Definitely get the western blot...

So, 2 years later I finally get the nerve to disregard the comments from 2 I.D. doctors, 1 dermatologist, and 2 urologists about confirmation testing.  They all said the herpeselect test was accurate and that it should be trusted.  No one would help.

I got the western blot and it comes back negative.  I have no idea why I put up with this for so long.  Nearly 2 years of valtrex and hundreds of dollars of doctors bills and prescriptions.  Frustrating.  3 herpeselect tests - 2.9, 3.05, 3.67.

Moral of the story, call the Westover Heights Clinic and get some peace if your test comes back under a 4.

Good luck!

[gracefromHHP]

we regularly recommend confirmatory testing for low positives here.  it's well worth doing due to the false positive issues with the tests. wish you had found us 2 years ago so we could've guided you to the WB sooner :(

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Herpes/low-positives---confirmatory-results/show/1097724#post_5968138  is an ongoing post we have here about the false positives. If you don't mind either posting your story there too or even just posting a link to this post, it would be greatly appreciated :)   we don't try to make folks mistrust the tests completely, just try to make them aware of the issues with the test ( no test is every 100% accurate regardless of the test ) so that they can be sure of their own status better :)

thanks for sharing your story for others :)

grace

[Jonsie150]

If you dont mind me asking, what prompted you to get a test? were you having symptoms?

[donttrustthetest]

I had an unprotected encounter with a new girlfriend and had a freak out moment.  No symptoms other than a bunch of stress induced pain.  Figured I should get tested just in case she was not being truthful about her status.  Chaos ensued after the first positive herpeselect then just got worse after the following 2.  What an expensive, scary, depressing disaster.

Please, repost this as much as you want.  I am extremely disappointed about the level of knowledge and care provided by my doctors.  I live in a major metropolitan area with several nationally ranked research hospitals and went to the best people I could find here.  Not one was willing to just run the WB test for me.  I didn't care if I was positive or not, I just wanted to be sure.

All I can say is that the "gold standard" says I'm negative and a fairly decent test says I'm in a questionable zone.  I think I'll go with the statistics and go on with my life.  :)  

[confusedyoungman]

Man I hope I have your luck. I've been losing my mind over a recent diagnosis. Chaos indeed. Life in complete disarray. I've had 2 low iggs @ 1.45 then 1.1. Thought I had symptoms but they were really irregular & scarred. With all the different creams I keep using who knows. Went off the meds & nothing. Dr refuses to order more testing. Says it's a waste of $. Keep trying to argue. Have an appointment with a specialist. Hoping against hope. This post gave me some encouragement.

[donttrustthetest]

Don't even bother trying to fight with your doctor.  Just call Westover Heights.  Seriously, it's so much easier.  They are so nice.  You pay a few bucks a minute to talk to a RN then they schedule the test.  Even if you have to pay for the test you're only out about $150.

I really wish I would have done this earlier.  I would have saved myself and my insurance company thousands of dollars on valtrex.

I tried to convince my doctors 5 times and no help.

[confusedyoungman]

Did you have anything that resembled symptoms or were you told you were asymptomatic?