptoms overlap between infections and only a test can tell them apart.

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second_tuesday 2 months ago

Asymptomatic shedding is the reason the answer is generally yes. Transmission can happen without visible lesions, so never having had an outbreak does not mean never being infectious.

How and when you have that conversation is yours to decide. Whether the fact is relevant to a partner is a separate question and it usually is.

evening_ferry 2 months ago

What made it easier for me was having something to offer alongside it: suppressive treatment reduces transmission substantially, condoms reduce it further, and avoiding sex during symptoms reduces it more. A disclosure with options attached lands very differently from one without.

greytide 2 months ago

It is also worth checking the diagnosis is solid before you build a disclosure habit on it, particularly if it came from a borderline blood result with no symptoms ever. Several threads here have ended with the original result not holding up.

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