lil_elle_1982 you're a sweetie
)
For others reading this: I'm not 'up' on all the symptoms of herpes, but in my wife's case, the outbreaks tend to crop up in the same area again and again, so it's easy to keep an eye on them. Then an outbreak goes through a few phases. The skin reddens and a small, raised, itchy, rash appears. Then watery blisters form and rupture before the outbreak heals a few days later. During the outbreak, the virus can be either spread to another site on your own body, or can be caught by someone else who comes into contact with you.
I'm guessing you have genital herpes lil_elle_1982. Is this the case? But even if it's 'only' a cold sore on your lip, it is a problem, and we do sympathise. However, a surprising number of people carry this virus and many of them don't even know it. You are right and very conscientious in wanting to be careful about infecting others. It's a bugger that it's frightened away potential lovers, but perhaps they would have been lousy lovers anyway ;o)
But you mustn't allow this to stop you from dating. You have to be prepared to be rejected, and it won't always be because of the herpes. Hahaha, listen to me. I'm a great one to talk. I was always very shy and so terrified of rejection I rarely asked girls to dance, etc. I'm glad to say I became more confident as I aged ;o)