Hi, I'm new to the forum.
I'm very concerned because I do not know if I am experiencing a primary infection of oral herpes and I do not want to infect other parts of my body or my girlfriend.
My mother brother and sister all have oral herpes but none of them have had any recent outbreaks, and I haven't recently interacted with any of them besides my mother. I have never noticed an outbreak on myself. Many months ago I had been tested (since previous partner) for HSV1 and HSV2 through my GP. Both came back negative. My current girlfriend also got tested for HSV1 and 2 and both came back negative. She has never had any outbreaks. Because we both got tested with negative results, and neither of us had outbreaks I assume neither of us had it. Could I have had a false negative? The relationship before this one was my first, and being naive I got pressured into unprotected sex, without asking her to get tested (she said she had nothing). I have not knowingly interacted with any person recently who has an active sore.
5 days ago I went to urgent care because I had a bump (just a bump, no fluid, and only painful if squeezed) on my lip with white patches in the corners of my upper lip, and received a visual diagnosis of oral herpes. I immediately started taking prescribed 500 mg 3x daily of famciclovir. Later that day I experienced a strange, startling twinge feeling in my penis. I realized that recently I had redness, itching, and some pain on my penis. The redness has happened before so I assumed it was something else, but the twinge led me to believe that I might have auto-inoculated my genitals. The days after I started the famciclovir I did not notice any further pain, twinge or reddening.
When I went to urgent care I did not have a fever, only the one bump and those white patches. But over the past week I have had headaches, runny nose, coughing and general feeling of illness. This morning I did not have a fever but last night I felt very very ill.
My point is, how can I know if this is the primary infection or not? If it is, how could I possibly have gotten it without interacting with someone who has an active sore? And also if it is the primary infection, what are the chances that I have auto-inoculated my genitals?
My key concern is that by no circumstances do I want to infect my girlfriend. She has very severe eczema all over her body and I've heard that herpes can do a lot of harm to people with widespread eczema. Especially if it's transmitted genitally, in which case I really need to know if I have genital herpes.
Thank you for advice and for answering my questions.