recently tested results..

[hsv2concerned]

hi,

i'm male, age 32, and recently have myself tested after exposure, the last sexual intercourse was on Aug, 16th and before that it was Aug, 1st. however it may seem, i'm not very active sexually because before the august 1st exposure, the last time i had sex was on mid May, and before that, only approx. once every 3-6 months for as long as i remember. unfortunately it was almost always with sexual workers, sometimes unprotected too.

just last week i decided to end that kind of lifestyle for good. i never have been tested for anything other than HIV last year and it came back negative, so last friday i decided to get the full panel test at my local diagnostics clinic, mainly to rule out HIV from the May 2008 encounter, and i plan to retake it again on the end of November later.
i have no idea what type of test is the HSV-2 test(herpeselect, biokit, elisa?) and the result came back as follows:

IgG Anti HSV 2 - result : index 1.25 - negative if index <=0.9
IgM Anti HSV 2 - result : index 1.80 - negative if index <=0.9

out of the 10 types of tests including HIV, chlamydia, syphilis, GO, and spores. everything came back negative, but the HSV 2 test came back positive and i'm quite devastated by it. upon researching it on the net i found this place and hoping that the doctors or members here might be able to help.

dear Doctor,

there are some concerns/questions i wanted to ask for your opinions/consultations, but before that, a little background:

i've never had any mentioned herpes-2 symptoms, none whatsoever. but after reading the informative posts here, i think i might have the HSV-1, sometimes there would be a mildly painful bump, it feels firm like a zit/pimple somewhere above my lips, and it'll go away/heal after a few days without any medications. it started 2-3 years and been recurring less and less. but to be sure i'll get it tested tomorrow as well. also, recent months(around june) a similar single bump like the one i mentioned above appeared on my pubic area just under the shaft, thinking it was pimple i pressured it and it came out like whitish creamy stuff just like pimple, then the bump blackened as it healed and it was there for about another month or so and then completely gone, could it be HSV 1?

since i never had any symptoms of HSV 2, and my IGG result is low 1.25, is there any chance that i might have a false positive HSV-2 my regardless of the results of my HSV 1 test tomorrow? i do plan to retake the HSV1 HSV 2, and chlamydia tests later next month, then same on October if needed, plus HIV and syphilis tests on November subsequently. by the way, when i took the HSV-2 test two days ago(blood testings was done yesterday though), i did have one sore on my upper lip, it's not easily visible(cos its not red, same color as skin) but it's there, it looks just like a pimple and midly painful when touched or pressed..

if i do indeed have HSV 2, how bad is the pain of outbreaks? is it really that bad? is there any way to reduce it? cos i don't deal with pain very well.., please help.

thanks..

[hsv2concerned]

oh, okay, i'll retest at 16 week mark and skip the 12th week one then..., thanks!! :D

[gracefromHHP]

no, do not waste your time testing again at the 12 week mark!!! just wait, retest at the 16 week mark.  Stop wasting itme and money and driving yourself nuts with repeated testing.

grace

[hsv2concerned]

yup i'll do as you suggest and retake the test in 16th(and 12th) week mark, i'll keep this thread updated with my results later, hopefully the answers you have kindly provided for my questions could serve for others with similar questions as mine.

and Grace, once again thank you so much for your time and answers, it's a really big help for me. your work here in the forums is a really good thing that you do for others! i cannot thank you enough..

[gracefromHHP]

your repeat test is negative for hsv2.  a 1 is negative. It's not likely you have hsv2 but it's still too early for the final answer - I'd retest again at the 16 week mark just to err on the side of caution.

grace

[hsv2concerned]

hi again Grace,

here's an update, on the 8th week mark(it's the 10th week now) i retested again with the same test as above, the result came back at the same equivocal/borderline 1.00 for the hsv2 Igg test. what do you think? is this good or bad? please let me know what does this mean? am i hsv2 neg or should i retake testings on the 12th and 16th week mark?

a bit of background, i've seen my doctor before i took the retest and he actually told me there's no need to do it based on my last equivocal test result and i didn't have any lesions in the 8 weeks period, he said: you don't have herpes. i asked if it's possible if i retook the test, the 1.00 number will go down? he said it's not possible and most likely to come out the same 1.00 number. how true when i got the result back from the test i took the next day. :-) i hope it's true as well for his conclusion.

the reason i went to see him because i had some rashes and thought it was the outbreak, turns out it's an allergic reaction to seafood(probably from shrimp paste i had unknowingly ate).

thanks again so much for your answers, i can't even start to describe to you how thankful i am. hopefully your answers would help others in help like i do.

[hsv2concerned]

ok, i just got back from calling the lab, they said the type of test used was EUROIMMUNE elisa.

[hsv2concerned]

thanks Grace, i'll check it again with the test lab to get any information on the ELISA IGG test. but yeah, i'll certainly get tested again on the 3 and 4 months mark.

oh yeah to avoid confusion, prior to the May 08 encounter, i was 100% faithful with my gf(now ex) until March 08, ther's no way she's a risk(she's a virgin when we were together). before getting into relationship with her, i was sexually active for about 2-3 years but just like i descibed, only had sex once in every 3-6 months.

[gracefromHHP]

yes - there are many different elisa type igg blood tests out there for herpes that aren't the herpeselect which is why in general we recommend waiting 4 months to do testing so that all the bases are covered regardless of the test. Even the WB for herpes needs to wait until 4 months to be the most accurate.

grace

[hsv2concerned]

hi Grace! thanks for the reply, the IGM test is done because my doctor made the request on the form of the lab that he has, i was to bring the form to the lab(another location in town).

earlier this morning before the test i've asked if it's possible to get the IGG test alone, and the lab receptionist said okay. but i decided to take the IGM too anyways since i don't want to **** of my doctor by ignoring his order. i did ask what type the test is and they told me it's elisa, the result also included the 'method' there in the list and it says elisa, could it still be not herpeselect?

thanks so much for your answers..!

[gracefromHHP]

If they are doing an igm on you then you aren't likely to be getting the herpeselect igg blood test.  

grace

[hsv2concerned]

one more thing as i'm still learning..

i came upon this topic: http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/555543

since the only test available to my is the herpeselect, i could expect an accurate result in 3 months instead of 4 then?

and thank you so much for your answers..! it's been such a BIG help!!

[hsv2concerned]

hi Grace,

last night i went to a doctor and i showed him my results. he was pretty sure i'm positive but he told me to retest again in another lab since the lab i got the result for the earlier test was 'questionable' in reputation(according to him, though he won't give me specifics when i asked further), only recommended me to re-test at a lab he suggested.

so today i took another test at the new place(IGG & IGM, as ordered by the doctor, he won't believe me when i told him IGM test is useless), and here's my new ELISA result:

IGM anti HSV-2 : 0.90
IGG anti HSV -2 : 1.00

i went back to the doctor earlier but he's not practicing today so i'll have to go back tomorrow for consultations.

from the result i know it's too early to tell anything at all until i get it tested on the 4th month in Dec, but is this any good sign for me?

does this mean that prior to my May 08 encounter i'm pretty much free of HSV-2 to worry about?(it would mean that my Ex is pretty much safe now?)

i've been really stressed out since the 1st results from saturday last week.., until now there's no sign of lesions or anything, still hoping n praying for nothing bad outta this.

[hsv2concerned]

hi grace,

update, i got my HSV 1 IGG result back, it's negative at index 0.10..
i'm not sure should i be happy or concerned with regards to the IGG and IGM HSV 2 tests results earlier? i suspect that the low IGG HSV 2 index value means it was recent then?

btw i told my ex today about everything and that she should have a HSV test too.., cos i can't be sure when or how long has it been i contacted the HSV 2.., i'm still hoping it's a false positive in the end, but if it turns out not to be the case, then i hope it was from recent behaviour instead of the past, i never tested for it before and judging from the neg HSV 1 result, it rules out a past HSV 1 infection and false positive by cross reaction of the IGM/IGG test.

i still care deeply for her, i'm more worried for her than myself, as she's now married and preparing to concieve a baby with her husband, she's living abroad now btw. i was 100% faithful to her when we were together, i did admit to her about my past behaviour, only had myself tested for HIV once, when we just started going out(and before doing anything sexual, i didn't want to risk her), i disclose everything but was very foolish thinking i don't need other tests, i did studied a bit about HSV on the net to decide to take the test or not but didn't really pay any attention i guess.

i'm sorry for ranting here, thank you for reading my story..

[gracefromHHP]

If you think you'd feel better talking to your doctor about your results then by all means do so.  

If you have issues with anxiety then by all means seek out help for that too.

grace

[hsv2concerned]

thank you for your support.., i will hang on until retesting in 4 months..

would you recommend if i see a physician with my results tomorrow, perhaps there are some kind of medications? or maybe for anti-depressants as this has been really life-changing devastating experience for me..

thanks again so much grace..

[gracefromHHP]

I think we've all swore to change our ways here on the board at one time or another.  I know I do it at least several times a year myself...he he he  good luck with that ;)

I can't really comment on the chance that this is going to be negative the next time since the testing was done so early.  If the blood test had been done at say 2 months post encounter and was this low I"d be more willing to say it's a false positive but at 2 weeks it's still way too early to even hazzard a guess :(  I know it's hard waiting for the time to retest but unfortunately at this point there's not much better we can do. Should you notice any obvious genital symptoms before december, see your provider of course for evaluation and treatment.

Hang in there :)

grace

[hsv2concerned]

hi,
thank you grace, i'll have the hsv 2 igg retested in 4 months after exposure, that would be around dec, 8th. thanks for the suggestion and input. another question, is there any possibility the test result turns out neg later? i keep praying for a miracle n hoping until then, there won't be any symptoms. whatever the results, my decision to leave my old lifestyle stays, long story short, i'm tired of it already and want to live a quality life.

today i went to the lab again to take HSV 1 test, result coming out tomorrow evening and i'll post it here. also, i had the chance to ask what kind of test they're using, it's herpeselect elisa.

[gracefromHHP]

don't waste your time retesting multiple times. It'll only waste money and drive you nuts because no matter what your igg is next month, you know that you only have to repeat it anyways again which won't give you much peace of mind in the long run I don't think.

We'll cross the bridge of what to do if it's still a low positive when you retest in a few months :)

www.herpesdiagnosis.com has terrific info on the herpes blood tests and such if you want more reading.

grace

[hsv2concerned]

hi grace, thank you for your kind reply, i apologize for not realizing it's not the doctor's forum here.., i was meant to ask you actually and i thought you're a doctor.

if say repeated test next month shows a decreased result or a negative result, should i be concerned with testing again on the 4th month? or should i just skip and just wait until 4 months to have test again?

should the result still be low positive or inconclusive, i don't think there's western blot test available in the country where i live..

there's another question i would like to ask, how long does it usually take for IgG HSV 2 antibodies development to be detected by tests?

thanks again..

[gracefromHHP]

This isn't the doctor's forum.

Your hsv2 igg is a low positive but since you were tested too soon at this point I recommend repeating your blood test in 4 months to see what it is then. should you get any obvious genital lesions before then - see your provider for culture.

grace

[hsv2concerned]

sorry i just realized a little mistake after re-reading my message, here's the correct results,(IGM result 1.83 instead of 1.80):

IgG Anti HSV 2 - result : index 1.25 - negative if index <=0.9
IgM Anti HSV 2 - result : index 1.83 - negative if index <=0.9