1. Should I get another HSV IgG test at a different place, OR go straight for a western blot?
Maybe go straight to the blot if you can afford it
2. I took one Valtrex pill 10 days ago, and I took a 7 day course of Valtrex a little over 3 months ago. Will this impact a future IgG or WB?
No
3. Can this infrequent Valtrex use impact a swab?
If you are taking Valtrex at the moment you get a scab, it could impact the swab test, yes
4. My primary care doctor emailed me a few days ago (the doctor who ordered my IgG was not my primary). My GP said “I never order IgG blood tests for HSV as there can be false positives and/or this is a nonspecific finding. Only a direct swab of the area for HSV is useful”
Apparently he doesn’t know about the western blot.
This is the third physician who has said they refuse to order HSV blood tests due to their limitations. Of course, now that I have gotten the HSV-1 and HSV-2 positive result, I almost want to see what the actual index values are
sounds like that isn’t going to happen
What are your thoughts on his comment?
My thought is that he is not aware of the gold standard western blot.
5. How often do people receive false positives due to equivocal results, cross reactivity, etc. for the IgG? Out of a 1000 tests, how many are false positives?
Most false positives happen in the low positive range. Not all. But most. If your index value falls between 1.1 and 3.5, there is a 50% chance that you will get a false positive. The vast majority of people will test either soundly negative or high positive. About 8% of people test in the low positive range, who test.
6. For 4 years my recurrent “skin lesions” on my penis have always been on the middle or left side of my shaft. Only since I starting taking Inflectra did this new crop of blisters appear near the right side of my penis on the rim near the head. During this last outbreak, one blister appeared on my shaft on Wednesday, and 5 days later 2 more blisters popped up near the rim. This never happened before. Did I spread it by touching the area because I am immunocompromised? My G.I. says I’m only modestly immunocompromised.
no, if this is herpes, you didn’t spread it – it simply traveled on a different nerve to get to the surface of the skin
7. My lesions are painless, never ulcerate, but there is a 10 day period of scabs forming and falling off beginning the day after the blister. You said herpes is usually tender. I can squeeze the lesions and feel almost nothing. Perhaps they are extremely mildly tender, but I feel like that might even be a stretch.
well, that speaks against herpes but not all lesions hurt. You still need a better test to know what’s going on here, in my opinion
Terri