HSV1 Questions about autoinnoculation and transmission

[txh2oskier]

Hello,
Three months ago I was exposed to and contracted HSV1. At two weeks the blood test came back negative, at three weeks it was positive. Prior to the test I had been feeling some tingling or very mild burning inside my penis. With several stressors, including getting the positive test result, I developed one small sore inside my mouth. The sore was gone after two days. The tingling in my penis persisted for a couple of months. Not all the time and not every day but most days. Several times a week my lips would start to tingle and I'd itch around my mouth, as far up as my nose and as far down as my chin. Never experienced another outbreak where there was any kind of sore though.

I've changed my diet some to reduce Arginine and started taking Lysine supplements. This has pretty much stopped the tingling.

Here are my questions...

Based on my description, does it sound like I may have genital HSV1?  I even went to an urologist but they dismissed it.

I know there is a chance of spreading this without any symptoms / cold sores but where can I spread it? Kissing or oral sex seems to be a definite possibility. What about kissing other parts of my gf's body? Face, neck, shoulder, breasts, anus?

Can I transmit this to my girlfriend via my hands? If so, only to the mouth, genitals or anus?

Assuming I don't have it genitally now, is there a point in time at which I don't have to worry about getting it there, either from myself or someone else? What about getting herpes in my eyes? That's the part that really freaks me out.

As tomorrow will be my 3 month "anniversary" I'm planning on getting tested again to see if anything else pops up.

Thanks for your help in answering my questions and concerns.

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

YOu're welcome

Terri

[txh2oskier]

Thank you Terri. I appreciate your help.

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

If you only have oral herpes, you can only transmit virus from your mouth, not your hands.  Once you have a nicely established immune response, probably four months or so, it is highly unlikely you will get this in a new place on your body.  

The vulnerable parts of her body are mouth and genitals.

Terri

[txh2oskier]

Thanks Terri,
I guess I know as much about my situation as I can know, no more tests to run. So assuming I have oral HSV 1, here are my questions.

I know there is a chance of spreading this without any symptoms / cold sores but where can I spread it? Kissing or oral sex seems to be a definite possibility. What about kissing other parts of my gf's body? Face, neck, shoulder, breasts, anus?

Can I transmit this to my girlfriend via my hands? If so, only to the mouth, genitals or anus?

Assuming I don't have it genitally now, is there a point in time at which I don't have to worry about getting it there because the antibodies in my body will take care of it, either from myself or someone else? What about getting herpes in my eyes? That's the part that really freaks me out.

Brian

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

This is a low index value, yes, and the chances of it being a false positive are reasonable.  We don't have specific data on the rates of false positives for HSV 1 like we do for HSV 2, however.  It will not be useful for you to repeat the same test you had done before because if it is a false positive, you may encounter the same results again.  

Even if your HSV 1 test is truly positive, you cannot know for certain that this is genital.  Yes, that is true even if you are experiencing symptoms genitally.

Terri

[txh2oskier]

Hi Terri,
The HSV2 was only listed as <.90, the HSV1 was 1.24 from the second test at 3 weeks.

A little more information, no discharge from my penis and no pain or burning during urination.

You would make my whole year if you told me it looks like a false positive. I am planning on going in for another blood test this week which should confirm it one way or the other, shouldn't it? It will be 3 months since exposure.

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

Before we go any farther with this, I would like you to find out what the index values were on both of those tests that you had done, to rule out false positives.  Can you get that for me please?

Terri