HSV Anxiety and confusion with symptoms

[Anxious4457]

I received unprotected oral sex on January 12th from a sex worker. 12 days later I noticed discharge and burning when I urinate. I spoke to a doctor and they said it was chlamydia or gonnoreha, so they prescribed doxycycline 2 times a day for 7 days. Took it until February 6th, and tested negative on February 7th.

On February 14th I noticed a bit of discharge would happen so I went to a doctor. They had me test for HIV, HSV, Hep B/C, Chlamydia, Gonorreha and a urine prostate test.

On February 15th 34 days or approximately 5 weeks after I did a blood and urine test. On February 17th everything came back negative except HSV-1. However the doctor said based on my range for HSV-1 it wasn’t recent. I don’t know if it’s oral or genital, but I remember a few times in my teens getting a bump on my lip and using abreva, but never had an outbreak.They didn’t give me a range for HSV-2, just that it was negative.

The symptoms I’ve noticed that have been intermittent or ongoing:
Weak Urine stream – ongoing
Constipation – Infrequent bowel movements – ongoing
Erectile Dysfunction – includes morning erections – ongoing
Weak ejaculation – watery sperm – ongoing
Tingling in left leg – intermittent
Random tingling in penis – intermittent
No sores/lesions/blisters/pain/itch

On April 13th to the 18th I came down with flu-like symptoms (body aches and chills) but I never experienced and still don’t have any sores, lesions, or blisters on my penis.

Is this linked to HSV-2? I’ve read online medical reports, journals and people’s experience on online threads that these symptoms are associated with genital herpes.

Is a negative IgG test for HSV-2 after 34 days/5 weeks a good sign? What is the likelihood that Herpes would produce all of these nerve related symptoms except for actual blisters/sores/lesions? I had a cystoscopy appointment last week and the urologist found no issues. I’m going to do my blood test at 16 weeks but I would like to get an idea before going in.

[Terri Warren]

A negative IgG test five weeks out from a sexual encounter is definitely a good sign. But the thing is, the HSV that would result from receiving oral sex is HSV-1 not HSV-2. He mentioned that you had HSV one result and that you may have had a cold sore as a child or young person. This is likely the source of your positive it just be one infection rather than genital infection since you already had it orally.
Once you have a scene of the virus in one location in your body, you are very unlikely to get that same strain in a new location. I don’t think you need to be concerned about HSV-2 with this sexual encounter. While it is possible for someone to acquire HSV-2 orally, it is rare and when it does occur, it is rarely given off from the mouth subsequently

Terri

[Anxious4457]

Thank you Terri for taking the time to respond. I appreciate your knowledge and expertise in this field.

If I had HSV-1 already would it take longer for HSV-2 to seroconvert? Could my negative have been a false negative? Because she’s a SW, my thinking is that it would increase the likelihood of her having HSV-2 orally. Does that make sense? Do any of the symptoms I mentioned earlier (ED, constipation, weak urine, weak and watery sperm) relate to HSV-2? This has been happening for a few months now. For the past few weeks I find that I’m having what is considered random prodrome symptoms (tingles in genitals and left leg, flu like body aches) but no actual outbreak. Is that common with HSV-2?

Thanks again Terri!

[Terri Warren]

None of those symptoms are herpes symptoms, no. Some people do have tingling in the genitals. Both people with and without HSV 2.
If you already have HSV 1, it is extremely unlikely that you then acquired it also genitally from this encounter.

Terri

[Anxious4457]

Thank you for the information. What you’re saying is reassuring and I’m going to take the test for my own sanity. I want to ask you the following remaining questions:

1. I noticed on my annual blood test my White Blood Cell count increased to 8.1 from 5.5 last year. Do you think it’s possible HSV2 entered my system and it’s caused this increase?

2. I’ve seen on other threads you mention HSV2 can cause constipation and irritate the nerves in the genital area. Do the symptoms I mentioned seem to reflect that?

3. Does having HSV-1 make it longer for HSV-2 to produce anti-bodies? Could that have made my negative test at 5 weeks false?

4. Based on everything I told you and explained in this thread, in your professional opinion and experience what would you say are my chances of my HSV-2 test being negative in terms of a percentage?

Thank you for your insight and the work you do. Once I get back my results I will update you on the outcome.

[Terri Warren]

1. I noticed on my annual blood test my White Blood Cell count increased to 8.1 from 5.5 last year. Do you think it’s possible HSV2 entered my system and it’s caused this increase?
NO

2. I’ve seen on other threads you mention HSV2 can cause constipation and irritate the nerves in the genital area. Do the symptoms I mentioned seem to reflect that?
I don’t think so, no. These symptoms that I’ve noted are always with primary infection only.

3. Does having HSV-1 make it longer for HSV-2 to produce anti-bodies? Could that have made my negative test at 5 weeks false?
Only slightly, but you are still too early to count on these results, as we’ve discussed.

4. Based on everything I told you and explained in this thread, in your professional opinion and experience what would you say are my chances of my HSV-2 test being negative in terms of a percentage?
I don’t have a percentage, but I think HSV 2 is unlikely

Terri

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