Aa
Low Positive or Other Viral Infection
I have had a problem with recurrent UTIs for the past few years. I went to my primary care physician and after two rounds of Cipro, and still experiencing burning with urination and worsening symptoms, I finally did a urinalysis. My UA came back with signs of infection and cultures were positive for bacteria in my urine, so I was prescribed clindamycin for 5 days. This finally gave me some signs of relief after taking 2 rounds of it. I also was referred to a urologist who did a CT scan and ultrasound and told that I had a right kidney cyst and very small kidney stones. I was scheduled for a cystoscope for Dec 19th and saw the urologist in late November. When giving me the results of the scans she told me to follow up with my OBGYN who I also had an appointment with in early December.
On Dec. 3rd, I saw my OBGYN who has been my doctor for the past ten years, who was running late, three hours behing to be exact as she was doing rounds at the hospital that morning. I went in for a yearly well woman's exam. I have a history of HPV, but nothing else that's remarkable. Eight days later, I get a call at almost 9pm from the doctor telling me my PAP was abnormal and that it was showing a sqaumous cells for HSV2. At that point I had not had a breakout. I did have a bit of a watery discharge which she attributed to all the antibiotics I was taking and the yeast infection side effects that they cause. As the week went on and the symptoms progressed, and the area began to get red, one cyst developed on the side of the labia (right lip of my vagina) I called the urologist for a prescription. I was prescribed diflucan and this eased some of my symptoms. I reported all this to the OBGYN who even without seeing this described this as my first outbreak and asked me if I wanted to have a bloodtest. I agreed, of course, and went into the lab to have a blooddraw. I made an appointment the following week to have the results read, but received a call from the office canceling the appointment telling me the results were not in yet. I continued to call for the next two days and no results. Suddenly a nurse calls me more than 48 hours later telling me I am positive and that she is mailing me the lab results and to follow up in 3-4 months. No counseling, no telling me whether or not I should treat myself in any way. I call back and ask for values, as I work in healthcare. She tells me my HSV1 is 1.20 and my HSV2 is 3.4. My question is since I am already aware that I had a previous viral infection could my numbers be elevated as a result of that? I know the CDC reports that anything below 5 needs further testing, I just did not like a nurse telling me over the phone that I needed to accept that I had this. I am trying to schedule a second opinion with an infectious disease specialist after the holiday season.
On Dec. 3rd, I saw my OBGYN who has been my doctor for the past ten years, who was running late, three hours behing to be exact as she was doing rounds at the hospital that morning. I went in for a yearly well woman's exam. I have a history of HPV, but nothing else that's remarkable. Eight days later, I get a call at almost 9pm from the doctor telling me my PAP was abnormal and that it was showing a sqaumous cells for HSV2. At that point I had not had a breakout. I did have a bit of a watery discharge which she attributed to all the antibiotics I was taking and the yeast infection side effects that they cause. As the week went on and the symptoms progressed, and the area began to get red, one cyst developed on the side of the labia (right lip of my vagina) I called the urologist for a prescription. I was prescribed diflucan and this eased some of my symptoms. I reported all this to the OBGYN who even without seeing this described this as my first outbreak and asked me if I wanted to have a bloodtest. I agreed, of course, and went into the lab to have a blooddraw. I made an appointment the following week to have the results read, but received a call from the office canceling the appointment telling me the results were not in yet. I continued to call for the next two days and no results. Suddenly a nurse calls me more than 48 hours later telling me I am positive and that she is mailing me the lab results and to follow up in 3-4 months. No counseling, no telling me whether or not I should treat myself in any way. I call back and ask for values, as I work in healthcare. She tells me my HSV1 is 1.20 and my HSV2 is 3.4. My question is since I am already aware that I had a previous viral infection could my numbers be elevated as a result of that? I know the CDC reports that anything below 5 needs further testing, I just did not like a nurse telling me over the phone that I needed to accept that I had this. I am trying to schedule a second opinion with an infectious disease specialist after the holiday season.
I did take a look at the medication you suggested. I am actually on a daily low dose antibiotic and celebate until I can get some further answers on this question. I have read that when there is bacteria in the urine that the virus within that will show up as it heals in blood antibodies. As visible blood is an indicator that something is wrong within the urinary tract. If I continue to experience problems while on the antibiotic, will check it out.
I think getting a new gyn is a good idea!! sounds like perhaps an urogynecologist might be a good choice - they can deal with everything down yonder for you :)
since it's been only 3 weeks, you have to wait at least 4 months post encounter for the herpes WB. any chance of getting your partner to seek out type specific herpes igg blood testing in the meantime?
since it's been only 3 weeks, you have to wait at least 4 months post encounter for the herpes WB. any chance of getting your partner to seek out type specific herpes igg blood testing in the meantime?
I do appreciate the feedback. I just have a hard time believe that my low HSV2 score on the IGG tests are indicative of a primary outbreak. I did not have an "outbreak" until several days after this watery discharge started and only a single one, not a cluster of several outbreaks. After treating it with antibiotic cream and bathing in epsom salt it has healed, never crusting over.
My last sexual encounter was on 11/29/12 with a partner I have been involved with regularly for the past 8 months. He has had a vasectomy and I have not had this problem before.
No, she did not take the time to test the discharge for infections. She took the results from the pap as a sign of herpes. I did have an IGG test. I have done work in a hospital setting, so I am not an uninformed or uneducated patient, but the OBGYN isn't willing to do any further testing once I started asking questions like if a pathologist was reading my tests and what my numerical results were. My blood tests were drawn three weeks after my last sexual encounter. Those were my resuts after that. So while an ID specialist may not be my best option, my OBGYN is ready to write this off as herpes, and my GP is male, and always will refer my below the belt issues to a specialist. Even when discussing the problem with my urologist, she thought my OBGYN was missing out on a lot of obvious probems that she could clearly see, like uterine fibroids, that my OBGYN clearly denies I have, but that my urologist showed me on camera. So I will be picking out a new OBGYN to follow up with, however in the meantime, I will be calling after Christmas to my GP to find out the best course of action.
No, she did not take the time to test the discharge for infections. She took the results from the pap as a sign of herpes. I did have an IGG test. I have done work in a hospital setting, so I am not an uninformed or uneducated patient, but the OBGYN isn't willing to do any further testing once I started asking questions like if a pathologist was reading my tests and what my numerical results were. My blood tests were drawn three weeks after my last sexual encounter. Those were my resuts after that. So while an ID specialist may not be my best option, my OBGYN is ready to write this off as herpes, and my GP is male, and always will refer my below the belt issues to a specialist. Even when discussing the problem with my urologist, she thought my OBGYN was missing out on a lot of obvious probems that she could clearly see, like uterine fibroids, that my OBGYN clearly denies I have, but that my urologist showed me on camera. So I will be picking out a new OBGYN to follow up with, however in the meantime, I will be calling after Christmas to my GP to find out the best course of action.
no need for an infectious disease specialist for this. your regular obgyn can order the follow up testing ( or even your regular gp can ). ID docs tend to brush herpes off as something too trivial for them to deal with and often are not any more up to date on testing than anyone else is unfortunately. How to obtain the WB in the US is listed in our read before posting post on the forum. You can send for the kit and just need a doctor to write the order for the lab to draw the blood and send it out for you. You have to wait at least 4 months after you last had sex to get it done.
Pap testing isn't accurate for detecting herpes. any time you get a pap test result that shows cells suggestive of herpes, it needs followed up with proper testing. How long prior to your herpes blood testing had you last had sex? do you have a regular partner? do you know if it was herpes igg blood testing or igm testing?
even though this isn't related to herpes, read up on fem dophilius by jarrow for help in replacing the "good" protective bacteria in your urogenital tract. It has good research behind it ( many, many studies on pubmed on the bacteria in the product ) that shows that it is helpful in reducing uti's and vaginitis. You can buy it on amazon - just store it in your fridge. worth checking out if you are having recurrent uti's.
usually watery discharge isn't due to yeast. did your obgyn take the time to test the discharge for infections?
grace
Pap testing isn't accurate for detecting herpes. any time you get a pap test result that shows cells suggestive of herpes, it needs followed up with proper testing. How long prior to your herpes blood testing had you last had sex? do you have a regular partner? do you know if it was herpes igg blood testing or igm testing?
even though this isn't related to herpes, read up on fem dophilius by jarrow for help in replacing the "good" protective bacteria in your urogenital tract. It has good research behind it ( many, many studies on pubmed on the bacteria in the product ) that shows that it is helpful in reducing uti's and vaginitis. You can buy it on amazon - just store it in your fridge. worth checking out if you are having recurrent uti's.
usually watery discharge isn't due to yeast. did your obgyn take the time to test the discharge for infections?
grace
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You are reading content posted in the Herpes Community
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.
