Herpes Misdianosis

[BooBoo110]

Approximately 8 years ago I was diagnosed with Shingles.  I had a small (half dollar sized) circle on my buttocks about 2 - 4 inches below my waist.  I have had a few outbreaks since the initial diagnosis and my doctor prescribed Valtrex and it helped and they were gone within a week.
Last week I had an entire panel of STD tests ran to be sure that I did not have any one of the various diseases.  Everything came back clean except a positive exposure to HSV-2 but not to HSV-1.  I have never had an outbreak of any type of genital herpes.  I have been reseaching this online and it seem very pronounced and painful and if I had an outbreak I would have known.  I would like to know if it is possible for the shingles to have caused the positive HSV-2 result?  Also, how common is it to have this infection and not have an outbreak?

[gracefromHHP]

Unless you had a lesion culture that said herpes zoster( shingles ) I'd be more apt to go with hsv2.  it doesn't matter where you were infected with hsv2 at - it can cause symptoms anywhere in the sacral ( and sometimes lumbar ) nerve ganglia area which includes the upper buttocks.  

If you want you can get a herpes WB blood test to confirm your hsv2 status but based on the location of your symptoms and the pattern of recurrences there's not a whole heck of a lot of reason to doubt it.  next time you have a recurrence if you can see your provider within 24-48 hours of its appearance you can get a lesion culture and typing done too to confirm.

grace

[BooBoo110]

More questions, sorry.  I read the handbook and although Shingles only comes back in 3 to 4% of the patients, I have had chicken pox 3 times (bad case as a baby, a few on the face in 6th grade and another bad case in 9th grade, all diagnosed by my doctor) would that make me more susceptible to recurrences of shigles?  Also, can a false positive blood test occur due to my increased incidence of chicken pox/shingles?  I had 2 different doctors diagnose the shingles (my gynecoligist and my dermatolgist).

Thanks for your help

[BooBoo110]

Thanks for the handbook it is printing as we speak and I will read it.  Why would I get it in that area and not the genital area?  I mean it is literaly right below my waist and everything I have read seems to indicate that it usually appears at the point of contact.  I have NEVER had anal sex.

[gracefromHHP]

I'm guessing you never had shingles in the first place actually. Shingles rarely, if ever reoccurs.  Hsv2 however does normally cause reoccuring symptoms that can appear anywhere in the entire boxer short area as we call it.  Your buttocks are a common area for hsv2 to show symptoms.

I encourage you to read the herpes handbook at www.westoverheights.com for more info about hsv2.  If you have a regular partner - they should get tested for hsv2 too to see if you have to worry about transmission or not.

grace