Recently had exposure to someone who did not disclose HSV1 status to me

[indiana]

Hi Terri! I purchased my “2nd Round” package just now. This is my first time back since 2019 when I eventually received negative HSV 1 and 2 results via Western Blot.

So, on the night of Jan. 26, I had sex with a new female partner. We kissed, and she gave me oral sex (this lasted about a minute) before we had sex with a condom, which lasted about 10-15 minutes. This was followed up by protected sex once again on the morning of Jan. 27.

I’ve cut back on my sexual partners since my HSV concerns of 2019, so this was a rare moment of indulgence. She and I did not discuss our sexual health, but I’ve checked my groin and lip areas repeatedly since then for any signs of potential HSV symptoms, which I understand can typically appear within 20 days of exposure. So far there are no sores, but I’ve had occasional sensations below the belt, such as a random pain and twitching in various places in my pubic area and down my left leg, which only lasts a few seconds. This wasn’t too concerning to me since I felt these exact same sensations — but at a greater frequency — when I turned out to be negative in 2019.

I visited the woman last night (Jan.31) with plans to be intimate again. But when I arrived, I noticed her bottom lip was slightly disfigured in one area, and I recognized it as a potential cold sore that seemed nearly healed. I later found topical HSV medication in her bathroom. She did not appear to have an obvious sore when I saw her on Jan. 26, so she potentially had it in the 5 days since I last saw her. I politely left her home having only given her a quick peck on the cheek for hello and goodbye.

I’m at least 11 weeks away from being able to get a WB so there will be no real way to know if I contracted HSV until then, unless sores appear. But what is your opinion on the chances of me having contracted it? How concerned should I be?

[indiana]

Considering everything, it’s clear the chances are higher than not that I’ve contracted it. But, if I could rephrase my last question in the post above, I’d ask — What are the chances that I didn’t contract it from her? Should I accept sooner rather than later that I have it?

[indiana]

Hey Terri, just thought I’d give a quick update.

It’s now been seven days since the sexual encounter and there are no visible signs of anything on my groin or lips as of yet. I’ve still experienced some random muscle twitching in my left leg (and sometimes my right leg) over the last few days, and there is an area of my inner middle left thigh that if I rub, I feel some slight pain. From what I understand from our past conversations from a year ago, leg pain is rare and would mainly occur during an intense outbreak, correct? Either way, this stuff is similar to what I described in my 2019 post when I turned up negative, but who knows.

Other than that, I’m feeling normal so far, thankfully, and am feeling a little more confident (but you can correct me if I shouldn’t be, haha).

I wanted to ask, in addition to my previous questions, if you think I should go into “lockdown” and refrain from sexual contact with anyone else until I can get some testing done weeks from now?

Also, do you think, if I did contract HSV from that encounter, would I have more likely caught through my lips than my groin area, since the oral sex only lasted about a minute?

[Terri Warren]

What are the chances that I didn’t contract it from her? Should I accept sooner rather than later that I have it?

Given that you were negative for both HSV 1 and 2 by western blot, we know that if you got herpes, it would be a true primary and your symptoms would likely be more pronounced.

I don’t think you need to go into “lockdown”, no, but I would encourage you to use condoms as I always do. I think it is highly unlikely that you contracted HSV at this encounter. I forget why you did the last western blot?

Terri

[indiana]

Hi Terri! I appreciate the encouraging feedback. To answer your question, I took a WB in late 2019 after I received oral sex and developed red spots on my penis (WB was negative).

Today is 3-weeks since my encounter with the OHSV1+ woman, and I still haven’t had signs of lesions on my lips or genital region. I’ve had kissing and protected sex with two other women since that time, and neither has contacted me about experiencing any symptoms of their own.

Yet, I’m still feeling random stinging pains in my groin area, and in both of my thighs and lower legs, which happens about 3 times a day and typically lasts 1-2 seconds. I’ve also felt the same stinging around my lip area, but less frequently. It sometimes happens near the bottom lip, sometimes near the top lip, and lasts about a second. As I previously mentioned, I felt similar sensations when I tested negative so it’s not like this has never happened before, but the timing of it is still worrisome to me.

Also, I’ve experienced random pain in my middle chin area. It was a sharp pain that lasted 1-3 seconds and happened randomly at its peak for about a 7-day period (starting exactly a week after my encounter with the woman) and has only happened seldomly after that. This is concerning me because I can’t recall experiencing this before. But again, I’ve had no sores whatsoever.

What initially concerned me is someone can be contagious days before a sore appears, and I had kissing and sex with the OHSV1+ woman about four days before I saw the lesion on her lip (which could have been just starting or ending, I couldn’t clarify on my own).

With what I mentioned today, do you continue to feel I may have been outside of that contagious window and that it’s still “highly unlikely” I contracted HSV during the encounter?

My plan now is to take an IgG for HSV Type 1 and 2 in a few weeks time, and if it comes up negative, do a confirmatory Western Blot at the end of April (which I’d likely order through you)

[Terri Warren]

I still think it is highly unlikely that you contracted herpes, yes.
We can certainly do the blot again, but if negative, which I suspect it will be, that will be useful information for you that these tingles and stinging pains are unrelated to herpes. When symptoms are vague, like yours are, it’s difficult to know what’s going on, for sure.

Terri

[indiana]

Hi Terri! It’s been 5 weeks since my initial encounter with the HSV1+ woman, and the tingles and stinging pain that concerned me previously seem to have tapered off over the last week. No sores, redness or anything out of the ordinary has appeared on my mouth or boxer shorts area, and no one I’ve been with recently has mentioned experiencing any symptoms, thankfully.

I have a general STD test including an IgG for Type 1 and 2 scheduled for next Friday, which would place it at about the 6.5-week mark since the encounter. I’m aware it can take 12 weeks for antibodies to show, but I didn’t think it would hurt to check-in. Let me know if you think otherwise and I should wait longer.

There was something strange that happened last week I hope I can get your opinion on:

For about 5 days, a small (about a 1/4 of an inch) area near the right corner of my upper lip began to feel odd, almost like it was slightly numb or more sensitive than normal. The area it affected was just inside the upper lip (so not on the visible side, but on the part of the lip that would rest on the lower lip when my mouth is closed).

No sores appeared, and the area never looked even slightly visibly irritated. What concerned me, though, was when my upper lip began to twitch on that same side occasionally. I’d also sometimes get a quick, sharp pain in my mustache area on that side, located almost directly above the part of the lip that was bothering me. When the numb-like feeling went away after day 5, the twitch and sharp pain subsided, too. This has me thinking it was all connected.

The only other things I can add is I think a vein or nerve is located directly underneath the spot that felt numb, since I noticed my lip pulsating when I looked closely at it. Also, at one point I put Aquaphor on my lips, and things felt back to normal for the time it was on.

Let me know your thoughts and if you still think it’s still highly unlikely I caught HSV considering this new development. Stay safe!

[Terri Warren]

The symptoms that you are feeling on your lip without any sores present do not concern me at all.
It’s fine to get an IgG test but remember that the IgG test for HSV 1 is not great. It misses 30% of HSV 1 and also gives some false positives, though not as often as HSV 2 does.

I still don’t think you acquired HSV 1 but the reality is, if half the US population between 14-49 has HSV 1, and you continue to kiss people, which is fine, of course, you may indeed acquire this at some point.

Terri

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