Herpes 2

[grlinneed1417]

hi there.

Question. I am 37 weeks pregnant and scared. I had a horrible dream last week that I had herpes 2 and gave it to my baby. I have been thinking about this for days and finally talked to my OB. Twice in my life I had two pimples (looked like a pimple) on the outside of my vagina 2005 and 2009 and both times I popped them and they went away. My OB told me that the odds were in my favor (even if I had it, I have built up antibodies which protects my baby), no test can detect just Herpes 2, and without lesions I needed to let this go. Well, I did not and I went and had a blood test anyway yesterday to take a chance and see what the results of the Herpes test would be anyway. I can't get this off my mind, and I wouldn't want to do anything to hurt my baby. Anybody ever deal with this??? Just looking for some insight.
Thanks.
Thanks!

[gracefromHHP]

no reason to be overly scared dear, we recommend the suppressive therapy to help reduce the odds of you having an active lesion at the time of delivery so you can have a vaginal delivery instead of a c section.  no obvious lesions at the time of delivery and your risk of transmitting your genital herpes to your baby is less than 1% whether you take herpes antivirals or not.  with more current research, we are finding that you need higher doses of antivirals than we used to think during pregnancy to help suppress the virus significantly.  

[grlinneed1417]

So, is the 800 mg I  currently taking a waste? I'm due any day now and more scared than ever.

[gracefromHHP]

your provider probably just isn't up to date on suppressive therapy and pregnancy. Dr Zane Brown is one of the main researchers on pregnancy and herpes if your provider wants to do a literature search and some reading :)

[grlinneed1417]

Hmmm, I wonder whyy doctor gave me such a low dose. He was very specific about the twice a day and not to exceed that as a daily dosage. Once again, I think it is because I never had a confirmed outbreak. Is the medication twice a day a waste? Should I take an additional pill daily against my doctors wishes? I have already passed 38 weeks....with all the stress, I give up!! I have one more docs appt on Wednesday, I will get my specific results. Thanks Grace!

[gracefromHHP]

for pregnancy, it needs to be 400mg 3x/day for suppressive therapy for the last 3 weeks of pregnancy.  you need the higher  doses for pregnancy due to the natural immunosuppression of pregnancy.

if you ask for the exact test results the next time you are seen, post them here and I'll let you know if you need any follow up testing after you've delivered to confirm your status. too late now for confirmatory testing.  

[grlinneed1417]

Oh yeah, im on Acyvalir (sp?) 400 mg twice a day

[grlinneed1417]

Hi Grace-

I did not receive my specific results. My doctor only said " this was not a new infection and the test could not confirm if this was HSV I or II." he always went on to say that he believed since I have never had a confirmed outbreak, the test results could have come from a canker sore I had when I was a child. He was hesitant to put me on antivirals and believed there was only an imaginable risks, more risk in taking the pills. His plan was to do an exam the day of delivery and call it a day. I thought about it for a couple of days and decided to go with the medication to be on the safer side. If I wanted my test results, would I just call the doctors assistant and get the results or call the lab?

[gracefromHHP]

will gladly take a look at your results if you want to post them here - e.g. hsv1 igg 5.4 and hsv2 igg 2.9 - that way we can be sure you were properly tested and don't need additional confirmatory testing done after you deliver.


what medication and what dose are you on?

[grlinneed1417]

Thank you so much for the reply. You are a very kind person. My blood work came back positive, so to be on the safe side, I am on antiviral meds until delivery, and they will do an exam the day of as well. Thank you again!!!

[gracefromHHP]

actually blood testing for herpes at 37 weeks pregnancy isn't always accurate :(  The natural hemodilution of pregnancy can cause false negatives.   It's unfortunate that your provider didn't test you early on in pregnancy for herpes .

if you really do have hsv2 genitally, if you don't have an obvious lesion at the time of delivery, the risk of transmission is less than 1% anyways. not a huge deal overall thankfully!!

best of luck with your upcoming delivery ! You'll soon have a healthy baby in your arms to spoil rotten :)

grace