IGG Testing of HSV

[Buddhappies]

I asked my doctor if IGG testing will come in a range and she said no, it won’t be titred because the antibody is either there or not, and the amount doesn’t really matter. This goes against what I’ve read elsewhere that IGG tests include a titer and indicate a range that’s different for HSV 1 vs HSV 2. And also that false positives can occur for IGG tests. She said false positives can’t occur because if it’s found that it’s there then that indicates a positive status. She sent my blood to be tested for IGM and IGG and IGM came back negative for both 1 and 2, but still waiting on IGG. i have been with same partner in a mutually monogamous relationship for 23 years but she said the virus can sit in your system for that long undetected. Also she said if it did come back positive i’d want to start taking a multivitamin, but the odd thing is about 5 months ago I began taking a multivitamin and several other supplements for immune system and cell health together on a daily basis for the first time ever, and then a res bump appeared for the first time ever. Are there specific supplements that can cause an outbreak if one is latent a long time? I’m taking a probiotic, multivitamin, vitamin l complex with D3, iron, calcium and magnesium supplement, benfotiamine (synthetic form of thiamine that’s more bioavailable), CoQ10, and a fiber supplement. Can any of these things trigger HSV?
Thanks for any input- my doctor felt quite sure what she saw was HSV but i’m really finding it hard to believe it could be and only having got the IGM results back i’m just not sure if IGG comes back positive for HSV2 but has no range if that’s absolutely indicative of having acquired it, or if there’s even still a minute chance i may not actually have it.

[auntiejessi]

Okay, so first, your gyno is wrong. It's not uncommon for them to be wrong - so many docs don't understand herpes testing.

You should get an index value on the test, but it depends on the lab they use, how they order it, etc. If you're in the US, you can order your own through a number of sites, which I'll include at the end. The ones I include give you an index value. You've obviously done your research because you know about false positives.

There are no supplements that specifically cause outbreaks. There's no food, either - it really is all dependent on the person.

Don't worry about getting a Western Blot yet. That's not hard to get, but it's not inexpensive, either - not even close lol. Just get the IgG, and let's see what that says.

A visual diagnosis of herpes is often unreliable.

A note - the hsv1 IgG misses 30% of infections, and the hsv2 IgG misses 8% of infections. However, given that you've been in a monogamous relationship for 23 years, you aren't really high risk for hsv2. Get your IgG test back from the doctor and see what it says.

Also, the IgG tests only tell you what you have, not where you have it. You can get hsv1 genitally if your partner has oral hsv1 and gives you oral sex. You might also have oral hsv1, and the test will pick up on that.

The IgM is an incredibly unreliable test, and the CDC and all the experts have known for years that it shouldn't be used. Your doctor should know that, too.

Let's just see what the IgG test says, and if you need to, we can go from there.


https://www.stdcheck.com/herpes-1-test.php - can test for just hsv1 or hsv2, or both

https://www.letsgetchecked.com/home-herpes-test/ - must test for hsv1 and hsv2

https://www.healthlabs.com/herpes-tests - can nest for just hsv1 or hsv2, or both

https://www.ultalabtests.com/partners/ultdirect/testing/categories/std/herpes - can nest for just hsv1 or hsv2, or both - do not get the IgM test

All the sites run specials at different times. Google for coupon codes, too.

[Buddhappies]

Thanks so much, glad to confirm the info I was being told wasn’t completely right.

The doctor called me last night and told me the IGG hsv2 test came back positive (or rather, it says “reactive” now that i see the results). For some reason they sent IGM out to a Quest but did IGG at their in house lab - again, IGM is negative for 1 & 2, and she said IGG was negative for 1 but positive for 2. No range was given. I kept bringing up and asking about chance of false positives and she acted like I was crazy and in denial
lol.  


I was able to go online late last night and schedule an appt with my primary doctor for this morning and told them the story including that i would like to retest. She advised to wait 4 weeks to retest (i’m not sure why?) but i asked to be able to go ahead and retest now using a test that will supply the range. She agreed to that, but didn’t seem too keen on ordering western blot. Seemed like if I kept pushing maybe I could get her to agree to western blot but she screwed up her face when I first mentioned it and said something about it only being more reliable in *some* cases…

Is it worthwhile to go ahead and retest IGG or is there some reason to wait to retest?

This doctor said she recognized what she saw as herpes but I had doubts about that - because it was already healed up to the point there was nothing to swab, it was just a patch of red healing skin. Because i thought it was a pimple and it was in the high upper pubic area I expressed the bump, never considering it was  possibly herpes based on past testing from 25 years ago that was negative, and the recent panel i thought had included it. Considering I’m in Florida and it’s august I thought it was just a weird acne cyst or folliculitis that was causing irritation (no itching but sore- like cystic acne i’ve had can be) and squeezed/picked at it. So the healed up area she saw wasn’t the natural resolution of whatever it was, it was how the skin had healed up after having been squeezed and picked at.

It’s certainly possible I did have latent herpes for a very long time and it just now popped up for the first time after decades. I do realize that is a very real possibility. I’d even be surprised if it wasn’t given how prevalent hsv2 is and considering there were a couple years on my late teens where i could have been exposed. But there’s discrepancies causing concern me to have difficulty completely accepting it until I can better confirm it.

Thank you for your input thus far, and if you have any guidance on where to go/what to do now that I’ve gotten this result I would be very appreciative. You are providing and incredibly helpful service to people here!

[auntiejessi]

I'm sorry, it's so frustrating.

The only reason to get the IgG with the numeric value to it is to see if you need to get the Western Blot. If your index value comes back really high, then it's herpes. If it's low, it's likely a false positive, and you can go for the WB.

Technically, the guidelines set by the CDC say that below a 3.0 could be a false positive, but I've seen higher. There is a nurse practitioner named Terri Warren who does the test, and she's seen as high as a 17 (I think, don't quote me) be a false positive. That person was asymptomatic, though.

Has your partner tested? That could go a long way in helping you decide, too.

You could have herpes and have had a infected hair follicle or something. This could all be coincidence. I live in Florida, also, and know the heat we've had. It's been a HOT summer all over the state.

I'm sorry this isn't easier for you. It doesn't have to be this hard.

Terri Warren wrote The Herpes Handbook. It's free to read, and you can read it on any device. You don't have to read it all, but she does explain testing pretty well.

https://westoverheights.com/herpes/the-updated-herpes-handbook/

Whatever happens, you'll get through it, and if you want, I'll help you get through all the steps.

[Buddhappies]

Also- when I spoke with my doctor on the phone this afternoon I asked if I could get retested if the IGG test does come back positive and she kept saying that if the antibody is detected it’s definitely HSV and there’s no need to retest. I mentioned to her that another doctor a year ago had run an std panel because I thought i had lymph node swelling and then i was told it came back clear. I assumed they tested for herpes but when I went to check it after the gyno telling me she thought what I had was herpes (i thought it was just a pimple and showed it to her as an afterthought), the test didn’t include herpes testing- so i was told they were doing a full std panel then told it was negative assuming that included herpes but it didn’t- they didn’t even tell me that or which exact things it tested for i only found out by going back into the online portal of the lab and looking it up myself. Anyway my gyno told me that they probably didn’t include herpes in the testing and I said yes you’re right they didn’t- and she said I don’t know why they don’t but this test will show. I said what I had read is that it’s not tested for because there are false positives and it’s unreliable but she again assured me that false positives for IGG don’t happen. I’m just concerned if I’m getting wrong or outdated info here… and if the HSV2 IGG test does come back positive i want to know what my next step should be… i’d like to get retested but she seems unwilling to. Is Western Blot more accurate and if so is it available online for a reasonable price?