herpes and condoms

[hdrk]

Some back ground. I thought at my age I was "informed" about std's. Always used a condom with a new partner until we could get tested. In hind sight better to get tested first. Any way, had "protected" sex with a lady I was dating. Talked about "safe sex". The day after we were intimate she informed me she "might" be hsv 2 positive, contacted from her husband now deceased about 12 years. We went to the health clinic and had a full std battery done. Results, she was hsv 2 positive, I was hsv 2 negative but positive for hsv 1. All other std's were negative. Well the horse is out of the barn, too late to close the door. Had she been up front from the get go I would have not risked the encounter.
Result, The very next day I had 2 red areas on my shaft about where the condom ends. They never developed the "classic" herpes sore, did not blister, ulcerate or scab over. The areas were slightly raised. Stuck a needle in one and blood came out, no straw colored fluid. In about 2 weeks things returned to normal except the 2 areas are now more pink then the surrounding skin. They were never sore to touch nor itched. Visited 2 health professionals and was told it did not "look" like herpes but would not give me a definitive answer. Had another IgG test but found out it was too early in the process. The test was done at 4 1/2 weeks after exposure. Came back negative less than .09. Lately my buttocks have been itching and small red pimple like bumps appear, no puss or fluid as I tried to squeeze one and nothing came out. They also seem to resolve in a few days, no sores or scabs. I have web searched dozens of hsv 2 sights for info and am more confused than ever. There does not seem to be a definitive answer as to symptoms, seroconversion period, testing window (3 months seems to be the standard). I've found info on a POCKITHSV 2 test that can detect antibodies within 21 days. Is that the same as the specific Ab,IgG test?        

[joey72]

oops .. sorry, i was supposed to post this in a separate post, I'm not the same person who asked the question

[bobrope45]

From your previous post I understood that you only had sex once with the HSV2 partner. Therefore, the risk from such isolated episode (a single encounter...) is very low. You seemed to be worried about this particular encounter, not about previous encounters.

Still, if such threesome happened more than 3 months ago, you did not catch herpes from it, according to your blood test results. If you need peace of mind regarding that sexual encounter with the HSV2 partner, get another blood test 3-4 months after you two had sex.

[joey72]

what dose a single encounter mean ? i had  a 3 some (protected) with 2 Asian SCW and i was in every one of them for once, meaning i was in the first one and then changed the condom and went in to other and stopped after that, is this a one encounter or tow from a medical point of view ?

i got terrified of HIV and Herpes, as for the HIV i had a piece of mind from the doctors forum but as for the herpes I'm still worried, i was told that a one encounter is a very low risk but does what i have described counts as one or 2 encounters ?

thanks in advance

[bobrope45]

First, any protected single encounter is very low risk for HSV2. So you shouldn't be so worried about it.
As for your "symptoms", well, you stuck a needle in your penis shaft, which is not very wise. So now you have a "pink area", which is probably attributed to your constant picking/needle stucking, not to a recent herpes infection. Had you been infected you'd expect blister/bumps, not discrete red areas. As for the red pimples in your buttocks, well, they are probably just pimples. But if you are so suspicious of herpes, you can go to a dermatologist and show such bumps to him/her at anytime.

As for the test, HerpeSelect takes 3-4mos. to pick up antibodies. Actually, it usually takes less than 6 weeks, but its reliability increases almost to 100% at the 4months mark. So a test 4 months after exposure should confirm that u didn't contract herpes.