Hsv 1 genitally and orally?

[Curious]

Hello Terri. I have a lot of concerns so here we go. About a year ago I began dating a female who exposed to me that she had genital hsv1. I have oral hsv1. We continued dating for about a year sleeping together on and off without protection. I soon began feeling discomfort below the waist, itching, rash some areas looking and feeling like how herpes is described(no blisters or real pain). Since now and then I’ve been to planned parenthood 2 times and my urologist 3 times. They said we could be possibly passing a yeast infection back and forth, she also went to her gynecologist and she confirmed a full blown yeast infection but definitely not an outbreak. She’s had the disease for 4 years with only 2 mild outbreaks, none while we were together. Every time I was evaluated they told me it didn’t look like herpes at all and that I can’t catch it below the waist because I have antibodies from having it orally for about 10 years. The first time I went to pph I had to beg them to even do testing, they swabbed everywhere and came back negative. The reason why I continued to go is because of my irritation down below for approx 2 months or longer on and off . We just recently broke up and I visited my urologist again and spoke with a nurse practitioner at pph all to make sure I’m negative for this. I also spoke to my doctor who didn’t have much knowledge on this. I just want to know if there’s a way I can diagnose myself for me to handle this properly for future relationships. Please help me shed some light on this, I would feel terrible passing it to a future partner. I would also feel silly telling them I have this disease and I don’t.

[Terri Warren]

I would strongly agree that once you have HSV 1 in one location (orally in your case) that you will not acquire it genitally in a new place. The question here is not do you have HSV 1 – you do- so an antibody test won’t help you at all. It would be good know for certain that you don’t have HSV 2 infectio and you can find that out from an IgG antibody test that you can order yourself online from a number of different websites. Remember that you only want HSV 2 IGG, nothing else.

She, having hSV 1 genitally, is less infectious to others than you are, having it orally. Orally, it sheds more often than it does genitally.

Terri

[Curious]

Hello Terri, thank you for your response and everything that you do.

When I tested for hsv 1 culture swab they also did blood work and I’m almost positive they tested for hsv 2 as well. I’m not sure if it was as specific as the igg test but I’m assuming so. I’m just know understanding these terms and what they mean. One of the reasons I feel I don’t have hsv 2 is because it’s not as severe as described and I was clean before my most recent girlfriend and was also tested 2 months after dating to make sure I did contract this disease. I must also mention in the past couple months I did have a pimple near my genital region which had no pain what so ever but it did cause some concern because I was dealing with this at the same time. In the past I’ve had folliculitis and acne all my life so I didn’t think too much of it. When I told my urologist this they also didn’t think much of it. Also I recently have had hemrhoids which I have also had in the past due to intense workouts but I’m not sure if these are possible signs of herpes.

The other thing that makes me feel that I’m negative for hsv2 is my partner never had this and has never had recurrent breakouts and they also weren’t severe, she’s the only one I slept with in the past year 1/2.

1. Can I request these test at any clinic. Planned parent hood or quest diagnostics. Only reason being I think it would be quicker and cheaper for me with insurance.

2. What else could this be if I don’t have herpes? And how are professionals so sure you can’t develop the same strain of herpes in different locations, how will I ever 100% know.

3. Am I just freaking out or is this normal for people to be this concerned? Does your body react strongly like this when you have the antibody and its fighting it off?
One of the main reasons why I ask is because I would only have these symptoms after intercourse for about a week 1/2 because we would only see each other on the weekends, right know it will be 8 days since we had intercourse and the symptoms are fading drastically which they typically did besides the hemrhoids which I don’t know if are relevant to this. The Internet has my anxiety on 12 from 1-10.

Thank you for your time.

[Terri Warren]

1. Many planned parenthoods do this test, yes. I’m not sure if you can request Quest testing without a clinician order or not.
2. In 33 years I have never seen someone who certainly has HSV 1 orally get HSV 1 genitally. Nor have I ever seen someone who has HSV 2 genitally also get it orally if they did not have it with their first outbreak. And that is the experience of all other experts in this field.
3. I think you are freaking out more than normal, for sure. It’s likely time to stop reading all of these things on the internet.

Terri

[Curious]

So I guess my chances of having anything genitally are slim? I’m just curious to what the reaction was from me and my recent partner after intercourse. She said she felt hardly anything at all afterwards the following week, she also said that probiotic drinks helped significantly even if she did and then felt nothing. I also used the probiotic drink and the jock itch creams and they helped for awhile but slowly started to do little to nothing after some time. I have an appointment scheduled to get testing done on Friday which I think will be accurate because I haven’t been taking any medication and she’s the only one I’ve been sexual active with this past year. Like I said my biggest fear is passing something along to a future partner unaware of my status.

Do you think the hemorrhoids is a possible herpes outbreak? I mean I’ve had then in the past and I’ve been training harder than normal lately. It also doesn’t feel like anything described that’s relevant with a herpes outbreak just slight irritation similar to the past.

One other thing. When we first started dating around this time last month I was on an antibiotic for my acne called bactrim. Would this antibiotic kill my natural antibody to genital hsv1 making me more prone to getting the virus, or possible be one of the reasons why such discomfort was caused in the first place. I was on this medicine on and off for about 2 1/2 months. Was just curious what your take was on that.

Thank you again for your time and feedback it’s truly appreciated. I think I will chill on browsing the Internet for awhile.

[Terri Warren]

Yes, I think the changes of you getting it genitally after having it orally are very slim indeed. I don’t know how long you have had HSV 1 but if you got it as a child before starting to have any sex, then it is very unlikely that you would have it genitally and orally. Some people do get it in both places by kissing someone and receiving oral sex from them, but that doesn’t sound like your situation.

Antibody testing will not be helpful because we already know that you have HSV 1 and the test will, with 80% certainty pick it up but it won’t tell you anything – only that you have HSV 1. It won’t tell you where.

I doubt that the hemorrhoids would be confused with herpes, no.

And Bactrim won’t impact herpes testing, but again, there is no point in doing that.

This is your last post on this subscription. If you have further questions, feel free to renew.

Terri

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