Hi Grace,
So I recieved my full panel of STDs and blood work.Everything came out negative. I was told we don't know what is on my bum. We don't know because I tested positive for HSV I and HSV II. These were type specific for each one.
HSV I 5.01
HSVII 3.57
Here is where I am confused still. I have read over and over and have gone through so many sites and have done my research and still don't feel "reassured". I was also told I don't have vaginal herpes because they have done the Herpes subtype (hsv I,hsvII) real time PCR testing and came out negative. I did turn out to have a BV infection. I told her that I thought you couldn't do a swab if no lesions are current. My gyn said the tests have come far since a long time ago and they swabed my cervix and my vagina and there was no finding of either herpes. I was also told that probably the cause for my location of blisters was the original point of contact. Here are my questions:
1) I have never had sex in the anus so why is it that is where the "point of contact" being? The last two dr.s haven't seen where my blister has been.
2) Can they test for the virus if no lesions are present? I have read that you can because the PCR is DNA findings of the virus and if you have a discharge it could be that you have a "active" lesion that is causing the discharge. I also saw on here a poster but that they also had no signs of lesions present when they were checked for the PCR but had discharge and they were negative as well.
3) Does taking valtrex have an impact on test results? I am on suppressive therapy for about a 1 month almost a month and half. I ask because I have read on here that it can but not dramactically. If you notice I have had a score from a 4.47 and now at 3.57 and I also know my Hsv I score which I didn't before.
4) Can having a high HSV I index influence my hsv II index. I have learned that I have had Hsv I since I was small.
Sorry for such a long post and I hope you can shed some light here. Even if my doctor says I should if anything feel "reassured" I don't have it vaginally. Help!!
you would have to be actively shedding the virus when they did the pcr. you aren't actively shedding 24/7/365
no, lesions aren't always just where you had a point of contact - they can occur anywhere in the entire boxer short area regardless of what sort of sex positions you've ever practiced. if you have hsv2 on the buttocks/anal area, you also have it vaginally.
get the WB just to be sure about your hsv2 status and go from there. every time you have a recurrence of your symptoms, be seen within 48 hours for a lesion culture or ask to have the pcr supplies at home to do it yourself. you've had symptoms for a long time so being on valtrex won't affect the results.
Hi Grace,
So you are saying that if you have it on your bottom you have it vaginally no matter what. So you can't just have it on the bottom and then not in your vagina and vice versa. So if you have it vaginally you have it in the anus as well. If you have it in the butt you have it vaginally. It can't be one or the other, it's both right?
I'm still trying to make sense of this and you guys are the only ones who can help me without driving my husband crazy or calling the dr's office about questions.
1) Why did my hsv 2 index go from 4.47 to a 3.57? You said the medicine wouldn't be an issue since I have had sympotoms for so long. I used to take it just when I had a break out but when I learned I had it back in january I have been taking it as suppressive therapy.
I'm just very confused and angry because I can't get any answers from anyone. I have seen on another site by a Dr.H that said you can pick up dna from a pcr test if no lesions are visible. Not sure if this is the same Dr. H that is on here, he also interviewed Terri on his site.
Thank you for your time!
Here is the website I was talking about.
www.herpes.org
Here is where they say a lesions doesn't need to present.
yes, if you have it anywhere below the waist, you have it vaginally and anal too.
you will get different numeric results each time you test. both your results are still positives but both low enough to make it worth the WB.
yes you can detect herpes via pcr even when lesions aren't present but you have to be actively shedding it at the time. The odds of shedding it with an out of the blue one time swab are incredibly low since on average you only shed the virus 45 days out of the year. That leaves a lot of time the virus isn't active to be detected on pcr. make sense?
Makes total sense. So I should take that 'negative" result as a false negative. This is so confusing and overwhelming. So the best thing I can do is to stop doing blood tests, do the WB and do a culture when present right? When taking the WB do I need to stop taking the Valtrex ahead of time? If so how long before I take the test? I use labcorp and from what I read they don't do it, so how do I go about gettting one done?