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HSV1 & 2 antibodies unchanged
Hi, about 12 weeks ago I had a protected sexual act with someone who I suspect now had herpes. Two weeks later I developed a crack in my labia, had intense itching and pain, a rash on my lower back, and headaches. About 3 weeks post exposure I went to my ob-gyn, at which point she did not notice any cracks or anything unusual and gave me a blood test, thru Quest Diagnostics. I realize it was too early to show a positive result but it showed my HSV1 Igg levels at 4.48, which I knew was always positive for me. It showed HSV2 Igg at .13, Igm antibodies were detected, but the titer was below 1:10. I went back to a different doctor 10 weeks post exposure and got retested. I got back the same exact numbers, not even a .01 change in any of my antibodies. I find it strange that my test did not fluctuate at all. Is that normal? At this point I was fairly certain that I'm negative for HSV2 but now I can't be sure. Is it possible for a lab to scree up my results and take the ones from my first test with a different doctor and just send them to this doctor? Moreover, if I can indeed trust these results is it fair to believe that my chances of being positive for HSV2 are pretty low at a 12 week mark, given that I was neg at 10? Thanks.
cold sores in the mouth usually are canker sores and not cold sores. things like the gum you chew, the toothpaste you use and mouthwashes can cause them too. It's not unusual for what has triggered a canker sore to also trigger shedding of oral herpes.
the symptoms behind your wisdom teeth aren't likely to be hsv2 orally at all.
grace
the symptoms behind your wisdom teeth aren't likely to be hsv2 orally at all.
grace
The sores are not on my tongue but behind my wisdom tooth. Reason why I think it's herpes is because I typically get coldsores in my mouth, again prior to this year it was a rare occurrence but that's how I once passed it on to my ex boyfriend's genitals, thinking I was just having a sore mouth while wound up being herpes. Boyfriend's genital area broke out in typical herpes blisters few days later.
You have had no risk for oral HSV-2. This could be anything work with your provider to find out what is going on. Herpes doesn't typically reoccur on the tongue. You have something else going on.
So just today it occurred to me that I may also have HSV 2 orally. Yes, definitely no proof of that yet, especially given that I repeatedly test negative for HSV 2, last time tested negative with Biokit being over 5 months post exposure. However, went to a dentist last weekend and had some cleaning performed, nothing crazy, just basic cleaning which never ever caused me issues before. This time 3 or 4 days after the fact I start getting neck and head pains and general weakness, and what feels like sores in my mouth which are really painful. My tongue also feels swollen and I got almost like a speech defect
From this. I can't eat without being in pain, can't work without having numbness and shooting nerve pains in my neck, but I figured it was just irritation from cleaning. Today decided to inspect my sores and ofcourse they look classically herpetic with little blister-like bubbles in them. I know because I had HSV 1 orally before which never gave me headaches or fatigue but looked identical and also I eventually wound up passing it to my ex genitally via oral sex. My HSV 1 recurred once every 4-5 years before, this new "mystery" which I assume is oral HSV 2 occurs almost monthly with lots of pain and discomfort ever since my protected sexual encounter back in Feb. Whatever this is, it's aggressive and is giving me a lot of ongoing issues both orally and genitally, which again I'll repeat myself started back in Feb after my protected incident with a stranger.
How likely is it to be HSV 2 orally? In my Feb encounter I gave him oral with a condom once for maybe 60 seconds in between having genital sex. I can't believe this would be sufficient exposure to het it in your mouth...
From this. I can't eat without being in pain, can't work without having numbness and shooting nerve pains in my neck, but I figured it was just irritation from cleaning. Today decided to inspect my sores and ofcourse they look classically herpetic with little blister-like bubbles in them. I know because I had HSV 1 orally before which never gave me headaches or fatigue but looked identical and also I eventually wound up passing it to my ex genitally via oral sex. My HSV 1 recurred once every 4-5 years before, this new "mystery" which I assume is oral HSV 2 occurs almost monthly with lots of pain and discomfort ever since my protected sexual encounter back in Feb. Whatever this is, it's aggressive and is giving me a lot of ongoing issues both orally and genitally, which again I'll repeat myself started back in Feb after my protected incident with a stranger.
How likely is it to be HSV 2 orally? In my Feb encounter I gave him oral with a condom once for maybe 60 seconds in between having genital sex. I can't believe this would be sufficient exposure to het it in your mouth...
go and be seen every time you have symptoms to try to get to the bottom of it all. best of luck!
So my results at 16 weeks came back and HSV 2 is still negative at .11 with Herpeselect Igg. I am relieved in a sense, but at this point still a bit skeptical for reasons of 1) some people taking longer than 16 weeks to seroconvert and 2) I'm still getting painful symptoms, although not obvious sores but initially I did get a couple sores that to me rang the alarm. At this point I realize that if I get another outbreak I should get it cultured right away, but aside from that how confident should I feel with a negative 16 week result but also knowing I've had some prominent symptoms before? Thank you again.
hsv2 reactivates separately from hsv1 orally. hard to tell if just your body is that worn down or just what.
I have also been getting cold sores very frequently in the last few months, ie about once a month. Could being exposed to HSV 2 cause your HSV 1 to break out more frequently as well? Or is it just related to me stressing over the possibility of having HSV 2? I normally don't get cold sores at all, last time I had one before this was in '08 and in childhood before that, so this typically is a rare occurrence for me.
these sorts of pains only happen with herpes ob's - they don't start happening just because you have herpes. make sense?
be seen every time you have symptoms for a proper exam to try to get to the bottom of things.
be seen every time you have symptoms for a proper exam to try to get to the bottom of things.
I can totally see your point here, and as someone who has some personal familiarity with focused anxiety I can vouch for that. Also, appearance of new symptoms close to my presumed outbreak does not show causation. However, being generally cleared for any serious nerve problems in the past and suddenly starting to experience major symptoms at the onset of my yet unidentified condition still makes me have a high degree of certainty that the symptoms are related. I am no doctor ofcourse, so I'll wait for some sort of resolution of my whole HSV situation before assuming anything.
You know we read people saying that they have shooting pains and a lot of other weird symptoms. I think what people seem to forget is sometimes you make your body overly sensitive and your body is reacting to that. Think of it like this if you see a spider or another bug ever feel like something is crawling on your skin or touching your arms or something but nothing there? You are reacting to seeing the bug and you overly feeling if it is crawling on you or something.
You might want to talk to a doctor about the nerve pain as other things can be going on in your body.
You might want to talk to a doctor about the nerve pain as other things can be going on in your body.
Grace,
I am currently awaiting my 16 week results for HSV Igg. In the meantime I have a question regarding something that I guess I was experiencing since my assumed primary outbreak. My lower back going down to my groin and especially what seems like the areas where I had sores before (labial area) I feel constant tingling, discomfort, and sometimes shooting pain. I also feel like I have new pain in my lower back/tailbone that radiates down to my genitals. I have difficulties shaving down there also as I start getting shooting nerve pains between my groin and my lower back, and this lasts for a day and then gets a little better but never completely fine the way it was prior to this whole ordeal. Also, when I last had a pap smear done a couple weeks back I felt shooting nerve pain radiating from my cervical area to my genitals and lower back for a day or so after.
I've been reading a whole lot about HSV 2 and it seems like a fair amount of people get similar symptoms but usually not until a few years after they are infected. How likely is what I'm describing actually due to HSV? Although so far Im not confirmed to have it by either blood or culture I feel like my nerve symptoms are fairly descrpitive of HSV. Please advise. Thanks.
I am currently awaiting my 16 week results for HSV Igg. In the meantime I have a question regarding something that I guess I was experiencing since my assumed primary outbreak. My lower back going down to my groin and especially what seems like the areas where I had sores before (labial area) I feel constant tingling, discomfort, and sometimes shooting pain. I also feel like I have new pain in my lower back/tailbone that radiates down to my genitals. I have difficulties shaving down there also as I start getting shooting nerve pains between my groin and my lower back, and this lasts for a day and then gets a little better but never completely fine the way it was prior to this whole ordeal. Also, when I last had a pap smear done a couple weeks back I felt shooting nerve pain radiating from my cervical area to my genitals and lower back for a day or so after.
I've been reading a whole lot about HSV 2 and it seems like a fair amount of people get similar symptoms but usually not until a few years after they are infected. How likely is what I'm describing actually due to HSV? Although so far Im not confirmed to have it by either blood or culture I feel like my nerve symptoms are fairly descrpitive of HSV. Please advise. Thanks.
just keep going back each time you have symptoms to be seen. hopefully they get to the bottom of this for you soon!
I got tested for all common STDs including trichomonas. Got a high risk HPV pap smear, and was tested for candida. All came back negative. Is there anything else I need to be tested for? I do not have any unusual discharge but I do have what feels like cervical pain.
they are different tests and you can't compare them at all. nothing to worry about with your hsv1 igg being higher at one than the other.
no, the virus doesn't get used to the pills. I wouldn't bother with valtrex until you've confirmed that you have genital herpes. If it means going to be seen for a culture every time you have new symptoms, so be it.
did they test you for vaginal infections?
no, the virus doesn't get used to the pills. I wouldn't bother with valtrex until you've confirmed that you have genital herpes. If it means going to be seen for a culture every time you have new symptoms, so be it.
did they test you for vaginal infections?
Hi Grace, so I just got back from my new ob-gyn who went over my STD results with me. At 13 weeks post exposure, All STDs are negative, except for HSV1, which I already knew I had orally (and possibly genitally, but I never had proof on that). I was a bit alarmed though by the #, so my HSV 1 Igg is now 41.9, which is extremely high, my last test was only 2 weeks prior with 4.49. They did use a different lab (liaison test) but the ranges were the same as for Herpeselect. Does such drastic increase in the # mean anything? The doc told me it could be due to the difference in lab but im still worried that its picking up what i think was my recent exposure to HSV2 and showing it under HSV1, is it possible? My HSV2 is at .08. So my symptoms are still prevalent, with a lot of shooting pains, tingling, itchiness, and every two weeks I get a crack that bleeds and sometimes oozes too. The doctor thinks that it's all related to Ghsv1 but I told him that type 1 does not cause recurring outbreaks in most people with such severe symptoms. I told him that I think I was in reality exposed to HSV 2 but I'm one of those people that will either seroconvert at 6 month mark or never seroconvert at all, esp given that I already have HSV1 antibodies, which in most people delays the seroconversion to HSV 2, am I right? He kind of shrugged it off and said that I should just forget about it, that herpes is herpes regardless of type and I should go on Valtrex for a year. When I heard a year i got really upset and said that I read that the virus gets used to the pills and that when come off the medication I will have such severe outbreaks that I really don't think it's all that good. He replied that no, that's not the case, most people don't after being on it for a year, and your body learns how to manage the viral activity better. So I really don't want to take medication now, especially given that I'm not currently sexually active. I decided in my mind that I will take it only if I have HSV2 or if my current symptoms don't improve within the next fee months, which they have been all along, but slowly. Grace, what do you think my next steps should be? I figured my only option right now is 1) wait till the next outbreak and have it cultured: and/or 2) wait 6 months and redo Herpeselect for Igg. Would you agree? Thank you. PS I am consistently getting positive Igm results, which I know not to pay attention to supposedly but yet i feel like it means that I was exposed to HSV 2 because when I was tested a few years ago it was negative.
I am hoping its yeast but I never ever get those, and what I have been feeling for the last few months has felt like outbreaks actually, i actually started noticing patterns with alcohol and my period, both seeming to cause these tingling sensations down there, as well as cracks. It just seems like it's herpes but I guess the only way to know is to get a confirmation with tests. Thanks again.
3 weeks post encounter was too early for syphilis testing actually. you should wait at least 6 weeks post encounter to test for it unless you have an obviouc canchre to swab.
certainly get tested for vaginitis. yeast especially can cause cracks in the skin and ongoing discomfort as well as the itching.
grace
certainly get tested for vaginitis. yeast especially can cause cracks in the skin and ongoing discomfort as well as the itching.
grace
By the time I made it to the on-gyn (she was on vacation when I was experiencing the first symptoms) the rash and vaginal discomfort was mostly gone, so she didn't bother testing for anything else, aside from syphillis, which also came back neg. I am constantly getting cracks now and experiencing a lot of what feels like inflammation and pelvic discomfort. I'm going to a different gynecologist this week to test for all STDs as well as bring up this problem. Thanks, Grace, I was actually thinking the same thing, to wait till 16 weeks and go from there. Any other recommendations/suggestions for me?
the herpes igm test is a flawed test and current cdc herpes testing guidelines recommend that it not be done.
at this point, follow up with a hsv2 igg at the 16 week mark and go from there. should you get a return of any of your symptoms, be seen promptly for proper evaluation.
when you were seen with your rash and itching, did they detect anything else like bv or yeast vaginally?
grace
at this point, follow up with a hsv2 igg at the 16 week mark and go from there. should you get a return of any of your symptoms, be seen promptly for proper evaluation.
when you were seen with your rash and itching, did they detect anything else like bv or yeast vaginally?
grace
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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.
