Lab Results vs Doctor Opinion

Hello! I am a 20 year old male in a peculiar situation. I recently got out of a long term (5 year) relationship with my first partner (I was also her first sexual partner). I had intimate relations with one other person who just found out she is suspected of having HSV-1 genital herpes.

By suspect of having I mean, she found a sore, the doctors told her she had herpes, but the culture swab of the sore, as well as her blood test (as well as mine) came back negative.

Here is where things get a little bit interesting, and where my question comes from, the last time she (my current partner with suspected HSV-1) had protected, intimate relations would be 9 weeks ago (had sex only once, whilst having her lover use a condom). Prior to that her last sexual encounter was spaced another 9 weeks prior (so roughly 18-19 weeks from the current date).

So, since the recommended time to allow anti-bodies develop is 8 weeks, and I know for a fact that I did not give her this virus (from my own sexual history), and she just recently got her blood test (which came up negative), what exactly might be going on???

The doctors say it looks like HSV type 1 genital herpes, the results came up negative (both of our blood tests and her culture swab), this is the only "outbreak" she has noticed/knowingly experienced. The chances of her picking up HSV from one time of protected sex (nine weeks ago) is lower than 30% and if she had picked it up then, she should already have anti-bodies in her system, especially since she just had a first outbreak.

Could this be a wrong diagnosis from her medical doctor? If so, what else could it be if it the doctor said it looked like a text book case of HSV-1?

We are getting another blood test in 7 weeks and not having sex til that date, but I am pretty scared that I might have HSV and be asymptomatic...

Any ideas?

[gracefromHHP]

it could be herpes but odds are it isn't. 3/4's of folks have seroconverted by this point and she's testing negative on the blood tests as are you.

err on the side of caution and have her repeat her blood test in another month. if she gets a return of symptoms she should be seen promptly for exam and another lesion culture. did they also test her for yeast and bacterial infections vaginally when she was seen?  

[Mistakeguy789]

It takes our best hsv igg blood test 3 months to get a detectable amount.  Terri Warren our Herpes Expert says 4 months.  

Condoms won't protect much against HSV.  

Bumps can be anything though.  I would have her doctor do a check for bacterial/yeast infections with her vaginal secretions.  

[blueberry921]

Thanks for the reply, I read that condoms decrease the chance of infection by up to 70%, but the information could be false.

I find it odd then that the recommended time that my doctor gave us for a blood test is 7-8 weeks and not longer.

Apparently she didn't have bumps, but an actual sore from the bumps/blisters "exploding".

Eh, not good.

Thank again for the reply, hopefully this turns out ok for both of us.

[gracefromHHP]

have you been tested for herpes to know your own status?

also you can't tell if it's hsv1 or hsv2 from looking at it. do you know how far into the symptoms the lesion culture was done?

grace

[blueberry921]

I have had my first blood test taken about a week ago and the results came back negative. I have another one scheduled for 8 weeks from now.

I don't know the exact condition of the lesion when the culture was taken, but was told from the doctor (and the girl) that it was before the healing stage started and it was a good culture sample (I am also under the understanding that it could be a 20% false negative chance if this was her first breakout, which she thinks it is because she hasn't ever experienced anything like this before, unless she didn't know of a previous breakout because it wasn't on the outside, and a 50% chance for a false negative if it was her second or beyond breakout).

The peculiar thing about this (in my eyes anyways, and I understand that there are many possible variances as to how a body can react on a person to person basis) is that the last time she had sex with someone other than myself (like I said in the previous post, only one time with a condom) was roughly a little over 9 weeks ago and the time before that (with another person, was approximately 9-10 weeks prior to the initial 9 weeks I just stated) was enough time for a good possibility that anti-bodies would of been developed.

Like I said, she had one culture swab done that came back negative (on a lesion that she deems to be her first, but may unknowingly had previous breakouts), and both of us had 2 blood tests done that were negative (my first blood test was more of an initial precaution, but her blood test was more likely to be positive if she did contract the virus from previous partners due to to the time frame, but it is possible that the anti-bodies didn't develop yet).

We both have another blood test scheduled for 8 weeks from now...

Do the anti-bodies being developed in the body have any relation (time wise for the development) to having a breakout? (I.E. if she had a first breakout, got a blood test in the healing portion of the lesion, would she be more likely to have anti-bodies due to the breakout?)

I know these bit of medical questions cannot be answered with 100 percent accuracy whilst using statistical results out of an average basis, but I am just trying to find out also if there is any relation between the first breakout and anti-bodies being developed.

Currently I am faced with two sides of this situation.. The medical diagnosis that the doctor gave, "Herpes type 1 genital" by looking at the lesion, and the 2 test results she had done (one culture and one blood test) coming back negative.

Sorry if I am a scatter brained at the moment, I have been in pretty much constant freak-out mode since I have heard the news (I know being anxious about this whole thing wont make the possible scenario of me having the virus go away, but I can't seem to help it much).

If you need any more information regarding my situation please ask, I am 100% open about this currently if it helps me get a general idea of what is going on/the possibilities.

Whomever invented Herpes is a jerk...    :  P

[blueberry921]

Oh yes, where are my manners? Thank you for the replies! This is a very hard time for me right now and I appreciate all the help and any support.

[gracefromHHP]

it could be herpes but odds are it isn't. 3/4's of folks have seroconverted by this point and she's testing negative on the blood tests as are you.

err on the side of caution and have her repeat her blood test in another month. if she gets a return of symptoms she should be seen promptly for exam and another lesion culture. did they also test her for yeast and bacterial infections vaginally when she was seen?  

[blueberry921]

Well I like to hear that the odds are for us! Thank you again for the information by the way, this is actually helping me mentality with this situation a suprising amount.

They did not test for yeast or bacterial infections at all, just HSV. The next blood tests we are going to both get (in about 8 weeks), she is going to be tested for ganaria and chlamydia I think (whatever is in a "full std screening" which is far from a full screening because they don't even test for HSV when someone asks for a "full sti screening").

Just to play it safe, which is the only sensible thing to do in this situation, we both are abstaining from any sexual contact with eachother.

THANK YOU (yes, I thought it was deserving enough to put that in all caps)

[blueberry921]

It's just the doctor seemed so certain it was HSV, that I think she seemed to mentally eliminate any other possiblities (that's only how it seemed though, but then again, this is a college campus doctor who probably sees this type of thing on a regular basis)

[gracefromHHP]

is she still having symptoms?  if she is, it's well worth going back for further work up.

no need to wait 2 more months for gonorrhea and chlamydia testing either.

A visual diagnosis of genital herpes is wrong 1/3 of the time which is why additional testing is warranted.

[blueberry921]

She is not having symptoms anymore. The lesion went away and she is fine now, but if it is HSV-1 the breakouts could only happen once, maybe twice a year (if at all).. I guess 90% of people with herpes are asymptomatic (from what I read from various sources).

The reason she is waiting for the other two tests is because she just figures she will take them right away with the next HSV test is all (for efficiency sake).

I didn't realize that a doctors visual diagnosis was wrong 1/3 of the time.. That is a large chunk.

We'll get to the bottom of this in 8 weeks, for better or for worse.

[blueberry921]

Well, the moment of truth is upon us. We are scheduled to go in for our final blood test come Monday afternoon. Should have the results in 3 days after that.

She hasn't experienced any symptoms prior to the original and only lesion and I haven't experienced any symptoms at all.

Hopefully things turn out for the better, we are both being very optimistic, but have refrained from having sexual relations these past 30 days just to play things safe.

Thank you for all the support, it has helped me a lot through this. I can only hope that things will turn out good.

[gracefromHHP]

best of luck and post your results when you get them :)

[blueberry921]

Well, I am completely freaking out and completely confused... I just recieved an email from my doctor with her telling me the lab results were "Normal" and when we meet we can make a plan... I don't know if she means normal as in I am positive like she originally suspected or normal as in negative like everyone else and if the results were negative what sort of plan is she talking about?

I know no one has the answer to what she is talking about here, I am just venting... I'll keep you all posted..

[blueberry921]

Well, she still hasn't responded, but I am sure that is the situation. I will tell the offical response once I get it.

I just don't feel relieved at all for some reason. I don't know if it's because for the last 40 days I have been scared ******** or what, but I just don't feel good about this yet for some reason.

Thank you!

[blueberry921]

Doc - "Yes, negative for herpes Type 1 and 2"

Me- Thank you everyone for the support. It helped me out a lot!!! I have learned a huge lesson from this which is to be far more careful with my sex life.

THANK YOU!