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Hello Terri. I ended up going to planned parenthood back in early March after another outbreak. By the time I was seen the blisters were gone and all that was left was some scabs (it only took two days to go from blister to scab). I was swabbed but the swab came back negative. That being said I took a HSV IgG blood test through quest diagnostics a few days prior to my PP appointment and the results were:
HSV 1 8.86 H
HSV 2 16.70 H
I explained to the planned parenthood nurse practitioner that since getting diagnosed with Crohn’s disease and being put on immunosuppressive medication, I had been getting blisters on my penis once a month for six consecutive months. I also showed her some pictures of prior breakouts. She noted the “straw colored” blisters and said it looked typical for herpes. She told me to assume it was herpes even if the swab came back negative. I got Valtrex from my GP and have been taking 500mg a day and I have had no new outbreak in two months.
My questions to you are:
1. How likely is it that the HSV-1 is a false positive due to the cross reactivity? My wife gets cold sores by the way, but I’ve never had one.
I’m still processing my diagnosis. I would be shocked if what I have wasn’t herpes, but I also don’t have a positive swab, and a part of me still wonders “could it be herpes?”. But when I take into account the fact I had 7 breakouts in six months, immediately after being immunosuppressed, it’s hard to ignore that. Couple that with now taking valtrex and the outbreaks have stopped.
2. Would you say based on all of my recurrent symptoms, the IgG blood test, and everything else, I should just assume I have herpes with a high level of confidence?
3. Considering my high index value range for HSV-2 couple with symptoms, would you even recommend getting more swabs to nail down a DX?
The last time I had blisters I literally got into a planned parenthood within 48 hours and the swab was STILL negative. It also cost me over $200.