I first got diagnosed with HSV-2 about 7 months ago. (I'm negative for HSV-1) -- I never had any symptoms [that I'm aware of, but I do get skin irritation/ingrown hairs after shaving], I was just starting a relationship with someone new and I wanted to start it off right. The following happened:
The test type/brand is unknown to me, but the doctor's office told me that Test #1 my IgG: 2.73
The doctor wanted to retest to be sure I had HSV-2, and Test #2 came back with my IgG: 2.17
Six months later, I came back to get retested for a third time. Test #3 came back with my IgG: 2.78
Two weeks after the third test, I asked for a WesternBlot. Two weeks after they drew my blood, I was told my test came back negative for HSV-1 and HSV-2.
How believable is this test result? I was on acyclovir while test #3, and WB -- would that have skewed the tests? I'm trying to cover my bases before I try to believe that I'm possibly negative.
Grace, thank you for your response. I found it reassuring. I tried to vote on the poll but I did not have an option to vote.
Also, I'm not sure how to explain to my other half as to why I would trigger a false positive three times in an IgG test, and why the WesternBlot would trump any other herpes tests. I've been trying to explain but I do not think that I'm explaining well enough for them to understand, could you offer some keywords so that they would understand?
The western blot is the gold standard in HSV testing. The WB is more senestive for herpes than the other testing. Most HSV testing is compared against the WB in how well it does. For example the HerpeSelect brand tests are compared to how accurate (and how soon they were accurate) against the WB. We consider it the best because it is the gold standard.