Paranoid – herpes?

[paranoid]

Hi Terri,

I’m quite paranoid and looking for some reassurance. I had a one-time protected encounter (vaginal sex) 10 weeks ago with a partner of unknown status (he says he’s clean, but he has proven to be not the most honest person, and I know he has had many, many partners – if one in four people have genital herpes, I would say odds are he would have come into contact with it at least a few times??). Last week, which would have been 9 weeks past “exposure”, I developed a tiny, tiny papercut on the outer side labia minora. This almost completely disappeared by the next morning (I’m thinking it may have been caused by the friction of my workout pants while exercising). I did go to the clinic the next morning, and she thought that the exercise caused it – said there was not enough there to swab. Since I have been paranoid, I have been checking each day past exposure and have not found anything – this was the first “lesion” type thing that I had seen. There was no pain, itching or feeling at all associated with it – I wouldn’t have noticed it if I wasn’t looking. However, I do know that genital HSV can present itself as like a papercut. Then, last night (10 weeks past exposure), I noticed some redness on my labia majora and if I took a magnifying mirror to it, I could maybe see a tiny spot of broken skin (another papercut manifestation??), but again, it could be from workout pants or tight jeans, as I had to struggle to see it this morning (I did put Neosporin on it last night).

Other than these incidences, I have had no alternate symptoms that would suggest an initial infection (ie. fever, body aches, itching, pain, etc). I do get cold sores though (guessing HSV1), so I’m wondering if that has kept other symptoms at bay if I did contact genital herpes? If so, I know this would be called an “initial non-primary infection”. On my left side groin, I do have what might be a swollen lymph node – might have been there before and never know – very tiny, but I can feel a small, hard bump in my groin (maybe the size of a piece of rice) – no swelling or pain has ever been associated with it though. Not other symptoms and I have been diligently checking each day for 10 weeks. It’s very nerve wracking and exhausting – I will probably do the blood test at 16 weeks either way, but very paranoid in the meantime.

So, what I’m wondering, is…..

1.) Is it possible that since this would be an initial non-primary infection (and not true primary), that I might still have HSV2 (does the 2-20 day average incubation period apply more to true primary infections only) even though the first “lesion” didn’t appear until 9 weeks (63 days) past exposure?

2.) Is it possible that these “papercuts” would have healed so quickly (essentially overnight) if they were indeed herpetic (does the papercut manifestation of herpes heal within 24ish hours – especially since I would already have antibodies to HSV1. I know they heal more quickly, but that quick??)?

As you can probably tell, I’m very worried about this. Thanks in advance for your answering of my question – really appreciate it! You do great work!

Thank-you again!!

[Terri Warren]

Have you had any type specific antibody testing done? Are you going to get this done? If you are only going to get it done once, I would recommend 16 weeks post exposure. It is possible that you have HSV 2, yes, but if you do, it could have been from years ago or from this encounter.

I think it is unlikely that a herpes lesion would heal in a single day, honestly. That just doesn’t fit the normal pattern of herpes lesions.

If you are very worried I would recommend a herpes antibody test, type specific IgG. You could do it now and repeat after 16 weeks has passed since the encounter. If it is negative now, it means you likely did not have it from a previous encounter and greater than a 70% chance that you are not going to show up positive at 16 weeks.

Terri

[paranoid]

Thanks Terri – if I had it, it would be from this encounter as I’ve only been with one other person and we were both virgins before sex.

Never had any antibody testing as yet, I will but will wait until 16 weeks as it is $170 up here in Canada, and truthfully, the doctors here discourage it, which I find disappointing. I will get it done, though.

A bit reassuring to know that a herpes lesion doesn’t usually heal that quickly. Do you find that the papercut type presentation of herpes heals quicker though (especially with HSV1 antibodies from coldsores already in your system)? Also, I mentioned above that I did not have any pain or itching from these “lesions” whatsoever – does that ever happen with herpes? Is it possible that these lesions were from rubbing of clothes or does that not really happen down there?

Thanks again for your response!

[Terri Warren]

I would say that most often, there is some discomfort with herpes lesions. And it could be that they arise from friction of clothing and/or exercise.

I do think that testing will provide reassurance for you. That’s really expensive, I must say. If you can get a tube of blood drawn you can send it to us and we can run it for $58.

Terri

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