what does these results mean

2 days after swimming in my pool last year i came down with a rash even closer to my rectume are similar to an yeast infection. It was very irrated and everytime I used the bathroom it was hard to wipe my self. we called my Gyn but she never returned my call and when we finally got an appointment it was cancelled because of some personal reason leaving me to go to my general pactioner of 23 years he said i had a yeast and a bad fungal infection; he treat it with fungal cream and Difuclan for the yeast infection. I have this out break more than once since then finally this January around my yearly check up i saw my gyn who said that i had a bad irration form a yeast infection, she treated it and it went away. In march we found out that we were a month pregnant and went to see our gyn a couple of weeks after i came down with the same symptoms as before with a rash, finally a bump at night it felt as if somthing would cralw out of my rectum evn when i sat still it felt that way and it was icthy but my gyn said it was a bad yeast infection and she didn't want to treat it because of a previous complete placenta previa condition with our thrid child and spooting with this pregnancy. Finally this situation has gotten so worse that upon my third complaint i requested that i get somthing for the yeast infection the (vaginal itching was becomming unbearable) she siad to, "Do you think this is herpes?"  I was shock i said what and she asked me, " did we test you for herpes" I told her not that i was aware. She went  to her office and told me that a test she did in March told her i was exposed and she taught she told me but she didn't and she continued to appologize. The score is IGG test Herpes type 1 3.75 and type 2 8.25 does this really mean i have this virus? my husband is upset and i have been in complete tears ever since. We have talked about a second opinion and even changing doctors, she has great beside manner and has seen me through a difficult pregnancy but i feel betrayed. Please help

[Emma_08]

Your gyn tested you for herpes and did not tell you the results?  Personally, I would seek a second opinion in this situation.  Herpes outbreaks are often mistaken for bad yeast infections and can occur anywhere in the genital region, even the anus.  If you get this rash again, go to the gyn immediately and get an HSV culture done, ideally before the lesions start healing.  Herpes cultures are more accurate than blood test, when taken from lesions that have not started healing.  I would also suggest getting another blood test done, making sure it is type specific for the IgG antibody, such as the HerpeSelect test.  Good luck!    

[auntiejessi]

Your results are definitely positive, and I doubt a second opinion would help much.  

Has your husband tested?  He should ask his doc for a type specific IgG blood test.

The good news is that this shouldn't affect your pregnancy at all.  The danger comes in when the mother is infected during the third trimester or if she has an outbreak at delivery.  Talk to your doctor about taking suppression during the last 6 weeks of your pregnancy.

There is a wonderful section on pregnancy in the herpes handbook at www.westoverheights.com.  You can download it or read it on the web - all for free.

Beyond the pregnancy, you should find that this won't change your life much.  Now that you know what it is, you can decide on different treatments - taking suppression or just taking meds when you get an outbreak.  If your husband already has it, nothing should change at all.  If he doesn't, you might decide to take antivirals daily and his risk would be 2% per year of getting it from you.

Hang in there, and I'm sorry you had to find out that way.

AJ

[needhelp402]

thank you so much emma for your response. this is dreadful. She was excellent with the delivery of ourt last 2 girls but we have seen that apointments havebeen cancelled withour prior notice twice and no return calls either. I am seeking a 2nd  opinion buthe test reults are they  positives or not

[auntiejessi]

It sounds like the doctor's practice is getting out of her control or something.

Your results are positive, though.  I'm sorry.

(I responded above, but I think we were typing at the same time.)

AJ

[needhelp402]

I am devestated especially all the dreams i keep having of him cheatin on me we have been together for 8 years. I am worried will i be able to breast feed my child. I have spent my entire life trying to be careful. they say it can show up 2- 20 days after exposure. Is this true.

[gracefromHHP]

Yes you can still breast feed your baby when it gets here.  Genital herpes is only an issue with someone you are having sex with after the baby is born.  You can even take the herpes antivirals while breast feeding. both the la leche league and the american academy of pediatrics have approved them while breast feeding.  

There isn't any such thing as just being exposed to herpes and it showing up on your test results. No idea why the gyn told you that.  You've tested + for hsv1 ( most likely an oral infection and quite common - about 60% of adults on average have hsv1 by the time they hit their late 30's, early 40's - by the time we hit the old age home it's closer to 80% ).  You've also tested + for hsv2 ( also very common - 1/4 of women have hsv2 genitally ).  So what do you do at this point? Well first off I'm not sure how far along you are in your pregnancy but talk about having antivirals on hand to start at the very first sign of your anal/genital symptoms the next time to speed healing.  When you get to the 36 week mark you should be starting on suppressive therapy with one of the antivirals. The options and the pregnancy doses are listed in the herpes handbook jess already recommended to you to read.  Taking suppressive therapy for the last month of pregnancy in the higher pregnancy doses helps to lessen the chance of having an obvious lesion at the time of delivery so that you can deliver vaginally.  If you have a planned c section though no need to start suppressive therapy the last month unless you are having frequent recurrences and just need the break from them ( you mentioned difficult pregnancy in the past so not sure if you had a c section before or not ).  If you are going for a vaginal birth and don't have any obvious ob's near the time of delivery then the risk of transmitting the virus to your baby during birth is less than 1 %.

so about the timing of all this. Does it mean your hubby had to have cheated on you? Does it mean you had to have contracted the virus about 2-3 weeks prior to the initial symptoms? No it does not.  I assume that when they've been diagnosing you with yeast issues that they actually tested you for yeast and saw yeast. Unless you were ever tested for herpes before ( most folks aren't ) there's no way to know how long you've had herpes at this point. Definitely your hubby needs tested. If he tests negative for hsv2 then you know you've had this since before you met him and never knew it.  You really can't rely on when symptoms start as meaning the virus was recently acquired. In fact one study showed that a full 1/2 of suspected newly acquired genital herpes infections were in fact actually just the first obvious recurrence of a previously acquired herpes infection.  

Feel free to ask any other questions you have and we'll try to give you a hand with them.  This certainly is a difficult time for you I'm sure.

grace

[needhelp402]

Grace you guys are wonderful. I have been on a roller coaster i havehad thoughts of endng things because i feel no matter how hard you try in life you still end up with a short end of the stick. I was in very stressful position last year and i have read that stress could have bring this on. My husband has been supportive and said we have no choice but to work through it after i emotionally fell out this morning.I did start reading the information suggested by Auntjessie. Support is what i need now i am still wondering if changing my doctor would be effective or not my aunt is in the medical field and she does suggest so. Yes i did have a c-section before after complete placenta previa, therefore the plan was to have this baby by c-section before herpes diagnosis. we have three girls and i am really trying to pick my self up. It ahs been a hard last 3 years.

[gracefromHHP]

Well now that you know you have herpes - you can start controlling it better :)   I figured you were going to have a c section since you mentioned pp with your last pregnancy so really this won't be anything more than a comfort issue for you.  Of course with 3 kids and a 4th on the way - what do you remember about being comfortable anyways? he he he  

Change your doctor? Well it sounds like you really like her.  I'm on the other side of things and can tell you that we really get busy and can't remember everything all the time.  Perhaps even your doctor had been up most of the night delivering a baby and completely forgot that she didn't go over your results with you since that's normally her routine?  If you otherwise have liked her and trust her then no reason to go doctor shopping right now if you ask me.  Also if you are close to delivery - it's a little late to get to know a new ob/gyn too.  

So what do you do now? Well as I suggested - next appointment ask for a prescription for antiviral therapy to keep on hand. When you start getting those symptoms that you know usually mean what you've been going thru - start a round of antivirals. You can do that even when pregnant.  If after 3 or 4 days things are getting worse - see your practioner for further testing to see if yeast, hemorrhoids or anything else are present. Being pregnant just further complicates it - baby putting pressure down in that area, hemorrhoids, constipation, hormones etc.  Meanwhile get hubby tested and go from there.

grace

[needhelp402]

Thank you for your response.
I am three months pregnant and yesterday i went to check another doctoe out who came highly recommended by an inlaw, I have only seen him once. I signed the release form for him to get the charts from my doc. but today i feel so bad she has been my doctor for 8 years and all i can remeber is the lack of return phone calls when this issue first turned up this has been a bother. Bottom line, I feel so bad to me it is like losing some what and i  know it is the horomones, usually when I make a decision i am firm with it.

[scared_half_to_death]

Dont worry about the doctor. Sometimes it is time for a change. If your doctors practice has gotten to big for her to handle then leaving is the best thing for both of you. She needs less patients and you need more medical attention.

One thing to realize...this really does not change who you are. (You already had herpes before you found out. Are you really any different now that you know. Absolutely NOT.)

Also, many couples go through this. It does not mean that your husband cheated. It does not mean that you have to split up. It does not mean that you have to change your sex life. If he tests negative, you should consider whether or not it matters if he catches it. If you decide that it matters, there is medication that can help.

[needhelp402]

Hello ladies it has been a while but my husband was tested this weekend and his results were 11.85 for 1 and 2 and as you remember i was 8.75 for 1 and 3.75 for 2 does this mean he had it longer than my self.

[gracefromHHP]

He only received 1 result instead of 2?

grace

[needhelp402]

no we were given this for 1 and 2

[needhelp402]

Sorry there were 2 different results for 1 and two

[gracefromHHP]

so his hsv2 was 11.85 then?

Anyways it's just a numeric value - it doesn't mean that he's been infected longer or anything like that.  It just means he's also hsv2+.

grace

[needhelp402]

Our doctor said that from the results he has had it for a very long time ( antibodies) and it wasn't somthing he got within the last year. I felt better because up to this weekend he accused me of cheating and is questioning if our child is his seems absurd but after hearing the results he thinks that he mighthave carrying it longer than i.

[gracefromHHP]

They are just numeric results. You can't ascertain much of anything from them as far as length of time infected. They don't continue to go higher and higher the longer you are infected. For instance I've had hsv2 22 years but my hsv2 igg was 3.3 or something like that last year when I got tested for a research study. It really varies.  I wouldn't feel comfortable saying anything other than he's been infected for at least a month or two - you really can't say anything other than that from the test results but at the same time - no reason to suspect that either of you cheated recently or anything like that either.

At least now you know you don't have to worry about transmission even though finding out you both have hsv2 wasn't exactly what you expected to find out.

grace