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Avatar universal

Anything BUT herpes

In March 2008, I was taking a medication called Bactrim (not sure of spelling) and I had what my doctor's thought was an allergic reaction to the medication. I had open lesions on my vagina which were extremely painful and appeared to be herpes. Both the blood test and the swab test came back negative for herpes, and the lesions went away. Now, I'm having a similar reaction. I have open lesions on my vagina again, but I also have bacterial vaginosis accompanying it. Every doctor that I have talked to has said that it is the herpes virus and has tested me for the std. The cultures have not been returned yet so there is no definite idea of what is happening to me. I'm a fairly responsible person, I have had four partners my entire life none of which has ever had an outbreak. I've only ever had oral sex performed on me by these partners, and even then, not regularly. I need to know if there is any chance of this being something other than herpes and if anyone out there has experienced this.
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101028 tn?1419603004
Glad you are getting a work up for this and hopefully will soon have answers :)

grace
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Avatar universal
My dermatologist "thinks" it's Bechet's and gave me steroid which I apparently won't need now.
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Everything has mysteriously gone away, except for the throat stuff, and I finished my Z pack yesterday.
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101028 tn?1419603004
There are many things this can be from.  At this point just finish up the clinda to cover that base.  Go and be seen and get a throat swab done to make sure you don't have strep throat. Study hard for your finals and then follow up on this with a dermatologist when you get a chance.  You might even have something like bechet's going on.

Hang in there :)

grace
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Avatar universal
The results are in:

The bacterial culture grew no bacteria or known infections.

The viral culture came back negative for any form of herpes.

I still have lesions and I have developed strep throat and a fever.

I'm probably failing at college.
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101028 tn?1419603004
Unless you get a + hsv1 lesion culture, no way to confirm hsv1 genitally.  Have any of the herpes lesion culture tests come back yet?

Oral clindamycin is an ok treatment for bv but not the best.  At this point just keep following up with your gyn as needed. I'd return about a week after your period ends for repeat vaginal testing for yeast and bacteria too.

Hope you are feeling better soon - this sounds very painful :(  

grace
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Avatar universal
Also, my time of the month is about a week early...
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Avatar universal
One of the cultures came back, the bacterial one, and there's nothing. No infections or diseases to pin anything on.
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Avatar universal
I have never had anything besides oral sex, so I don't believe I could have HSV2, and all my doctors are leaning toward HSV1 in the genital region. I'm on clindamyicin in pill form, four times a day, valtrex three times a day, and vicodin every four to six hours. I've also been put on Z-pack? Or something like that for my strep. I'm allergic to the penicillin and sulfa medicine families so I get everything fun...
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101028 tn?1419603004
BV can be a booger ( sorry but sensors won't let me say what I really think about it ). It also has been known to make hsv2 shed more often. At this point you need to also repeat your igg blood test as was already suggested if your lesion cultures come back negative.

Are they treating your bv with clindamycin? If so is it the oral pills or the vaginal clindesse?

grace
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Avatar universal
I've been seeing my doctors, and I went to the Emergency Room Sunday because the pain was so excruciating. I saw my doctor just this Monday and she flat out told me it looked to her like herpes and took a swab for more cultures, because the hospital's cultures weren't good enough. What I guess I'm not understanding is if I had this happen before, why is this outbreak so much worse? I've been reading up on everything, and according to most sites, HSV1 in the genital area hits hard the first outbreak and then doesn't reoccur that often. When it does reoccur it isn't supposed to be nearly as bad as the initial outbreak.

Also, I had mono last semester. I didn't have any other symptoms except for the tiredness. Could this be a manifestation of the ulcers in my throat I should have had? I did try to bring this up with my doctor but all she wanted to do was shove genital herpes pamphlets in my face and tell me to be more responsible.
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Avatar universal
I totally feel what your going through.  This is my third outbreak in 6 months and I haven't had a positive test result yet!!! I get kinda the same symptoms, but I get a sore throat, swollen glands and flu-like symptoms. I am currently on Valtrex and was on it the past two times.  

From what I was told by the Doctor in the Expert forum, it is possible to have HSV and have negative test results because the virus can lie dormant for quite awhile. He also told me that the culture(swabbing test) is not sensitive enough and can give false negatives.  None the less he told me to get another blood test done call the HerpesSelect.  The Doctor also said its a slim chance but yes it could also be another illness that is causing these genital ulcerations.  I've done my own little research and found out that Mono and Behcet Disease can cause these problems but thats only to name a few, the Doctor said there is such a long list that I would have to discuss it further with my doctor if they felt this couldn't be herpes.

Hope this helps a little.
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897535 tn?1295206435
See your doctor again for the new symptoms.

The testing you had in March 2008 could possibly have been a false negative. The swab/culture may not have picked up the virus, and if it was a new infection, the blood test won't show antibodies for about 16 weeks after.

Be sure you get an IgG type specific blood test. Standard STD testing does not include herpes testing.

Being "fairly responsible" means nothing with herpes. 1 in 4 women and 1 in 5 men have genital herpes, and of those 90% don't even know it. The virus can be active and thus transmitted (called "shedding") without any outward symptoms.

I have genital HSV-1 from my partner of 5 years, via oral sex (he has oral HSV-1). Again, he had no symptoms (as in a cold sore) in all of those 5 years.

Lastly, yes it could be something else. That's why you see your medical provider to get it properly tested and diagnosed.
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Avatar universal
Oof. Not that anyone is reading this, but I have a couple of more problems. My urine is brownish yellow and I have a white coating on one side of my throat. :(
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Avatar universal
I should mention that I am currently on valtrex, vicodin and chlindamyicin for all of this.
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