No, I don't think you actually need to retest, but you certainly can if you continue to worry, but only once more, and at 16 weeks, OK?
Terri
Hello,
Dr. Warren i just received my results back from a 13-week blood test which was again negative for hsv 1 and 2 by herpeselect immunoblot. However, the dr. took a look at me because i have unsual redness on the head of my penis, particularly around the "crown" there are 3 patches with tiny red dots along with other spots of irritation (they come and go all over the head) that become very red almost pink after i urinate (they are painless however). she said they didnt look like herpes to her but she was concerned that i had swollen lymph nodes in both sides of my groin. I was fighting off a cold but my groin area was the only spot that had enlarged nodes. I was just wondering if you think i should wait a few more weeks and test again. I am a very rational person and i have been dealing with this for so long that ive accepted the fact if i am positive which has brought down my stress level. I am just worried of transferring the virus to other people and i have avoided all sexual contact until i know for sure. The muscle fasciculations continue in my legs to this day and i have also had a numbness in my left buttock that travels all the way down to my foot giving my left leg the "fallen asleep" sensation that has been going on for weeks now. These symptoms worry me and i was just hoping if you could give me any insight on these scary symptoms, mostly the nodes (which can not be physcocomatic) and do you think i should retest at a later date and also would you expect these symptoms to occur without the "obvious" blisters being present? I have read that it is possible to have PHN with the simplex viruses but this usually only happens after a "severe" outbreak?
Thank you so much, this means a lot to me!
The immunoblot doesn't give a numeric result, only negative or positive. So far so good!
Terri
Hey sox29 -
Hang in there!....you describe a lot of my symptoms and I also tested negative at 7.5 weeks for both types. My muscle twitching started at week 2 and is non stop! I don't have obvious sores or blisters either
Sounds like your encounter was fairly low risk since you used condoms. Mine was unprotected but was only 15 second of grinding no penetration
I really think it's out anxiety. I like you hope that being negative on type one paints a clearer indication that our sympttoms are not herpes
Low risk, atypical symptoms,negative type one, negative blood test at 7.5 weeks, don't know if she has herpes and if she did transmission isn't automatic
Hang in there!....I'm with u
Hello Dr. Warren,
After 2 long weeks of waiting i finally got my test results back which were negative for both HSV1 and HSV2 via Herpeselect Immunoblot (IGG). I asked for a ratio and they said that this certain blood test doesnt give ratios, only positives and negatives. I was just wondering if you could give me your personal opinion on my chances being good or bad of contracting it considering this test was taken 7 1/2 weeks post-exposure. I also feel like now that i know i am HSV1 negative, my symptoms would have been severe if i caught HSV2. It was been 10 weeks now and although the muscle twitches continue, i still only experience mild leg pains and have yet to experience a fever, headache, sores, blisters, etc. and have only had minor redness on my penis that i think is just irritation due to it being non-itchy or painful. Any input you have regarding my situation as of now with the negative blood test almost 2 months after exposure would be much appreciated! thank youu so much!!
I rarely see a "high negative" at this point in a clinical situation, but lets just see what comes up. If you are positive, it could certainly be from an encounter 8 weeks ago, or one eight years ago, you won't be able to know.
Your symptoms could be related to herpes, but they could be many other things too, we just can't know without testing. The severity of any HSV 2 symptoms related also to your previous HSV 1 status - people who are HSV 1 positive when they acquire HSV 2 are much less likely to have symptoms that they notice as the type 1 antibody keeps things under control. I'm hoping they also tested you for HSV 1 and did NOT test you for IgM which is often inaccurate.
Let me know when you get the results back, OK? We can talk more then.
Terri
Hello, I had not taken a blood test because my local clinic refused to offer me one without visible symptoms. However i printed out your comments and insisted that i get tested. I was able to and won't know my results until two weeks from today in which i will post. However they are still insistant that my results will have nothing to do with my encounter almost 8 weeks ago? Do you think that a high negative might be a sign that i am infected? Also the doctor examined me again and said she noticed one slightly swollen lymph node in my groin but noticed no visible symptoms? Could all of these symptoms (leg pains, groin pains, etc.) that i have been expericing for over 4 weeks be related to hsv2 despite an absense of visible lesions? I feel like if this were the case I wouldve had a severe outbreak by now? I really appreciate youre time and if you are able to answer any of these questions it would be the world to me considering i have no medical coverage...thank you so much Dr. Warren.
I can't tell you that these symptoms are for sure not related to herpes, but they don't sound like it to me. I've not seen anyone having twitching related to herpes, but I have had patients who have leg pain related to herpes, yes. I think redness alone that doesn't turn into a sore, and doesn't get worse or better is unlikely to be related to herpes. People who actually do have herpes may have some neurologic symptoms, yes. Is there a reason you've not yet been tested for HSV 2 antibody? At this point, the answer would be about 70% accurate. You might want to get the testing and then repeat again at about 4 months post exposure. Deciding that you do or don't have herpes based on symptoms that you describe is not enough. You need testing to be clearer about your situation.
Terri