March 07, 2018

083: Something Positive For People Who Are Positive with Courtney Brame

45 minutes

Life With Herpes [video_player type="youtube" style="1" dimensions="560x315" width="560" height="315" align="center" margin_top="0" margin_bottom="20" ipad_color="black"]aHR0cHM6Ly95b3V0dS5iZS8zblZmWWtUVnhWWQ==[/video_player] Changing the outlook for Positive People Welcome to episode 83 of Life With Herpes. Today we have an extra special episode for you: not only do we have a guest but we have a male guest joining us! Courtney Brame of the Something Positive for Positive People podcast is here.Courtney works as a personal trainer and lives in St. Louis, Missouri - the STD capital of the US. We talk about why it’s the capital, his story with herpes and how that led to the creation of his podcast. You’ll hear all of that and much more on the 83rd edition of Life With Herpes! More About Life With Herpes About six years ago Courtney was diagnosed with genital herpes simplex virus type 2. He had recently graduated from college and had a good job. He woke up one day with symptoms of the flu: he had a fever, aches, chills, etc. He went to use the bathroom and noticed the top of his penis didn't look right. He describes it vividly saying it looked like someone took a dropper full of acid and just dripped it on his penis! Naturally, he was very worried so he got his mom to take him to urgent care. The doctor gave him antibiotics for chlamydia, gonorrhea and gave him a prescription for herpes. The doctor also gave Courtney a pamphlet explaining the virus, and then sent Courtney on his way. With a new diagnosis and very little information, Courtney went home and went straight to Google to find out how to manage it, and treat it. Once he had sorted through the information and had a better handle on the situation, he contacted his previous partners. But to this day he has never found out who gave it to him. On this episode of Life With Herpes, we talk about the positive impact it had on his life. It helped him change his approach to relationships and to learn what it really means to have a healthy diet and lifestyle. He's taken all of that knowledge and applied it to his life, which has helped him have only a few outbreaks over the last six years. We also talk about how we've both learned you can't look at someone and know if they have an STD or not. Society at large promotes these stigmas, and the only way to break through them is to continue to educate people whenever possible. Society also programs us and our perceptions of sex, as well as getting and having STDs. We wrap up with a chat about his podcast, Something Positive for Positive People. It started out as a way for him to prove a point. He had met someone who also had herpes and she thought it was the end of the world. They became friends and one day she told him she had contemplated suicide because of her status. He then started to hear more people talk about having that same response - in various secret groups and support groups people shared they had also thought of suicide after being told they had herpes. Because of that he decided to put together audio of people with herpes telling newly-diagnosed people it's okay to have the virus, it isn't the end of the world. The audio got some traction online and he invested in the podcast platform so he could continue to reach a wider audience. The podcast has become an educational tool and continues to evolve. Today it also includes conversations with people who have HSV 1 and HSV 2 as well as HIV and HPV. You can hear Courtney share why reaching people in all of these communities - and beyond - is so important to combating stigma. Hear his story and more on episode 83 of Life With Herpes. Episode Resources

Something Positive for Positive People
Courtney’s gift for you
Follow Courtney on Twitter
Courtney Brame on Instagram
Courtney Brame on Facebook

Keep in touch with Alexandra Harbushka www.lifewithherpes.com www.instagram.com/alexandraharbushka www.facebook.com/lifewithherpespodcast www.pinterest.com/lifewithherpes Join the community If you are ready to join a community of people who are living with herpes also then you will want to join our slack group. It is FREE and it is a great way to find the support and comfort that you are looking for. Head on over to www.lifewithherpes.com and join our community. You will receive a slack invitation as soon as you sign up. See you in there. Ways you can support the Life With Herpes show And if you enjoyed listening to this episode as much as we enjoyed making it for you, please give the Life With Herpes show a review. It is a way to pay it forward to fellow friends who are living with herpes. You can Subscribe, Rate and Review the show through your iTunes app or on the desktop. Seriously, it helps out a lot more than it is a hassle for you. You see, iTunes has an algorithm that organically promotes the show, so the more ratings and reviews the Life With Herpes Show receives then the higher it gets ranked. This is your way of paying it forward and helping someone find the show who really needs it. Oh, and you can totally use a fake name, so don’t worry about a friend finding you in the iTunes review. Talking about herpes needs to be spread as far and wide as possible. You are totally a part of this movement so THANK YOU! Subscribe, Rate and Review More Episode Resources