Urethral symptom 7 weeks in. Is this early HSV?

[GrabObjective]

Had oral exposure on 4/16/23. I asked her when the last time she had and STI test. She said about about a month previously and she hasn’t seen anyone since then.

Took a test on 4/20/23 because I noticed there were some small bumps on my lips and I was paranoid. On the 10 panel STD test everything was negative except for HSV 1 and 2.
HSV1: 2.4
HSV 2: Negative
The test they did was a common HSV blood test with no confirmation test to follow.

So, my life spiraled and I was depressed, but knew I needed to wait at least 12 weeks for accurate HSV testing, so that was the next time I planned to get tested.

5/29/2023
My urethra had some irritation. It didn’t hurt when I pissed, but It was uncomfortable.

Here some extra information.

(I was depressed from my HSV blood test, so I wore the same boxers multiple days and I usually sweat at night, so I continued to wear the same boxers into the work day. I also masturbated into a trashcan. I had no toilet paper to clean up, so I rubbed my penis on the side of the bathroom trashcan to wipe myself off).

I went in to a UTI urine culture. It came back negative. My doctor gave bactrim for the UTI irritation (before we found out it was negative). I found that odd, because most of the clinics I’ve been to, use the slide test to see if there’s bacteria and not just the urine culture. Anyway, I don’t have any visible sores or anything that resembles HSV.

Since my urine culture was negative the next step was to see if the urethra irritation was from an STD.

6/3/23 I took another 10 panel test from the same company and test location
HSV1: 1.79
HSV2: 1.81

I’m done taking my bactrim, but I’m still having slight urethral irritation (it’s gone down a lot compared to what it was). I still don’t have any visible symptoms at 7 weeks since exposure.

Do you think this is HSV? I’ve read about low positives having the potential being false positives, especially without visible symptoms.

Are the symptoms I’m having common to HSV in males?

[GrabObjective]

A few things I forgot to add,

About a month before my oral exposure 4/16/23.
I had COVID on 3/27/2023 and tested negative for covid by 4/30/2033.

I also had my first Herpes-zoster outbreak on the trunk of my body less than a year ago. I got medication to help the virus pain.

A little more information,
When I got my first rest result 4/20/23. I had a previous partner reconnected with me and told them that I tested low positive for HSV 1. We assumed it was only oral, so we continued to have sex without protection. It’s been about 4 weeks since we had sex and she’s not having any symptoms.

What I’m asking:
With all of the previous information above and this added information, what’s the odds that I have HSV 1 or 2?

[Terri Warren]

It’s so difficult to tell about the HSV 1 because the IgG tests are notably poor for HSV 1. I think the HSV 2 is likely a false positive and there is a good chance the HSV 1 is also. Also, if you the HSV 1 confirms a positive with a better test, like thew western blot, you cannot know if your infection is oral or genital. I’m not convinced the urethral symptoms are anything to do with HSV. I would strongly recommend a western blot for herpes and you can work with your own provider to get this or me. The test is done only at the University of Washignton.

Terri

[Author]

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