Symptoms of STD's/Vaginal infection

[paranoidspouse]

Has any female who has had an STD or vaginal infection experienced the following symptoms: Thick white discharge, thin yellow/green discharge, pain while urinating.   How long has it lasted for before being treated?

[auntiejessi]

If the ob wasn't on your cervix, they probably wouldn't have found it on a pap.

It might have been that you had one inside, but you might not ever know.  Its something to pay attention to if it happens again, though.

Aj

[paranoidspouse]

another question to the list:

3) The "symptoms" that I experienced: discharge and pain/burning while urinating (approx 1 week after potential exposure), could this mean i was having an outbreak inside my vagina? Or could they have just been the other symptoms without outbreak?
I saw the gyno within a week after I first noticed a change with my body, and did a pap test that came back negative. Are pap tests able to detect that something's up if you're having an outbreak in there?

[auntiejessi]

Hi there -

Good question.  I would say within a few days you can be infectious.

And yes, obs are typical at the site of infection, but I get mine on my labia.  You might not get any inside, but from what I understand, the internal obs do bring pain and possibly discharge.  I don't know anyone that has missed it.

Aj

[paranoidspouse]

yeah, I definitely intend on retesting in a couple months.

got some more questions, if u don't mind..

1) How soon after someone becoming infected can the virus be transmitted?

2)  People usually get outbreaks around the site of infection, right? So if my infection site was inside my vagina, does this mean I won't ever really "see" an outbreak if it occurs? And if it isn't painful, I probably wouldn't know it's there?

[auntiejessi]

Yeah I know - I felt the same way when I got it.

But make sure your test is correct, too.

Aj

[paranoidspouse]

"Overall, the risk is about 10% per year that an infected male would transmit HSV 2 to an uninfected female.  That is, if 100 infected men were having one-on-one sex with 100 uninfected women, about 10 women would get infected per year. If the situation were reversed, about 4 uninfected men would get herpes in a year from infected women."

wow..I guess I'm part of the 10 women..and my husband part of the 4 men. how lucky are we!

[auntiejessi]

Hi there -

The transmission stuff is all explained, and explained far better than I could in a few sentences here, in the herpes handbook.  Its free at www.westoverheights.com

The ones that tell you if you are just positive or negative are fairly decent, but if you have type 1, and a low type 2 result, it might be a false positive, and the "positive" won't tell you that.

The ones that don't tell you what type are absolutely totally worthless.  You could have type 1, and had it since you were a kid, and that will make the combination test show positive.  You would have no way of knowing if its type 1, type 2 or both.  

Aj

[paranoidspouse]

how accurate are the blood tests that just tell you if you're positive or negative and don't tell u which simplex?

I guess it's stupid, but part of me still has some hope (or wants to have some hope) that we're not infected even though blood tests suggest otherwise.  

I'd appreciate if you can help me understand the viral transmission process a bit more. If someone has blisters/sores, and this comes in contact with another person, the virus is passed on correct? And if someone (a male) is shedding but with no blisters, etc, the virus can then be passed on through mucous membranes (eg through intercourse if he ejaculates inside or has precum)?? What if he isn't shedding, will it still be passed on?  

[paranoidspouse]

thanks, Aj

[auntiejessi]

It might be, but we haven't ever really quantified how much shedding is needed to transmit to the genitals, much less the mouth.

All I can tell you is that of the gazillions of people with oral herpes (well over 60% in the US), about 3% of those are from hsv2.  Those who do get oral hsv2 almost never get recurrences, and it would only shed from your mouth about 1% of the time.

I was with the guy I got herpes from for 3 1/2 years before I got it genitally, and gave him oral that whole time.  I never got it orally, even before I had my own antibodies to protect me.

Aj

[paranoidspouse]

but what about the whole shedding without an outbreak? isn't it essentially the same if u do have an outbreak?

[auntiejessi]

Hi there -

Oral hsv2 is RARE, and given that you both have antibodies to it, as long as you avoid oral sex when one of you has an outbreak, you should be fine.  :)

Aj

[paranoidspouse]

So now that I know we're both positive for HSV2 , what's the deal with oral sex? Can it be transmitted from genitals to the mouth?

[auntiejessi]

I'd say its likely to have come from the neosporin, and you both should test again in a few months.

A 2.2 is fairly likely to be a false positive, so don't start worrying too much now, ok?  I know its hard, though.

If you are positive, the number will probably get higher over time.  It might be low now since its a new infection, and higher later, but you have no way of knowing if it is a new infection, or just a false positive right now.

A 1.1 is the lowest a person can have and be positive, and always warrants a retest.

There is always hope, but since you both have symptoms, its about 50/50 right now.

Aj

[paranoidspouse]

mine was 2.2 for HSV2   and less than 1  (can't remember exact number..maybe 0.4) for HSV1.
after reading more about HSV, it seems pretty pointless for me to have tested now since it was only about 3-4 weeks after exposure.
a) would the number get higher over time?

I've come to accept that I'm probably infected and am okay with it, but it tears me apart knowing I may have passed it to hubby too. We're still waiting for his results, but that would probably be useless too since his test was 2-3 weeks after exposure. b1) But if his igg shows over 1.1, then it's certain we're both infected, right? b2) And I shouldn't have any hope of both our tests being false positives?

What I'm still so confused about are his signs/symptoms!! That "papercut" on his foreskin near tip and "pimple" on shaft showed up 3-4 days after exposure. After using Neosporin on it, then only did he start getting small blisters (about 2 showed up next to eachother, and 1 was a little furthur away..and i think over the next 2 days 1 more showed up each day around the others). This was maybe a week after "papercut" and "pimple" showed up. And once he stopped the Neosporin, no new blisters appeared. Collectively, they look like a picture of herpes blisters I've seen online. But what's to say right now they weren't from the Neosporin.  Other "symptoms" he may have had (ache in right leg just above knee and in lower thigh and mild back ache) both lasted about a day and happened about 2 weeks after the "papercut" and "pimple". It's been 2-3 weeks since his penis showed any signs, and they're still there. They're healing, but definitely still there.  Who knows what they are and what caused them. And now I just feel like we won't REALLYY know for another 3 months until we retest and show positive again.

There's a few questions I lettered/numbered above...would appreciate if you can answer those. And the other stuff, I would also appreciate if you have any feedback/comments.

Thanks, AJ  (or anyone else commenting)!

[auntiejessi]

It doesn't mean much, really.

The higher the number, the more you know for sure its hsv2.  What were the results?

Aj

[paranoidspouse]

What do igg levels indicate? eg. what's the difference if someone tests positive at 2.2 as opposed to 3.2  (or 1.2 for that matter)?

[auntiejessi]

You're welcome, and keep in touch.  :)

[paranoidspouse]

I was tested positive. I'm sure he will be too (did't get his results yet)

Thanks for all your help, concern, advice, time, AJ!

[auntiejessi]

You or your husband?

And I'm sorry.

Make sure you read the herpes handbook - www.westoverheights.com

Aj

[paranoidspouse]

positive for HSV2
sigh...

[auntiejessi]

You know - I don't know the answer to that one.  I don't pay that much attention to my herpes outbreaks.

Good question, though.

Sorry I can't answer it for you.

And you really are thinking too much about this.  I know its hard, but you really need to take some time and do something fun.

Aj

[paranoidspouse]

Ha!  I'm trying so hard to do that, but my anxiety kicks in every now and then. I'm lucky it's not affecting my sleep, but as soon as I wake up, it's the first thing on my mind.

If a blister started crusting over and was like that for a few days but came off...should the lesion be dry or wet looking like a new lesion?   Everything I read talks about blisters bursting, crusting over and healing within 2 weeks, but obviously scabs can come off. So then what?

[auntiejessi]

Aww I'm sorry.

Maybe you all can decide to take the weekend off from worrying about it all and go do something FUN.  Resolve to do no genital checks, etc.

Hang in there,
Aj