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Can a Positive become a Negative?
Hi...I am VERY Confused.
Years ago I went to a dermatologist who told me that the breakout I had on my mouth was a herpes lesion and had me use Zovirax to get rid of it. No blood test was done but of course I assumed I had HSV1 .
Last yr I had something that broke out that felt like a sore between my genitals and leg and I had discharge. When I went for a routine checkup the symptoms I had were gone but I told them I wanted to get full STD lab work done and I included HSV1 and HSV2 in the panel (just assuming I would come up positive for 1 but not 2).
All the STD test results came up negative Except the Herpes which is what I expected.
The test that was done was Herpes Select with EIA Value and I knew I would be positive for HSV1.
Well the test results that came back were the following:
HSV1 - 0.13
HSV2 - 2.81
When I got the results...I was SHOCKED! How could I not have HSV1 when I had a herpes lesion on my mouth yrs before? It can not just disappear! The doctor then just sd that he would not put me on any medication for HSV2 bcs I was having no symptoms at all.
After all this my boyfriend dumped me and I have not been with anyone for almost a yr.
I then read online that confirmatory testing with biokit should be done when you are below a 3.5 BUT Positive for HSV1 which mine was not....but I decided to go and get tested anyway.
To my surprise the BIOKIT result now over a yr later came out NEGATIVE!
Could it have been a false positive originally or am I getting a false negative now?
Now I am completely confused....and need some medical advice......
By the way...I have someone that wants to date me now and I am scared to go out with him and don't know what to tell him......Please help
Years ago I went to a dermatologist who told me that the breakout I had on my mouth was a herpes lesion and had me use Zovirax to get rid of it. No blood test was done but of course I assumed I had HSV1 .
Last yr I had something that broke out that felt like a sore between my genitals and leg and I had discharge. When I went for a routine checkup the symptoms I had were gone but I told them I wanted to get full STD lab work done and I included HSV1 and HSV2 in the panel (just assuming I would come up positive for 1 but not 2).
All the STD test results came up negative Except the Herpes which is what I expected.
The test that was done was Herpes Select with EIA Value and I knew I would be positive for HSV1.
Well the test results that came back were the following:
HSV1 - 0.13
HSV2 - 2.81
When I got the results...I was SHOCKED! How could I not have HSV1 when I had a herpes lesion on my mouth yrs before? It can not just disappear! The doctor then just sd that he would not put me on any medication for HSV2 bcs I was having no symptoms at all.
After all this my boyfriend dumped me and I have not been with anyone for almost a yr.
I then read online that confirmatory testing with biokit should be done when you are below a 3.5 BUT Positive for HSV1 which mine was not....but I decided to go and get tested anyway.
To my surprise the BIOKIT result now over a yr later came out NEGATIVE!
Could it have been a false positive originally or am I getting a false negative now?
Now I am completely confused....and need some medical advice......
By the way...I have someone that wants to date me now and I am scared to go out with him and don't know what to tell him......Please help
I am confused bc I have had sex with ONE person in my life. I have over 5 for HSV-2 and NOTHING NEGATIVE for HSV-1. He is NEGATIVE for both. Unbelievable. Can't explain it because someone gave it to me and he claims he's free of it. Could mine be false positive? I was severely sick and then later had cardiac arrest and was in a coma so my body/health had been on a downward spiral for awhile.
you were told wrong.
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/Confusing-Igg-Test-Results/show/771141 is a prior post that might help you better understand the false positives issue.
grace
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/Confusing-Igg-Test-Results/show/771141 is a prior post that might help you better understand the false positives issue.
grace
1 Comments
I was tested and everything comes back negative but HSV 1 came back positive with the result of 45.40 and i am having a UTI what should i do ?
You can have both canker sores and oral herpes.
You had burning and itching which a doctor said was just pimples. Could've even been a mild yeast infection - at this point who knows. If it reoccurs, follow up on it.
Biokit is not completely accurate - no test is but it is helpful for confirming positives from other tests. You've had a + and a - now so it's up to you if you feel it's worth additional testing or not as I already covered previously.
grace
You had burning and itching which a doctor said was just pimples. Could've even been a mild yeast infection - at this point who knows. If it reoccurs, follow up on it.
Biokit is not completely accurate - no test is but it is helpful for confirming positives from other tests. You've had a + and a - now so it's up to you if you feel it's worth additional testing or not as I already covered previously.
grace
first, i've gotta disagree with your doc's comment, "everybody has some form of herpes and there is nothing to worry about and you can't do anything about it anyway." i do not have any type of herpes. if one does, there is a valid reason to worry/be concerned about transmitting it to others. and, if one has it, one can take an antiviral to decrease the risks of possible transmission. so...that doc is wrong on all three counts.
next, i'll share an abbreviated version of my tale. i'd tested negative for hsv for years. then, i suddenly turn up hsv2 positive - w/ a number of 5.84 (captia). i get re-tested, and it's reported as "POSITIVE" (herpeselect). color me shocked! no symptoms, no nothing. i don't really believe it, but i "act as if" and get educated.
a year later, i want to put my denial to rest. get retested. negative (captia). decide to confirm. herpeselect says 1.14 (barely positive). decide to get biokit done, to resolve the issue. it's negative. the std specialist who performed the biokit told me that he never had an asymptomatic patient w/ a negative biokit turn up positive on the WB. i was offered WB, and decided i didn't need it.
you are a bit different, since you seem to have had some symptoms. but, i think you should believe the biokit results.
next, i'll share an abbreviated version of my tale. i'd tested negative for hsv for years. then, i suddenly turn up hsv2 positive - w/ a number of 5.84 (captia). i get re-tested, and it's reported as "POSITIVE" (herpeselect). color me shocked! no symptoms, no nothing. i don't really believe it, but i "act as if" and get educated.
a year later, i want to put my denial to rest. get retested. negative (captia). decide to confirm. herpeselect says 1.14 (barely positive). decide to get biokit done, to resolve the issue. it's negative. the std specialist who performed the biokit told me that he never had an asymptomatic patient w/ a negative biokit turn up positive on the WB. i was offered WB, and decided i didn't need it.
you are a bit different, since you seem to have had some symptoms. but, i think you should believe the biokit results.
Thank you so much for your fast response.... I never knew the fact that blood tests miss 1 out of every 10 hsv1infections or the fact that you should confirm all hsv2 results under 3.5 whether you are positive for hsv1 or not. The doctor I saw just sd that if you are 1.1 or over for hsv2 you are definitely positive if you are negative for hsv1 and there is nothing you can do about it. She never even suggested that I re-confirm the test.
I did not mention this in my last post but I even went to another doctor approx 4 mos after the first results and he told me that he did not even want to re-test me because in his words "everybody has some form of herpes and there is nothing to worry about and you can't do anything about it anyway." He sd "it really is more a neusance than anything else." I was completely shocked about how he could take an STD so lightly....
I would love to just think that I am now negative...I mean I have not had any lesion type breakouts of any kind in a long time but I have had other "symptoms" which of course could probably be from other things like yeast infections etc....
What I mean is this....
1. Since I had the dermatologist look at the sore on the corner of my lip I have not had another breakout on my lips in yrs BUT I have had sores on the inner gum by the edge of my lips and on my cheeks....the doctor told me that these are "canker sores" and not "herpes"
2. Since my one breakout between my genitals and leg...I have not had any other sores or breakouts at all not even when I had a really bad bout of the flu back in Jan this yr for over 3 weeks when my immune system was down.... But I have had itching and burning sensations many times and I have had little tiny bump like things on my butt and lower back that itch and hurt a bit but they do not look like blisters, open sores or leak at all...but my doctor says they are just pimples....
I mean even though I came up negative recently for HSV 2 I guess I am just being a bit paranoid..
It's just that I have read that people have had two positives and then two negatives and then positive again and it really makes me question the validity of all these tests and the other thing is that I know that people can be completely asymptomatic for a long time.....
My biggest concern is mainly that I really don't want to ever infect anyone
But the doctor who administered the Biokit told me to relax and not get re-tested anymore bcs he could assure me that I was completely negative and he sd that it was a much more reliable test than herpes select bcs he sd that he tested many people with low positives from herpes select that have come up negative with the biokit....
Should I just completely relax and feel I do not have it? Another hypothetical Question is this.....if I took another Herpes Select test and it came up another low positive...what would that mean at that point? Also...do you feel that Biokit is completely accurate or are there many false negatives with that test......How can there be Soooooo many false positives with Herpes Select? I just really don't understand how such a widely used test can be so inaccurate?
I did not mention this in my last post but I even went to another doctor approx 4 mos after the first results and he told me that he did not even want to re-test me because in his words "everybody has some form of herpes and there is nothing to worry about and you can't do anything about it anyway." He sd "it really is more a neusance than anything else." I was completely shocked about how he could take an STD so lightly....
I would love to just think that I am now negative...I mean I have not had any lesion type breakouts of any kind in a long time but I have had other "symptoms" which of course could probably be from other things like yeast infections etc....
What I mean is this....
1. Since I had the dermatologist look at the sore on the corner of my lip I have not had another breakout on my lips in yrs BUT I have had sores on the inner gum by the edge of my lips and on my cheeks....the doctor told me that these are "canker sores" and not "herpes"
2. Since my one breakout between my genitals and leg...I have not had any other sores or breakouts at all not even when I had a really bad bout of the flu back in Jan this yr for over 3 weeks when my immune system was down.... But I have had itching and burning sensations many times and I have had little tiny bump like things on my butt and lower back that itch and hurt a bit but they do not look like blisters, open sores or leak at all...but my doctor says they are just pimples....
I mean even though I came up negative recently for HSV 2 I guess I am just being a bit paranoid..
It's just that I have read that people have had two positives and then two negatives and then positive again and it really makes me question the validity of all these tests and the other thing is that I know that people can be completely asymptomatic for a long time.....
My biggest concern is mainly that I really don't want to ever infect anyone
But the doctor who administered the Biokit told me to relax and not get re-tested anymore bcs he could assure me that I was completely negative and he sd that it was a much more reliable test than herpes select bcs he sd that he tested many people with low positives from herpes select that have come up negative with the biokit....
Should I just completely relax and feel I do not have it? Another hypothetical Question is this.....if I took another Herpes Select test and it came up another low positive...what would that mean at that point? Also...do you feel that Biokit is completely accurate or are there many false negatives with that test......How can there be Soooooo many false positives with Herpes Select? I just really don't understand how such a widely used test can be so inaccurate?
Actually we recommend comfirming all results under 3.5 whether you test + for hsv1 or not.
Even the best blood tests we have,still miss 1 out of every 10 hsv1 infections. A visual diagnosis of oral herpes is a pretty good indicator of infection with hsv1 orally but not perfect. At this point nothing to do to confirm that unless you get a recurrence of a cold sore and can get it cultured ( if you feel the need to ).
At this point, odds are that you don't have hsv2. your low positive last year should've been confirmed and it appears it wasn't until now. If you need the peace of mind, get a herpes WB blood test or even repeat the herpeselect and see what it shows but it's more likely you really don't have hsv2 or just wait and if you get a return of genital symptoms, be seen promptly for al esion culture and typing of them.
grace
Even the best blood tests we have,still miss 1 out of every 10 hsv1 infections. A visual diagnosis of oral herpes is a pretty good indicator of infection with hsv1 orally but not perfect. At this point nothing to do to confirm that unless you get a recurrence of a cold sore and can get it cultured ( if you feel the need to ).
At this point, odds are that you don't have hsv2. your low positive last year should've been confirmed and it appears it wasn't until now. If you need the peace of mind, get a herpes WB blood test or even repeat the herpeselect and see what it shows but it's more likely you really don't have hsv2 or just wait and if you get a return of genital symptoms, be seen promptly for al esion culture and typing of them.
grace
Hi there,
The only information I have is information I have read online myself, but I think part of this may make sense.
It is possible that the outbreak on your face was caused by HSV-2 and not HSV-1. So the cold sore could be completely consistent with your test results. {I found this page helpful http://www.herpes.com/hsv1-2.html].
However that being said, it doesn't make any sense that you are now totally negative for HSV unless your dermatologist was mistaken. That seems unlikely as he/she would have seen a lot of herpes in his/her time, though.
Good luck!
The only information I have is information I have read online myself, but I think part of this may make sense.
It is possible that the outbreak on your face was caused by HSV-2 and not HSV-1. So the cold sore could be completely consistent with your test results. {I found this page helpful http://www.herpes.com/hsv1-2.html].
However that being said, it doesn't make any sense that you are now totally negative for HSV unless your dermatologist was mistaken. That seems unlikely as he/she would have seen a lot of herpes in his/her time, though.
Good luck!
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Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
