Oral HSV-1 gang, do you guys share food and drinks?
So after getting oral HSV-1 I had no idea that it could spread through other means besides kissing and oral sex. I had a terrible experience where a friend I had told (I had no idea how bad the stigma was or that it could affect my friendships) started refusing to share drinks with me (“if you have a sore” she ended up telling me later). I was shocked bc I genuinely didn’t know this was a thing. So now every time we hang out she’ll only drink a shared drink BEFORE I do, she told me once she’s fine with sharing tho as long as I “confirm I have no sore inside my mouth” (she’s aware that it can also be inside the mouth). So I either have to watch her stop drinking a shared thing once I do or announce that I have no sores inside my mouth.
One time she did OFFER to let me use her lipgloss, probably because lipgloss only goes on the outside lips and she can physically see I don’t have a sore there so she doesn’t have to have me confirm I don’t.
Anyways, this obviously made me want to stop telling my friends. I figured I would just not tell them, continue sharing stuff as long as I’m sore-free, and move on. Studied abroad and shared drinks with a new friend group. Made me extra grateful I didn’t tell any of them. But obviously HSV has permanently altered my life in a lot of ways and one of them is that I feel I cannot share stuff with a FULLY clean conscious because “what about asymptomatic shedding”. Am I still risking something? I’m also surprised that that one friend was ok with sharing as long as I didn’t have no sore, bc if she knows that HSV can be inside the mouth than surely she knows about asymptomatic shedding.
I thought I did my research and knew it was extremely unlikely, but then ppl on this sub are telling me I still shouldn’t share under any circumstances (“you could still spread it!!”)?? Do you guys still share food, drinks, chapstick, vapes, etc? Because I don’t wanna cause myself this much pain and aggravation over something that’s such a small chance, but I also don’t wanna feel like a bad person