hsv test accuracy at 6 weeks with possible mild symptoms

[scaredguy30]

I went to a massage parlor with a sex worker. I didnt have intercourse, but we were both naked. She kissed my chest a few times, and her vagina rubbed onto my groin while doing that. Otherwise, she masturbated me with her hands and breasts, which i feel like rubbed in the HSV. no protection was used, as no actual intercourse happened. But she did touch herself and subsequently touched my penis.8 days after, i had a slight sore throat for a day and then bad runny nose, congestion, and sneezing came on, which lasted for about a week. No fever, but i also didn’t check bc i thought it was sudden bad allergies. I also noticed what looked like a pimple on my pubic region. It was a single ‘pimple’, that had a red base, slightly raised, didnt notice any fluid filled blister, like a very small pimple or infected hair. Now i’m terrified that that was actually herpes. The runny nose and sneezing lasted for about 5-6 days (which seemed long for allergies). The ‘pimple’ didn’t progress much further and while its still visible now (~ 5 weeks now), its just some red skin now.
I had sex with my partner about 2 weeks ago. and then 6 days after she developed a rash and itchy labia. It went away after 4 days. However, then another ‘pimple’ showed up on my pubic region, 1cm away from the original ‘pimple’. again as a single raised red base around a hair follicle. Again, i thought it was a pimple but am now terrified that not only is it HSV, but that i’ve infected my partner and that she just had mild symptoms with the mild rash (she has previously tested negative for HSV). With that second pimple I’ve also started getting runny and stuffy nose really bad again and constantly coughing up bright neon yellow mucus. The mucus has been going for more than a week now. So I got a HSV igg type specific test exactly 6 weeks from the massage and test results came back negative. with the runny nose, mucus, and partner’s rash, do i actually have HSV? How accurate is igg test @ 6 wks? what to do?!

[scaredguy30]

Is it possible that i simply haven’t seroconverted yet, even if i’ve already had possible symptoms? If those ‘pimples’ were symptoms, would antibodies typically be detectable already (compared to someone who had asymptomatic hsv, which might require waiting 12? 16? weeks post-exposure?)?
Is runny and stuffy nose considered typical flu-like sypmtoms that are often described with HSV outbreaks?
Is it possible that my described sexual massage activities likely could transmit HSV?

[Terri Warren]

Your experience, as you described it to me, does not present a risk for acquiring HSV 2. The kind of contact you had simply isn’t the right kind to get this virus.
A negative IgG at 6 weeks out is a good sign but it really wasn’t necessary to have been done.
Runny nose is not a flu symptom – that’s a symptom of an upper respiratory infection or a simple cold. When we mention flu symptoms, we are talking about muscle aches, light sensitivity, low fever, not cold symptoms.

Terri

[scaredguy30]

Thanks Terri. But in your guidebook/online, it often says people can get no symptoms or very mild symptoms that are often mistaken for pimples or ingrown hair. What if those pimples that showed up are actually herpes? The 2nd one also showed up a little bit after the first one, just as your guide mentioned how herpes can progress.
And how to explain my partner getting a rash 6 days after intercourse. Could that also have been a mild presentation?
Do I have to wait until 12 weeks before repeating the test to be conclusive? Would 9 weeks be enough?
If those were mild symptoms, is it likely that I already have antibodies? Or is antibody production independent of whether or not symptoms occurred.

[Terri Warren]

OK, maybe I do not understand the contact that you had. You said she rubbed her vagina onto your groin, you didn’t say penis. Was there rubbing between her vagina and your penis, when you were both naked? That is some risk for transmission. Herpes lesions are water blisters that break, ulcerate and scab. Is that what happened to you?

Terri

[scaredguy30]

There was no vagina on penis rubbing, but a little bit on my pubic area while naked.

I’m not seeing classic blisters with fluid, just raised red bump. I’ve also developed sporadic red bumps all over… maybe 10 on each thigh, 10 on each elbow area, some on my ankles… Could this be viral exantham rash as part of the viral herpes infection? My concern is what’s considered ‘mild’ symptoms and if those ‘pimples’ i had actually were hsv.

Is 9 week testing sufficient, considering a negative at 6 weeks? Do i have to wait till 12 weeks? You said the negative test at 6 weeks is a ‘good sign’, but are you also not confident in that test accuracy?

[Terri Warren]

Thanks for elaborating; that’s what I thought initially. Her vagina to your pubic area is not a risk for transmission as the skin of the pubic area (I’m talking where the pubic hair is) is too thick for virus to penetrate. So I stand by my initial comment that your experience did not present a risk for HSV 2.

Nothing on your elbow has anything to do with this contact – wrong nerve group.
9 weeks is sufficient, given the experience that you describe, yes.

Terri

[Author]

Posts