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Hello Terri
I feel awful, ashamed and afraid. I am in a relationship and recently cheated. I had a sexual encounter with an ex-boyfriend ( who told me he was hsv 2 positive igg test result 2.33) there was no penetration. But there was kissing, touching with hands on both sides and oral sex.
I called my gynecologist office and they recommend to test after 2 weeks post encounter. I took the test and it came out negative for hsv2 and positive for hsv1 (I’ve been positive hsv1 for a while) Since the encounter I feel burning sensation around my tights and on my pubic area, that comes and goes on different places. I have no blisters or lesions. I had some discharge so I went to my gynecologist, he said he didn’t see any blisters/lesions and that the discharge looked like yeast infection. He sent me an antifungal and send me another blood test for hsv2. This was at 26 days post encounter.
The burning sensation around my tights does not go away so I am wondering if my test results were accurate. I am thinking of going again to test after 6weeks post encounter.
I read different information on the Internet some sites say to wait 4-6 weeks other 12weeks.
I have been postponing having sex or any intimacy with my actual partner, since I am afraid of giving him something. Our relationship is tense and not in a good place, he doesn’t understand why I am avoiding him. But I don’t have the courage to tell him the truth, he would never forgive me.
My question is , could I assume the two blood test I have done are accurate? Would I get a more accurate test after the 6week post encounter?
Thank you -
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Twenty six days is not very long to obtain an accurate test. However, because your encounter did not involve intercourse, your only risk was oral sex – was he the giver to you or you to him or both? HSV 2 does not like the mouth. Do you know if he was on daily therapy or not? His index value is in the low positive range and there is a 50-50 chance that his test was a false positive. If that is the only way he was diagnosed with herpes, I would strongly recommend that he obtain a herpes western blot to clarify his diagnosis and, in turn, perhaps relieve your mind. by 6 weeks post exposure, the antibody test picks up about 70% of those infected with HSV 2. But again, your risk is very very minimal indeed.
Terri
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So if you did not give him oral sex, then I think your risk is incredibly tiny, if any, from the hand contact.
In this case, I”m not clear that you even need testing at all in the future.The best outcome here is that his western blot is negative and there is no worry at all. This can be obtained through our clinic or contacting the University of Washington for a test kit to be sent to him and have his doctor draw his blood and return it. For your own sanity, I would encourage that to happen soon.
Terri
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You are correct that at 6 weeks, there is 70% accuracy – that is, there is a 70% chance that your result will stay negative. I think that’s about as much as I can say about how accurate your testing is at this point. If, however, you do have it and it hasn’t shown up yet in the testing there is certainly a chance that you could be contagious, yes. And if you have new infection, you are quite contagious. The symptoms that you describe, however, are quite vague and not typically related to herpes.
The results are almost never ever 0.0. Your blood is always compared to a control sample and that is never zero either, so there is almost always going to be a value associated with the negative test. 0.19 is nice and low!
Terri
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The very safest way to go is to retest in 6-10 more weeks and abstain from sex until then. You have the odds and the decision must now be yours about how careful you want to be. I’m sorry there is no easier way to deal with this situation! Of course the whole thing would be made so much easier if your ex would get the western blot. If he is negative for HSV 2, then this would not be a worry correct? Is there any way you would persuade him to do that?
Terri
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Well, obviously, if his test proves to be negative, he will certainly benefit!
And I would offer to pay for it if I were you – it’s about $250. You can set it all up for him so all he has to do it go in and have his blood drawn, eazy breezy! I would think he would want to know, for sure. Does he know about the rate of false positives in that low positive range? There is about a 50-50 chance he doesn’t even have herpes and I would think that would drive his interest?Terri
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You are out of questions and need to renew, sorry.
Terri
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It’s not terrific that your HSV 2 index value is going up but it is still not definitive as this index value is in the low positive range. I think you should do another one at 12 weeks and see what that is. You could pursue a western blot at this time but it might not be accurate if you are seroconverting. I believe it would be best to repeat the ELISA
I think it is very suspicious that your previous partner will not do a western blot don’t you?
Terri
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The reality about this situation is that you didn’t have intercourse, so your risk of getting HSV 2 is really low! I don’t know why your HSV 2 index value is going up but honestly, given your circumstances, if reported correctly, it seems the encounter wasn’t that risky, right? I believe that this index value is likely a false positive.
Your symptoms aren’t really consistent with herpes. And yes, it is a good sign that you have had no outbreaks.
The western blot should be done about 12-16 weeks after the encounter to be most accurate.Terri
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The above situation does NOT sound risky to me, no.
Terri
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Valtrex will confuse your western blot testing when you get it done. How much have you taken and for how long? I doubt that it would turn a positive into a negative though. Did you have the bumps evaluated?
By my count, you have one more question coming. When you post little notes like “I forgot….” it confuses things a little because the program is counting posts so try to contain all your information in your post before you hit enter 😉
Terri
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If you are interested in the most accurate western blot result, I would stop the Valtrex now. If you stop it now, your western blot should be accurate when done at 4 months. If I am understanding correctly, that would be two weeks total of Valtrex, right?
Terri
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Sounds like a good plan. Have you renewed your subscription since April 9th?
Terri
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