Afraid that I might have herpes..

Good day, I would just like to ask if it could be possible that I have herpes.

Here's my situation. I'm a 16 year old male. A year ago, I was dating a girl. Our relationship lasted for about 7 months, and during that time she gave me oral sex a lot of times. We also kissed.
There's one problem though. She also gave oral sex to some guys before we started dating. However, she told me that most of those were first sexual experiences of those guys. I do believe her in this part, since they were only 14-16 years of age during that time.

My concern is, I've never had symptoms of herpes. I've never had a cold sore in my lip, nor down in my penis, or anywhere within my genitals. Never. I currently have a girlfriend, we kiss a lot and she also gives me oral sex. She, however, doesn't show any signs of herpes. She doesn't have any symptoms at all, just like me.

My question is, do I have herpes? Is it highly probable that I have the disease? I'm terrified as hell because I read that most people are asymptomatic. Does that mean that I'm one of them? Let me clarify again that my ex didn't have symptoms, I don't have symptoms, and my current doesn't have any as well.

Please help me, and it would be great having a reply from a doctor. Thanks a lot, and have a nice day!

[gracefromHHP]

if you had contracted hsv1 genitally from the oral sex your previous partner performed on you, odds are you would've had very classic and obvious signs of it at the time. no real reason to suspect that you contracted hsv1 genitally from a previous partner. No reason to suspect your previous partner had hsv2 orally either.

in your age group, 1 out of every 3 of you has hsv1 orally whether you know it or not. If you are really concerned your options are either you and your partner both get type specific herpes igg blood tests to see who has what or you can only give and receive protected oral sex.

this is not the doctor's forum either - you have to pay to post there.

If you are going to have any sort of intimate contact, you need to be responsible about it!  www.iwannaknow.org is a website aimed at teens to discuss proper condom use, birth control and std's. you and your partner can check it out to learn more :)

grace

[fluxx345]

Thank you very much for your quick response. Does this mean that it is unlikely that I have herpes? I never really had symptoms. Also, can my previous partner actually give me hsv-2 by giving my oral sex? Why is there no reason for me to suspect my partner of hsv2? I'm just terrified because she has done oral on some guys before. She never had symptoms as well.

Am I just being to paranoid?

[gracefromHHP]

your partners are very unlikely to have hsv2 orally to transmit to you from oral sex.

hsv1 is the biggest risk for both of you.

[fluxx345]

So, it is quite unlikely for my ex to have contracted hsv-2 orally from her previous oral sex encounters?

As for hsv-1, again, my ex and I have kissed a lot, given me oral sex, but we didn't get oral hsv-1 symptoms. Now, with my current partner, we also kiss a lot, and she gives me oral sex too, but she never had symptoms, and she doesn't have symptoms now.

thanks again for your reply! :D

[fluxx345]

bump, grace, I'm sorry to bother you again, but I have some more if it's not much to ask..

If I have recently contracted hsv1 in the past year from my partner before, either oral or genital, would it show symptoms? Because I never recall myself having cold sores in my lips or genitals before, and I still haven't had any.

[gracefromHHP]

most people who have hsv1 orally don't get obvious cold sores to know it.

most people who have hsv1 genitally get very obvious symptoms within a week or two of infection.

[fluxx345]

I see then, so that probably means that I didn't get hsv1 or 2 genitally since I never had symptoms at all.

What about first time infection of hsv-1 orally? Would I actually get obvious symptoms?

thanks again for your replies! :D

[fluxx345]

Grace, I would just like to update this topic with a some more questions..

You said that if I actually got hsv-1 genitally from my previous partner, then I would have obvious symptoms by that time, which up until now, I still don't have them.

Now, my current partner and I kiss a lot and give oral sex to each other, but she never had symptoms, both oral and genital. Does that mean that I don't have hsv-1, since if I do, then I would have passed it to already? Let me repeat that I have never had symptoms.

How likely is it, that I have the hsv-1 virus, but haven't transmitted it to her yet since I'm asymptomatic? I've read of hsv-1 shedding.. Maybe I'm just being too paranoid, maybe I don't have the virus at all.. How likely is it that one of has the virus but hasn't passed it yet to one of us? We've been together for 9 months, and every week we kiss and have oral sex like 2-3 times. Should be a lot of times already if you were to calculate everything.

Now, my girlfriend recently informed me that last april or may, she went through an STD test.. I'm just not sure if it included HSV-1 and HSV-2 in it, but I'm quite sure it did, it also had HIV test included. She told me that all results came back negative.

That leaves it to me then.. How possible is it that I have HSV, but haven't transmitted it to her in the 9 month duration that we've been together? We give oral sex often to each other, and we kiss a lot, we even share drinks.. So.. Am I actually fine or just being way too paranoid?

Grace, thank you very much for your responses. Honestly, the past few days weren't really the best of my life.. I've really been having a hard time, even my sleeping and eating patterns are being disturbed.. Your answers to my questions have been soooo helpful, and it would be great to hear from you about these last questions that I have. Again, thank you very much!

[fluxx345]

Sorry, typo.. with some more*

[fluxx345]

Last typo, let me rephrase one of my lines.. How likely is it, that I have the hsv-1 virus but haven't transmitted it to her yet because of the possibility of me just being asymptomatic?

It would also be nice to hear from others in this community. It's really nice to have a very helpful community such as this one :D

[gracefromHHP]

if you want to know , you'll need to both get tested to see if either of you have hsv1. we'd be totally guessing as to your statuses otherwise.

http://www.ashastd.org/herpes/herpes_learn_oralherpes.cfm  has terrific info on oral herpes for you both.