Valtrex and testing

[Livrdh93]

Hello, I had an exposure March of 2021. Tested negative for hsv 2 at week 12 through igg test at a doctors office through lab corp. during this time I was taking valtrex intermittently with no sores other than peeing small amounts.
I had a small pimple located on inner thigh and white pus came out (no pain). Doctor said it was folliculitis.

Fast forward to 2022. I tested again through LetsGetChecked in January 2022 and september 2022 both negative igg for hsv 2. Then I went into a doctors office to get tested october 2022 for hsv 2 igg and it was negative again. During this time I had 60 pills of valtrex/500mg each and took them intermittently from jan-October 2022.

My question is:
If I took valtrex intermittently could this cause my negative to be false? My exposure was March of 2021. Most recent negative igg blood test was in October 2022 .

Let’s say out of 560 days from last encounter I took 200 pills (definitely less, more like 150) intermittently. Could this cause my negative to still be false?

I feel like I should just take my negative result and move on but I have read that valtrex can cause a false negative but I did not take it as a suppression. With it being a year and a half since last exposure I would think that my antibodies would build up regardless of valtrex being taken intermittently and show up on a blood test. I guess I just need peace of mind. I have tested positive for hsv 1 since 2007 before I ever started having sex or oral because my family has a history of cold sores.

[Livrdh93]

I forgot to mention that I took valtrex because I thought I was having symptoms of hsv such as discomfort and peeing small amounts. Never had any sores or severe pain. Each time I was evaluated and my doctors said everything looked normal. But in my mind I thought it was hsv and therefore took valtrex. This didn’t make the symptoms go away either. My obgyn recently diagnosed me with vulvodynia which explained the symptoms.

[Terri Warren]

I think you can likely count on this being a true negative. But really, I wouldn’t advise taking this any longer if, in the future, you want to test again because it will always be confusing. We don’t know what the impact of intermittent use of Valtrex, like you have done, on testing, honestly. But if you have been off of it for any three month period in a row, I think it’s fine to rely upon the negative.

Terri

[Livrdh93]

Thank you for your response Terri, I really appreciate it. I was post partum in february 2022 and pretty sure I didn’t take hardly any valtrex from Feb-September. In October I received my negative igg test result. I would like to test again for peace of mind but in your personal opinion should I simply move on and discontinue valtrex unless I notice something out of the ordinary? Do you think that after a year and a half some sort of antibodies would have shown up on the testing?

[Terri Warren]

Yes, I think you’ve been off meds enough to make antibody if you were infected.

Terri

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