A young woman who has been documenting her herpes progress on TikTok was shocked to discover that an emotional post revealing her diagnosis went viral.
Sophie Miller’s video, posted to an anonymous account to raise awareness, has now been viewed more than 10.6 million times. And she says she plans to keep her posts online, even if her newfound fame initially causes some discomfort.
“I’m afraid,” mirror startsin a very vulnerable post of her ex.
The young woman explained that the problem started when she felt a burning sensation while urinating. Overall she felt “exhausted” and “sick”, she confessed.
The sudden social media star was initially diagnosed with a urinary tract infection (UTI), but became increasingly worried as the pain continued. Miller soon developed “extremely painful sores” on her genitals and swollen lymph nodes in her groin.
Miller set the record straight by making an appointment with her gynecologist and explaining the situation as she anxiously awaited her checkup.
“Everything hurts,” Miller said 30 minutes before her appointment.
After receiving her results, the young woman recorded her reaction in her car. “I have herpes,” Miller exclaimed.
She then talked about how she must warn her partner before having unprotected sex, how her diagnosis will affect her dating life, if she will be able to have children, and what will happen next. She talked about how disappointed her parents would be at the thought of her having to undergo sexual assault. She has a sexually transmitted disease for the rest of her life.
Miller admitted that she feels “ashamed” and “embarrassed” about her diagnosis, and that she feels “naive” and “stupid” for having contracted the disease.
“I just posted it to get it out of my system,” Miller said. told Business Insider. “I didn’t want to tell anyone what I knew, but I just wanted to talk. And I ended up talking to 10 million people.”
Miller is “overwhelmed” that people in her life (millions more) found the video and learned she has herpes, but thanks to the video that went viral He claims that he actually felt relieved.
“The comments section was amazing,” she shared.
The young woman admitted that she had thought several times about deleting the video but “couldn’t”. She feels that the video and its comments help spread awareness and educate people about the realities of living with sexually transmitted infections.
Miller was diagnosed with HSV-1. HSV-1 is primarily spread through oral contact, causing infections in and around the mouth, but is a common infection that can cause genital herpes.
This infection is so common that most adults are infected with HSV-1. According to the World Health Organization.
HSV-2 is spread through sexual contact and causes genital herpes, but most people have no symptoms or only mild symptoms. Both types are treatable, but not curable.
Although herpes is very common, there is still a lot of stigma.
“I think it’s foolish for someone who has it in their genitals to be shamed by someone who might have it in their mouth,” she told Business Insider.
“STIs and STDs are not scary. They are far too common and should be talked about more. They should be better understood.”