Recently diagnosed with herpes I and II antibodies, but never a known outbreak

[Chrissygal]

I am a 43 year old divorced woman who has had no known history or outbreak of herpes.  A girlfriend of mine was recently diagnosed and was suffering thru her 1st painful outbreak and we had shared a common partner and I had some small bumps in my vaginal area, so I saw my doctor.  He did not think the bumps looked like herpes at all, but I had a blood test anyway.  I do not know the name of the test at this time.  The results came back saying I have been exposed to Herpes I and II; however, my doctor claims that this test nor any test can really tell me if I have the virus or just the atibodies against it unless he can test an active sore.  Is this true?  Besides my girlfriend, I know of no other partner that says he has herpes.  I have had a number of partners and some stupidly unprotected and no one has ever come back to me claiming they got herpes from me.  How do I know if I am at risk of invecting a partner?  My doctor says the test I took does show rather high levels of antibodies, so it could mean that I do have the virus or that my exposure was recent.  Is there any other test I can take?  I requested that I get on a daily dose of Valtrex so that I lessen my chance of spreading the virus and he has approved the perscription.  Is there anything else I should be doing?  A current partner of mine who I have unprotected sex with since we've been together off and on for the last 2 years is back in town from being out of the country for a few months and I really don't know if I need to warn him of my condition since I really don't know what that is.  I can never remember having sores or symptoms like my girlfriend recently experienced, but have had the ocassional bumps and rashes down there since I shave completely.  Please let me know if there are any other tests I should take and if there is any other way to conclusively say I have herpes without there being an actual sore.  Thanks for your help!

[r5887]

A related discussion, help was started.

[monkeyflower]

If it helps, the Valtrex study showed that you can reduce the risk of transmission to around 1-2%/year with suppressive therapy and consistent condom use. Of course, I think those were established couples, and newer couples tend to have much more intense and frequent sex, but that probably doesn't make THAT much difference. So while it's a low risk, it's still a risk, and your partners deserve to know. I've found telling partners isn't nearly as bad as people make it seem. I haven't had anyone freak out and/or back out yet ;-)

I mainly just wanted to say that if having herpes is what it takes to encourage you to always use condoms, then it might be the best thing that ever happened to you. (Writing this makes me realize how much times have changed. Twenty years ago my only concern was pregnancy; I never would have dreamed of having intercourse with a condom. Now I can't even imagine intercourse without it--with the exception of my husband.) It's important to always use condoms with all your partners, especially now that you know you have herpes--and not only to help prevent transmission to them. Having herpes significantly increases your chances of contracting HIV. I SO hate to write that, given the irrational HIV paranoia rampant on these boards, lol, so before anyone freaks I want to stress that it's still not a HUGE risk. Still, why take unnecessary chances. Condoms are soooo easy to get and use.

Good luck with your testing and telling. You sound like you have a reasonable, healthy perspective on life and sex in general, so whatever happens, I'm sure you'll be fine :-)

[Chrissygal]

I appreciate your words of wisdom.  I think I probably will have the further testing, why not, I guess?  I have started to come to the realization that I do have herpes and like you, I don't see it making that big of an impact on my sex life or my life in general.  I loved your plural on partners' because yea, I'm not ready to settle down again (had 12 years of that!) and I'm not about to be with just one guy (boring!), but it has made me more aware that I should use a condom every time and most guys choose that any way.  Especially those younger ones that a couger like myself likes to prey on! :)  

[monkeyflower]

I'm obviously not the doctor, but while you wait for his reply I thought I'd just throw this out there. It seems to me that you basically have two choices: you can either accept the results and consider yourself HSV2 positive, or you can decide to do further testing to be sure. 3.38 is close to the 3.0 cutoff, but I don't know how all that works--whether that 3.0 has some wiggle room, or it's a definitive cutoff. I have a feeling it's the latter; if it's over 3.0, it's positive. But if you're really worried and/or upset about the prospect of having herpes, following up with confirmatory testing might be worthwhile for your own emotional wellbeing.

If it helps, I have both HSV1 and 2, and I've never had an obvious outbreak either orally or genitally. I'm on suppressive therapy only for my partners' protection. I've never found having herpes to be a problem at all; it hasn't impacted my sex life, or my life in general. That's obviously true for you, too, so my advice is to keep that in mind and not worry too much about this. After all, if you didn't even know you had it, how bad can it be? For most people, herpes is a minor inconvenience at worst :-)

[Chrissygal]

Thanks!

[Chrissygal]

Do you think they are borderline enough to go for the further testing that Grace mentioned?

Thanks for your reply.

[gracefromHHP]

Since you are + for hsv1 and your hsv2 is just over the 3.5 cutoff result - you might want to get the herpes inhibition assay done by quest ( # 17170 ) just to confirm that it's not a false positive.  If that comes back as + then yes you are one of the majority of folks who are infected with hsv2 who had no idea until tested.  Studies have found over and over again that over 90% of the folks who are infected with hsv2 have no idea they have it until tested. most folks assume that if you had genital herpes you'd know it in a heartbeat and get frequently reoccuring, painful and obvious blisters to know that you are infected.  The reality is that most folks have far more vague symptoms like redness and itching that are easily over looked or attributed to other causes so they never consider that they might have herpes.  

grace

[Chrissygal]

I got my results from my doctor and he did order HerpeSelect and the results say:  Type 1 >5
         Type 2 - 3.38

Do those results tell you any thing besides that I do have both types of virus and I am one of those invected who does not experience sypmtoms?  I am taking daily Valtrex 500mg.  What are my chances of passing this onto a partner if we have sex without a condom?

I'm not sure when I contracted this and I know my ob-gyn has done STD tests on me before at my request, so will check with his office next week to see if I had ever been tested before with obvious negative results otherwise he would have informed me.  

Thanks for your help!

[Chrissygal]

Thanks, Grace, for your comment and kind thoughts.  I will definitely post my test results either here or on the other thread. I don't think I have to pay again to keep posting here, but we'll see.  

Have a great weekend!  Chris

[gracefromHHP]

It sounds like this is a well established infection ( assuming your doctor was talking about your igg test results and it was a type specific herpes igg blood test he had drawn ) so no being on valtrex would not effect your test results if you repeat them later on though really until you get to the bottom of this you might not even want to bother filling the prescription ( it's pricey unless you are lucky enough to have a decent prescription plan ).

When you get your copy of your blood test results post them over on the patient to patient std board and I can help you with them if posting them here means you have to pay another fee to post ( not sure how that all works ). Just title your post Grace and I should notice it even though I don't get a chance to stop in there everyday.  

Once we see your test results we can help you figure out if you need additional testing or not to confirm your results.

Kudos to you for being by your friend's side thru all this and going to go get tested yourself :)  

grace

[Chrissygal]

Thanks for the info.  I've been doing a lot of reading.  Not sure why my doctor would say he couldn't tell me if I actually have the virus until he tests a sore because I figured that I had to have it if I had the antibodies for it.  I asked the office to send me a copy of the test results so I can see for myself the test that was used.  I'll research that on this site and if needed, ask for a different test if it's not one of the recommended ones. I have great insurance, so don't see that being a problem.

I started my Valtrex and will continue that until I test again and no for sure.  That won't skew the test results in any way, will it?  I've actually never even had a cold sore on my mouth before even though my ex-husband would get then on occassion and also an ex-boyfriend.  I definitely want to have a definitive blood test, so if I have any other questions once I get the results mailed to me, I'll get back on here.

Again, thanks for your time and input.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

It would be helpful to know more about the specific test that was done.  Some HSV antibody tests do not accurately tell HSV-1 from HSV-2; and others can give falsely positive HSV-2 results in the presence of a positive HSV-1 test.  This is a pretty compex business.  For more information, use the search link to look for 'herpes diagnosis' and 'HerpeSelect test'.

And in general, you are asking very complex, detailed questions that would take me literally 3 pages to properly answer.  Please read the many available sources of accurate information about genital herpes, then come back if you have further questions.  Some of those sources are the American Social Health Association (www.ashastd.org), CDC (www.cdc.gov/std), the Westover Heights Clinic in Portland, OR (www.westoverheights.com), and my former health department (www.metrokc.gov/health/apu/std).

But a few brief reponses to some of your questions:

'my doctor claims that this test nor any test can really tell me if I have the virus or just the atibodies against it unless he can test an active sore. Is this true?'  Absolutely not.  I dislike criticizing docs, but either you misunderstood or he is just plain wrong.  Every person with antibody to HSV is infected with that type.  There is no such thing as being exposed without being infected.

If you truly have a positive HSV-2 test, you can transmit the virus to your sex partner(s).  However, the risk may be very low, depending on how long you have been infected (which you may never know) and other factors.  All your partners should be informed--but again, only if HSV-2 test is truly positive.

Do the reading.  You also can phone ASHA to get personal advice from a herpes expert; the number is on the website.  ASHA also might be able to help you find a herpes-knowledgeable health care provider in your area.

Good luck--  HHH, MD