Worried about herpes – Trust IgG or take Western Blot?

[trackRunner24]

Hi Terri,

29 y/o male. About 12 months ago I had a sexual encounter with a stranger. About 2.5 weeks later, I developed some whitehead/pimple looking bumps on my pubic region (a couple inches above my genitals). I also had some abdominal discomfort/muscle pain in my lower abs/back. There were maybe 4-5 total main pimples (and other very tiny pimples/acne bumps), none of which were clustered, and each looking like a whitehead/pimple bump. I saw a doctor and was tested for a panel of STDs after about a month, all which came back negative.

Over the past year, there have been a few other times that I’ve gotten an “outbreak” of 1-3 whitehead/pimples at the same time in my pubic region, generally accompanied by tenderness above my genitals. None of the sores have ever been overly painful on their own, but they do itch and hurt a little bit if I touch/press them. The exact spot is usually a bit pink/red and tender the day before the pimple appears. No sores have ever been on my genitals, only in the public area above. After a few days the whitehead turns to a reddish pimple and then gets smaller/goes away. Very minimal oozing and no bleeding. I’ve also had the repeat of soreness & discomfort in my lower abs/pelvis. I do have a left-side varicocele and do not know if this is factoring into the discomfort.

11 weeks after the initial episode, I took a mail-in IgG blood test through “LetsGetChecked” that came back 0.0 for HSV-1 and 0.09 for HSV-2 (both very low negatives). This test was using blood I captured in a small tube and mailed in using same day shipping. After 6 months, I look another at home test (this time an STD panel test through “EverlyWell” that used the dried blood spot method). This test only checked for HSV-2 and didn’t provide me with specific results besides “negative.”

I’m worried that I could’ve gotten false negative IgG results. Please let me know if you advise a Western Blot test or if you think I should trust the IgG results. Thank you!

[Terri Warren]

I suspect your are fine. The problem we have with Everlywell tests is false positives, more than false negatives. Your symptoms don’t sound herpetic to me and with the two negative IgG tests, I think you are good to go in terms of HSV

Terri

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