What should my next step be after confusing test results

[toeinwater1]

– Around May-July 2022 I had my first genital herpes outbreak. I’m positive it is herpes due to symptoms and pics, etc. I’m not sure when exactly due to very stressful year and personal issues
– Purchased online herpes 2 test, but didn’t use because as I was waiting on it and then…
– End of September, beginning of October, I had my second outbreak. Less intense a bit, but still the same exact “process”. Skipped the test because I knew I had herpes for sure now
– Due to second outbreak I ordered 500mg/daily Valacyclovir to suppress outbreaks
– Decided to use the test because after researching and thinking, I did want to know which strain I have
– Received and started taking Valacyclovir
– Sent test in beginning of December and got results back around the 16th saying negative, herpes 2, IgG .59
– Started Valacyclovir on the 19th of December
– Due to knowing I have genital herpes, and knowing I had only submitted for strain 2, I decided to get a 10 panel std test while I was at it to test for hepatitis, hiv, etc
– Got test on the 20th of December
– Received results on 27th
– Results are positive for herpes 1 IgG is 9.0
– Results are abnormal and 1.18 IgG, supplemental test when they saw that result was “result” positive and “range” negative

At this point I have been taking 500mg of Valacyclovir daily for a week, I know I have herpes 1, but not sure if that was contracted in childhood or if that’s the genital outbreaks. And now I’m wondering if these are normal herpes 2 results with herpes 1. I’m just at a loss of what my next step should be. I’m tired of paying for tests and just want an answer if the genital outbreak is 1 or 2

Thanks in advance!

[toeinwater1]

Gosh, been a long day, I totally forgot to add that I was masturbating a couple times a day for about 5 days during this last week, before the 10 panel test and I actually had a small and quick outbreak. It lasted half as long and wasn’t bad at all. So with the masturbating, taking a test while out broken, taking Valacyclovir during, I’m just confused as what to do

[Terri Warren]

Sorry you are sick of taking tests, but your first IgG for HSV 2 is negative and then you have a very low positive – the supplemental positive cannot be relied upon – we have almost 100 patients with positive supplemental tests from labCorp and negative western blots.

You should be getting what you believe to be outbreaks swab tested using PCR methodology.
The one week of Valtrex are not going to be interfering with your testing.
I would also recommend the western blot but since you are opposed to more testing, you may not do that.

Terri

[toeinwater1]

Would you recommend stopping daily valtrex for now and taking western blot? I’ll take another test for a definitive answer. Just impatient lol. If you recommend that, how long should I wait after valtrex to take test?

Or would you recommend stopping valtrex and waiting for another outbreak for pcr test?

Or both even?

Thanks for the quick reply!

[Terri Warren]

Valtrex, taken for an extended period of time right after a newly acquired infection, can cause a false positive on the IgG or western blot. This is not the situation with you since you suspected a new infection many months ago. The VAltrex should not interfere with testing at this time.
You can do the western blot at any time now and yes, I would recommend that for sure.

Terri

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