4 Negative Tests but have a new spot on penis

I had a tiny sore on my penis I noticed on March 4th of this year. It did not hurt, bleed, ooze, itch, nothing. My GP said it was an irritation and did not think it was herpes. He sent me to a urologist to confirm. He performed a PCR swab test and results were positive. I also received an Igm blood test in the same time period. It was positive. The urologist prescribed a 10 day cycle of Valtrex. I was completely asymptomatic and not totally convinced I had herpes. I requested an IgG blood type specific test from my GP which he was against. He said you have a better chance of lightning hitting me then that test being negative. It was negative. This was about July several required weeks after initial exposure. He was surprised and sent me to an infectious disease specialist. All along mild to no symptoms. I did have another spot or small sore with no adverse reactions to it. Infectious Doc gave another IgG....negative again. Still not convinced I asked for another one. This was around the end of July. He also added to that test a DNA PCR test. Both negative. I was beside myself with happiness that I did not have herpes. October 5th yesterday I have a small spot or red bump on my shaft. WTF is it? Infectious Doc could not see me today and has not called back. Please help put my mind at ease

[gracefromHHP]

the pcr test on blood you had in july was a waste of time. herpes is not blood borne so of course it's going to be negative.

on your original pcr tset you had in march, was it hsv+, hsv1 or hsv2 specifically? if you aren't sure, call and ask.

grace

[Goodlife77]

THank you for responding. The PCR in March resulted in HSV2. And all 3 IgG were negative. The most recent negative is from the end of July. I have not been sexually active and have had no signs/symptoms since the beginning of June. PLease make sense of this

[Goodlife77]

Also, how likely is it to have 3 negative IgG well after 16 weeks and still have signs of herpes? Since the end of July I though I did not have it per my tests and the infectious disease said "you don't have herpes". the only reason I think I still do is because I have 2 small blister/pimple like spots on my shaft that showed up yesterday.

[gracefromHHP]

A small percentage of folks will not test accurately on the igg blood tests we have. you have a + lesion culture so really absolutely no reason to think you are not infected.  the only way you get false positives through the lesion cultures are clerical error. yes that happens but thankfully not very often.

No idea why the infectious disease doc told you otherwise unless they are just very under educated about herpes and testing which might be the case.  If you really need the peace of mind, be seen today or tomorrow for a repeat lesion culture of your symptoms - preferably pcr because recurrences don't shed as much as newly acquired infections do so the odds of a false negative are higher.

[Goodlife77]

Grace,

     Thank you for your responses. I went to the infectious doc again. I should preface that he is quite proficient at the treatment of Herpes. He sees approx 5-6 case per week. I got another IgG blood specific test. Negative again after 7 months. The spot he examined does seem to be "herpetic" at all per him. He seems to think it is an irritation of some sort. He confidently states that in his medical opinion I do NOT have herpes and that my body has cleared the infection. I am still not convinced. I have spots again. Small blisters (2) that I pop. NO itching, burning, pain, not bothersome at all. Just very concerning because they are on my penis. What the hell could it be? I have been told years ago that I had psoriasis in my genital/rectal area. They always seem to surface as a result of friction/sweating. I don't wear underwear. Not sure if that means anything. Doc also said that if I had it but did not show antibodies then I would have persistent and painful outbreaks. PLEASE HELP

[Goodlife77]

CORRECTION to my post. Doc said the spot does NOT seem to be herpetic. I wrote above that he said it did

[gracefromHHP]

I encourage you to pay to post to Terri Warren about your situation at this point. she is our herpes expert here on medhelp.

You had  + lesion culture of symptoms. Your body will not clear the virus. You know you have hsv2 even though repeated blood tests say otherwise. This doesn't mean that everything that goes on in the genital area is due to herpes but you know you have it.

grace

[Goodlife77]

Thank you again. What else could it be? Its possible to have 4 negative tests and show no antibodies? Wouldnt I have horrible and persistent outbreaks? What is the smallest amount of time typically between outbreaks? Could a sore heal and then reappear 2-3 weeks later?

[gracefromHHP]

I used to have monthly ob's and twice monthly ob's back in the day. suppressive therapy stopped them immediately. typically when suppressive therapy isn't effective, it's because it's not herpes causing those symptoms. A dermatologist at this point would be a much better follow up specialty for you than an infectious disease doc.