Herpes from a single encounter

[anxiousman]

Hi Terri.

I’m a 30 years man from Spain.
Some time ago i started a relationship with a girl that lasted almost 6 years. It was the first one for both of us.
After we broke up I was avoiding any kind of contact with another woman, until last month when I slept with a classmate.
That night we had some kissing, she performed oral sex on me (twice and unprotected,, i think between 5-10 minutes, but i’m not sure), and I went down on her (twice and unprotected, but a little more time). We also had protected vaginal sex (a little while with my penis not erected).

Two weeks later I woke up with pain in my glans and something white around it.
A week later (september 24th, 3 weeks after we slept together) I had a blood test for herpes, and the results were:

IGM: <0.10 (for both types)
HSV1-IGG: 0.26
HSV2-IGG: <0.10

Another week later i tested negative for HIV, gonorrhea, syphilis and hepatitis. The pain was still there, and i also had it (worse) in my foreskin.

I think she didn’t have a cold sore on her lips, but I’m not totally sure. I also don’t know if she has any type of herpes.

Last week I read Dr. Hook saying that oral sex is “safe sex”, but I also read that is possible to get HSV1 from receiving oral sex.

I know that taking a test after 3 weeks it’s very early, so I’m thinking about getting tested again next week (6.5 weeks after that night) and six weeks later, because I’m not sure if i’m totally out of the woods, and i’m drowning in anxiety with every little rush in my penis or my lips (and I have brackets, so that happens a lot). I spend most of the day looking for any sign of herpes and it’s driving me crazy, because I can’t get it out of my mind.

What do you think I should do? How possible is that she passed me any kind of herpes (oral or genital)? Can I ease my mind?

Thank so much for your time and answer And sorry if I made any mistake writing the text.

[anxiousman]

I also forgot to mention that I have a discomfort feeling around my anus, but I can’t see any bumps there. Is it possible to have herpes around that zone by receiving oral sex?

[Terri Warren]

I do not agree that oral sex is safe sex. Most genital HSV 1 infection is transmitted via oral sex vs intercourse.
Taking a test at 6 weeks is early, yes, but it can’t hurt. If it is still negative for HSV 1 and 2, that’s a good thing and with 70% certainty, the HSV 2 will stay the same. We don’t have the same statistics for HSV 1 AND the screening test for HSV 1 misses 25% of infections compared to herpes western blot, the gold standard.

Two weeks from sexual contact is a long time for herpes to take to show up. My experience is that most symptoms with people with herpes show up within 10 days and the research shows the average time from infection to symptoms is 5.5 days, so that’s in your favor. Also, having white stuff around the glans is not a symptoms of herpes, sores are. When you say penis pain, can you be more specific, is it pain with urination or all the time?

While it is possible that you passed you HSV 1 by giving you oral sex, I would expect you to be symptomatic with different things if indeed you have had neither HSV 1 nor HSV 2.

Your English is very good indeed!

Terri

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