oral or genital hsv 1 virus

21 days ago i recived oral sex from someone who had a healed over cold sore on the corner of thier mouth....i was intoxicated at the time, but he ended performing orla sex on me. i have had no symthoms (no blisters, itching or lesions) I ended up getting hsv 1 and 2 test done and i just got the results today as being positive for herpes, i have to take a second follow up blood test to see if its hsv 1 or 2.  im so worried right now and i dont want to give it to my boyfriend, please provide me some answers and closure.

1. how can i be able to tell if i have the hsv virus genitally or orally if i have no showing symthoms. do i have to wait for an out break to happen ?
2. if it  is genitally will i only get out breaks in my vigina (vagina) all the time?
3. how bad can a genital hsv1 outbreak be?
4. is it possible to transmit genital hsv 1 (showing no symthoms) to another person by having regular intercourse (genital to genital)
5. how long should i wait to have unprotected sex with someone after an genital hsv 1 outbreak? can i still tansmitt it?
6. how long can a person go without seeing any sympthoms?
7. is there any kind of medication i can take to lessen the pain and numbers of outbreaks before i even have my first out break if it does happen to genital hsv 1 ?
8 if i do have genital hsv1  and i touched it with my hands can i transmitt it anywhere else on my body?
9. if i have oral hsv 1 can i still recive oral sex without spreading the virus to my partner?
10. with genital hsv1, will the out breaks recurre less often and be less painful as the years go on?

[gracefromHHP]

so you had a non-type specific herpes igg blood test come back that was +? If so, total waste of time and money.

your regular partner will also need tested to see what their status is.

grace

[vic0816]

why was this a waste of time and money? i got tested at lab corp and they told me that i would need to do a follow up test in 6 weeks to find out which type of hsv i have? currently my boy friend is in another states and have not had sex in about 4 months....the one that i got exposed from has been getting cold sores since he was a kid, but never actually got tested....are these test not accurate ?

[gracefromHHP]

A non-specific herpes igg blood test doesn't tell you if it's hsv1 or hsv2 so it tells you nothing. it also has a high false positive rate so even though it's + doesn't mean much of anything. You absolutely can not assume you contracted hsv from this encounter you are worried about.  

I recommend you get a type specific herpes igg blood test done now to see what your status is , no reason to wait since you don't have an accurate baseline test to compare any future testing to.

make more sense? If not, keep asking questions and hopefully I can explain it in a way that makes more sense :)  Sometimes what makes sense to me, doesn't always make sense to everyone else right away I know.

grace

[vic0816]

so the test i took has a false positive rate???? i paid over 300 bucks for these blood test at lab corp....so it might be possible i dont even have herpes at all? why would they do this type of test and not give u the type u have....how long would the type specificate test take to come back with results...if i was to get a swab sample from my vigina (vagina) taken while i am having no sympthoms, would that tell me is i do have genital hsv1....and also if some one with a cold sore performed oral sex i would deffinatley get the hsv 1 virus and not the hsv 2 virus right ?

[gracefromHHP]

Typically hsv1 genitally presents with very classic symptoms that you can't ignore. It doesn't sound like you even acquired hsv1 genitally at all from this encounter.  Since you bothered to get tested for herpes, might as well get the type specific testing done to see what your real hsv status is.  

No reason for any testing of your vagina at this point - nothing there to test!

Yes, almost always it's hsv1 from oral sex not hsv2.

grace

[vic0816]

wow!! thanks for the info....so to unconfuse myself, with this test i took....it says that i tested positive for herpes..should i trust this? from my understanding almost 75% of people in the worl have the hsv 1 virus (cold sore)...i really dont wanna get my hopes up about this being potentially false and me not even having anything....why does it seem like i did not even acquire hsv 1?

[gracefromHHP]

You may or may not have hsv1 and/or hsv2 from the test you took. You really don't know anything from it :(


grace

[vic0816]

OMG!! ur right, a total waste of time and money, so why whould they even do that test?? how often do those test come back as a false negative?...to get a type specific test, all i got to do is ask my doctor for it? is it also a blood test? and how long will it take to get results back? ...when a person does have hsv1, how soon will they be able to tell theyhave the virus, would you that info?

[gracefromHHP]

the type specific test results should be back in a few days.  Your provider can order it for you.  


If you had contracted hsv1 genitally, you would've had obvious symptoms anywhere from 2-20 days after the encounter.

grace

[vic0816]

thanks for all the info....i hope all goes well....u have been great help with this situation and shined a lot of light on my questions....i really appreciate it. Thanks again.

[vic0816]

one more question, just out of curiosity...is it very likely for sympthoms from genital hsv1 to show up way after the 2-20 day time frame ?

[gracefromHHP]

no, they typically occur within the first week to be honest.

grace

[vic0816]

ok well i called the lab were i got tested to find out more about the test i took and they told me its an early detection test (igm)...do these test also have a hight rate false negative rate for herpes? they said that this test also can detect other thing like if i had chicken pox in the past...

[gracefromHHP]

the igm herpes blood test is a very flawed test. we never recommend its use :(

At this point if you are really concerned, you'll need a type specific herpes igg blood test done at some point.  Honestly though you've had no symptoms so if you do test it would be out of curiosity about your herpes status in general, not because of this particular encounter.

grace

[vic0816]

why is this test flawed is it not accurate?? im just very worried cuz i heard of people having sympthoms like 3 months down the line...is that very rare?

[vic0816]

IGM TESTING FOR HERPES...ARE THEY RELIABLE ?
by vic0816, 15 hours ago
22 DAYS AGO I RECIEVED ORAL SEX FROM SOMEONE WHO HAD A CRUSTED OVER COLD SORE, I STARTED REDING UP ON HERPES AND STARTED TO GET REALLY WORRIED AND DID NOT KNOW IF I HAD CONTRACTED IT.  ITS BEEN 22 DAYS AND I HAVE HAD NO SYMPTHOMS AT ALL ( NO BLISTERS, ITCHING, LESIONS...NOTHING ) BUT I DECIDED TO GET A HERPED TEST.  THE TEST WAS AN IGM BLOOD TEST AND THE RESULTS CAME BACK POSITIVE FOR HERPES THEY TOLD ME TO COME BACK IN 6 WEEKS TO DO A FOLLOW TEST TO DETERMINE IF I HAVE TYPE 1 OR 2....IM REALLY WORRIED BUT CONFUSED AT THE SAME TIME BECAUSE I HAVE HAD NO KIND OF SYMPTHOMS. HERE ARE MY QUESTIONS

1. CAN I RELY ON THIS IGM BLODD TEST FOR HAVING HERPES TYPE 1  ?
2. HOW LONG WOULD IT TAKE FOR HSV1 SYMPTHOMS TO SHOW IN THE GENITALS?
3.  IF I CONTRACTED THE HSV1 FROM A COLD SORE VIA ORAL SEX WILL OUTBREAKS ONLY HAPPEN IN THE GENITALS  ALL THE TIME OR WILL THEY REOCCURE ON MY MOUTH?
4 IS IT POSSIBLE TO HAVE TESTED POSITIVE FOR THE IGM ANTIBODIES BUT BE NEGATIVE FOR HERPES TYP 1 AND 2.?
5 HOW CONTAGIOUS IS A CRUSTED OVER HEALING COLD SORE DURING ORAL SEX?

[vic0816]

sorry about the second comment, did not mean to post it again.

[gracefromHHP]

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/Confusiion-over-other-IgM-Herpes-posts/show/248394  is a prior post by HHH that goes into details as to why the herpes igm test is flawed and shouldn't be used for more reading.

grace

[vic0816]

ok im kind of still confused, maybe its just the lingo they were using about getting retested...so from your opinion, when i took this IGM test and it came back positive, and since i have had no symptoms (24 day since exposed by cold sore via cold sore)...the IGG test might come back negative and i would be in the clear???  

[gracefromHHP]

you've had no symptoms. odds are if you had contracted hsv1 genitally from this encounter you would've had them by now.

as I previously said, get tested properly at some point just out of curiosity about your herpes status, not from this encounter.

grace

[vic0816]

hello grace...well i just came from the doctors and and they told me that they took the right testing...because the igm shows up first and that viruse goes away and then the igg comes after and i would have that forever...does that sound right to you...i still have had no sympthoms at all...but they also told me that sympthoms can show up months down the road or even never....im just very confused, this is a navy doctor and i dont know whether the info he gave me was correct....so i would have had sympthoms by know if i had hsv1 genitally ???

[gracefromHHP]

as the post I posted previously goes over, the igm herpes test is a flawed test and a + igm test for herpes doesn't mean that you recently contracted herpes necessarily. Your provider isn't as aware of the drawbacks of the herpes igm testing as we are around here.  

Once again, odds are you didn't contract hsv1 genitally due to the lack of symptoms.  follow up with the proper igg blood test at some point out of curiosity for your status in general.

grace

[vic0816]

does a positive igm test necessarily mean i have herpes ?