I'd just like to relay a few of my experiences so far in trying
to deal with my brand new genital herpes problem.  The title of
my post is pure hyperbole, far too sweepingly damning of the
average doctor, as I'm sure some of you have a dermatologist
or general physician who knows what the hell they're talking about
when it comes to STDs.  However, my experience in extracting useful
information from doctors has thus far been terrible.  Perhaps I'm
just getting an unhealthy dose of appointments with busy, big city
doctors.

First I went to an emergency room and shelled out fifty bucks (that's
my health plan co-payment for ER visits) for what essentially amounted
to an opinion that I "probably" had genital herpes, as well as a test for
chlamydia and gonorrhea (which were negative).  They told me to go to
a dermatologist to get the actual herpes culture.  From what I was
told by the dermatologist, they *should have* been able to do the test
for me right then and there.  They made some lousy excuse that they
didn't have the "equipment" on hand or something.  

Second, I went to the dermatologist as recommended.  This guy was extremely
busy and made me feel like one of many cows in a large herd.  His assistant
told me he was on a "five-minute" day, meaning he allotted about 5 minutes
per patient.  That was lovely news.  Anyway, he did the culture and confirmed
the HSV.  However, he ignored my request, when I brought it up a second time
just before I left, to determine whether it was HSV1 or HSV2.  He simply said
that this extra test wasn't typically done and I should simply be satisfied
to know that I most likely had HSV2.  Perhaps he was aware that genital HSV1
was possible, but he acted as if it was so absurdly unlikely that it wasn't
worth testing for the distinction.  He prescribed Valtrex and told me to
take 2 1000-mg doses twice in a day during an OB (for a total of 4000mg).  He
counseled that I do NOT bother with the Valtrex at any other times, saying
that the benefits were otherwise negligible during non-OB periods and that
the potential rebound effect from failing to take Valtrex at some point wasn't
worth it.  So, I took my 4000mg of Valtrex even though I was about 3 days
into the outbreak, just so I could feel as though I were doing something.  I'm
not sure if it has helped or not.  

Third, after reading some of the very informative replies to my posts here,
I decided to see my general physician, who I have seen before for general
physicals, HIV tests, and so forth.  This guy was totally clueless.  I told
him I wanted to test *specifically* for HSV1 or HSV2 and he said, "Oh, of
course you have HSV2!"  When I informed him that the distinction can be
important for my future sex life, he simply said that he wasn't aware of any
tests for the distinction.  He recommended that I go to see another
dermatologist!  

So there you go....

I am now STRONGLY of the opinion that, unless one has a regular doctor
that he/she really knows and trusts, that one is MUCH better off going to
one of these free clinics that specializes in STDs.  And I say this without
having even gone yet!  I'm doing that this coming Monday.  It seems that
if you draw a random dermatologist or general physician out of a hat, then
you're very likely to get someone who doesn't know f.ck all about herpes and
modern treatments.  Yes, my sample of doctors has been small, but I've probably
seen about 6 in total amongst these three appointments and NONE of them
seemed particularly well informed.

I posted this partly in the hope that my experience may be valuable information
for someone who has just been struck with herpes.  My opinion -- go to the
free STD clinic!  I went to one once a couple of years ago, actually, and
they gave me the suite of VD tests and spoke rather candidly about all the
diseases, and gave me the general impression that they were armed with
up-to-date information.   I don't yet know how much they'll know about
treatment, but I have the feeling they'll do me right.  I'll try to post
something later that confirms or rejects my intuition here (although I know
one or two of you have counseled me in this direction already).

Much thanks for all your help,
J