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Testing Sites
Thanks for all the information provided here - it has been very helpful to me during the last several weeks.
In late October of last year, I had protected sex with an escort (stupid, stupid, stupid - I know). However, we engaged in mutual oral sex on one another. To compound the problem, I sometimes have dry mouth syndrome and my gums will bleed easily.
I became sick about 10 days afterward, with fever, etc. Then, I noticed health problems all during the winter - constant sinus problems (never had them before), swollen lymph nodes, a few red bumps that developed on my shoulders and back. I also developed a lipoma, which was checked by a doctor. I seem to be over the sinus problems, but still have a scratchy throat sometimes and what feels like tender lymph nodes in the neck.
All that aside, I did get tested in January, 11 weeks after exposure. The test was for herpes, HIV, etc. I was shown to have HSV2 - the oral type, but everything else was negative.
My question though has to do with the testing site. I used a site called tstd.org, and visited a reputable type lab called Qwest Diagnostics. I felt at the time it was reputable, and then I read somewhere about labs that were bogus. Do you think this site was bogus - based on the fact that they did identify HSV2, which I have thought I had for some time (cold sores).
What are your thoughts on these testing sites?
Thanks - for this and all the great work you do,
MM
In late October of last year, I had protected sex with an escort (stupid, stupid, stupid - I know). However, we engaged in mutual oral sex on one another. To compound the problem, I sometimes have dry mouth syndrome and my gums will bleed easily.
I became sick about 10 days afterward, with fever, etc. Then, I noticed health problems all during the winter - constant sinus problems (never had them before), swollen lymph nodes, a few red bumps that developed on my shoulders and back. I also developed a lipoma, which was checked by a doctor. I seem to be over the sinus problems, but still have a scratchy throat sometimes and what feels like tender lymph nodes in the neck.
All that aside, I did get tested in January, 11 weeks after exposure. The test was for herpes, HIV, etc. I was shown to have HSV2 - the oral type, but everything else was negative.
My question though has to do with the testing site. I used a site called tstd.org, and visited a reputable type lab called Qwest Diagnostics. I felt at the time it was reputable, and then I read somewhere about labs that were bogus. Do you think this site was bogus - based on the fact that they did identify HSV2, which I have thought I had for some time (cold sores).
What are your thoughts on these testing sites?
Thanks - for this and all the great work you do,
MM
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Thanks for the thanks.
You had safe sex, since HIV is virtually never acquired (some experts say absolutely never acquired) by receiving oral sex. I would have recommended against any STD or HIV testing. In any case, HIV antibody testing is duck-soup simple; it doesn't take an especially reputable lab to provide accurate results. Quest is an excellent lab, but in industrialized countries virtually any garden variety lab provides equally accurate HIV antibody test results.
Either you mis-wrote the HSV type or you are confused about those results: HSV-2 is the cause of genital herpes; oral disease is caused by HSV-1.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
You had safe sex, since HIV is virtually never acquired (some experts say absolutely never acquired) by receiving oral sex. I would have recommended against any STD or HIV testing. In any case, HIV antibody testing is duck-soup simple; it doesn't take an especially reputable lab to provide accurate results. Quest is an excellent lab, but in industrialized countries virtually any garden variety lab provides equally accurate HIV antibody test results.
Either you mis-wrote the HSV type or you are confused about those results: HSV-2 is the cause of genital herpes; oral disease is caused by HSV-1.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
The lab is Quest diagnostics and they are a very reliable. You didnt need testing to begin with(protected vaginal, and unprotected oral both very safe)
Thanks for your feedback. I thought so originally, but the bleeding gums concerned me.
The two main lab companies in the US are Quest and LabCorp. If you arranged your test through one of the major online testing companies, they use one of these two companies. The major lab company (Quest or LabCorp) does the sample collection as well as the lab analysis. As long as you used a service that relies on one of these major labs, then you can be confident that at least your test was legitimate.
Thank you. I had heard of LabCorp, but did not realize that Qwest was also one of the leaders. This puts my mind at ease.
Doc, you were right. I confused the two. I have HSV1.
Thanks again
Thanks again
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