4 tests In and still confused

[clinicalstudypatient]

Terri,

I first want to say thank you for having this forum and I think it has helped many people, hopefully it will do the same for me.

After scouring the internet and this forum wasn’t able to find a situation quite like mine (hence the username).

I did 4 iGg tests from different clinics over the course of 4 months following a sexual encounter I had, and received conflicting information.

For some more background my sexual encountered occurred mid February with a woman for the second time. Both times I used condoms for intercourse with exception to oral.
I was tested 2 months later and the results came back positive for HSV2. I didn’t have any visible symptoms at all and was a complete shock to me. A week later I decided to get tested again by another clinic and this time it came back a low positive for HSV1.

I proceeded to get in contact with my prior sex partner to notify her that she should get tested.
She got tested and had told me that her Dr had taken swabs and blood tests and it came back low HSV1 positive and her Dr assured her that she had Oral Herpes.

Since I was now confused by such a broad range or results, I got tested again at the 3 month point and it again came back low positive for HSV1.
At this point I was fairly confident that I had HSV1, whether it was oral or genital I had no clue since I have had no symptoms for either.
I decided to wait until the 4 month point to get tested again just to be safe. This time it came back a high 3.53 HSV2 positive result.

Based on this information what exactly is going on and what do you feel most comfortable feeling my diagnosis is?
I’m also thinking I should do the Western Blot test, but I live in Boston and don’t know the process of accomplishing this.

Below is the summary of my results with as much info as I have for each:
Feb 13 – Last Sexual Encounter
Apr 10 – HSV2 Positive (Didn’t get the value and believe it was LabCorp)
Apr 24 – HSV1 Positive 1.14 – Quest HerpeSelect
May 5th – HSV1 Positive 1.19 – Quest
June 19 – HSV 2 Positive 3.53 – LabCorp

As I’m typing this I find it peculiar that Quest shows positive for HSV1 and LabCorp is HSV2.
I appreciate all the information you may be able to provide. Thanks in advance and have a wonderful day!

[Terri Warren]

So are you saying that on April 10th, the HSV 1 was negative, on April 24 the HSV 2 was negative, on May 5, the HSV 2 was negative, and on June 19th, the HSV 1 was negative? You are only posting on result at a time.

I think a western blot is TOTALLY appropriate for you. Our clinic an order this for you to be drawn in Boston, no problem, you just become a phone patient of the clinic. I can certainly see why your test results are confusing for you!

Terri

[clinicalstudypatient]

Terri,

To clarify, yes that exactly what I was saying. I only specified positive results and the others were negative. Here is the updated information just to close the loop.

Apr 10 – HSV1 Negative, HSV2 Positive (Didn’t get the value and believe it was LabCorp)
Apr 24 – HSV1 Positive 1.14 – Quest HerpeSelect, HSV2 Negative
May 5th – HSV1 Positive 1.19 – Quest, HSV2 Negative
June 19 – HSV1 Negative, HSV 2 Positive 3.53 – LabCorp

In regards to doing the Western Blot, who should I contact from your clinic to set all this up?
Is there any difference in the Western Blot provided through your organization and the University of Washington?
Do you have any immediate reactions/explanation as to what may be going on?

[Terri Warren]

No, I”m not at all clear what is going on here. Your last HSV 2 value is beyond the low positive range, but I’ve been having several positives below 5.0 not confirm lately so I think, given everything, you should do it.

So you can order the UW western blot in one of two ways:
1) you can become a phone patient of our clinic via a consultation on the phone and we can order the UW WB to be drawn at a Quest lab near you. They will draw the blood, spin it down and they will ship it to UW for you. They will send the results to me and I will email them or call you which ever you prefer.
2) you can contact UW directly. They will send you a test kit and you can give it to your provider to draw your blood, they will need to spin it down and give it to you to ship back to UW.

Either one works, but you need this test for clarification, for sure.

Terri

[clinicalstudypatient]

Terri,

I wanted to post a followup response/question and hopefully others can see this and read it for their own knowledge. We did a Western Blot and the results for me came back negative for both HSV1 and HSV2! I was absolutely shocked. I know the chance of a Western Blot being wrong is highly unlikely, but given all of my circumstances should I wait a few more months and get rested for another Western Blot before I have any type of sexual contact with anyone else and not feel confident that I have either HSV1 or HSV2? Or do you think it would just be a waste of money?

[Terri Warren]

No, you have waited the recommended 16 weeks suggested by the University of Washington, I do not think you need to test again. This is just one more example (of many) that show why people with either low positives or inconsistent serologic results needs a confirmatory test.

I’m so glad you posted for others to see, thank you for that kind gesture. Too often I have no idea how things end up with people!

Terri

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