False Negative Herpes Test?

[sunshineone]

Hello,

In May of 2010 I got what seemed to me to be a cold sore.  I had recently started dating a new guy who I thought may have given me HSV I orally.  I didn't go to the Doctor for this.  Me and the guy would kiss and he would give me oral sex.  I also began to feel irritated in my vaginal area.  I went to the doctor and expressed concern that I might have Herpes, they looked and said it didn't look like herpes and the testing indicated a bacterial infection so they treated it.  I still felt irritated after the baterial infection was treated so I went back and was told I had a yeast infection.  I continued to get bumps around my mouth but I wasn't sure if they were cold sores or pimples, although they weren't nearly as bad as the May 2010 ones.  I continued to have mild vaginal irritation and at one point got a single bump with a white head that literally "came off" one day when I was showering.

Finally I decided to get a blood test in February 2011.  My Herpes Simplex Virus I-IgG came back negative and my Herpes Simplex Virus II-IgG came back negative.  I asked the doctor what the sore on my mouth could have been and she said it could have just been a mouth sore, although I was unlike anything i had ever gotten before and looked like a cold sore.  

Also, the guy I was dating for this period of time since may 2010 got tested for herpes and was HSV I Positive and HSV II Negative when he got tested.  I have read some information which says some people, because of their protein make-up, can test negative even if they do have antibodies.  Is this possible?  I also read something that said that based on the strength of the immune system and when the testing is done, it can be unreliable.  Is this true?  I am just trying to make sure I am aware of what I have and don't have so I can let new partners know up front.  Thanks for your help and your time.  

[gracefromHHP]

vaginitis is very common in us gals. no reason to think your symptoms are herpes related. Continue to be seen when you have itching and discharge to check for vaginitis. Hopefully the fem dophilus helps you have vaginitis less often too :)  

sometimes it just sucks being female and doesn't have a darn thing to do with a std.

[TiredOfGirlyProblems]

I have had almost the same exact thing as you!!! I'm terrified that it is herpes! But I have been diagnosed with A yeast infection AND BV!!! But one time I got a bump on the inside of my labia minora (vaginal lips) it looked like a taste bud, I wasn't sure if it hurt or if I was hurting because my whole vagina was burning, the yeast creams never helped they just irritated me more, I had two doctors look at it, one said it's def herpes, but the swab test came back negative, another doctor said it's def NOT herpes, just an irritated part of my labia, once I stopped the cream and took benedryl the irritation went away for a couple of days and that bump didn't hurt to be touched at that point. It was with me for a while and one day out of Bo where it was just gone!! No cuts, no scabs, no indication that it was ever there. Oh and to clarify, the bump looks like a taste bud, it wasn't red, it was skin color, it was tiny, I had to get out a 10X mirror to see it in somewhat detail. I'm still suffering from yeast, and I too get pains in certain areas but when I look I don't have any legions or blisters there, just yeast or swelling. I Also have irritation in my butt!! I am very paranoid about this, and have asked to get a blood test but haven't heard anything from my doc about it yet! I too had gotten a bump on my pubic region but it ended up being an ingrown hair.

[sunshineone]

In addition, I have just now noticed two small bumps at my upper left thigh.  They are about three inches away from each other and are not clustered or painful.  In addition, every now and then I will get mild shap pains in my vaginal area.  Every now and then I will also have irritation in my butt or upper thighs.

[sunshineone]

Hello!  I was hoping to get an opinion on my situation.  I have continued to experience vaginal discomfort.  I experience alot of redness, some very mild burning, some very mild itching, mild tingling, and discharge, but mainly what I would describe as general discomfort in my vaginal area.  Sometimes it feels like a certain spot is hurting but when I look in that spot I dont have any lesions.

I have been to planned parenthood and the health department a number of times and have been diagnosed with a bacterial infection, 3 yeast infections, and bacterial vaginosis over the last year.  I have never been one to get vaginal infections often so I find this level of frequency odd.  I have been getting these frequent infections since I began receiving oral sex from an ex who has received a positive HSV-1 test.  Is it possible that I have contracted genital HSV-1 and that this is the cause of my symptoms even though I never get lesions?  I will add that at the beginning of July I did get a bump in my pubic hair area.  The bump contained yellow pus and was painless but it did itch mildly once or twice.  Eventually the bump popped and the pus came out and the bump scabbed over without any crust, it was like a flat scab, but still without any pain.  I would appreciate your opinion on my situation.  I plan to go to the doctor tomorrow or Tuesday.

Thanks in advance for your help.  I purchased the Farrow Fem-Dophilus pro-biotic today, as I saw it suggested on this site, and have taken my first two capsules to see if this helps (and I plan to continue taking it daily).  

[gracefromHHP]

usually if you test negative once, you test negative the next time too which is why the lesion cultures are more helpful.  

your genital symptoms didn't really sound like they were genital herpes. Your symptoms fit far more with bv than a newly acquired hsv1 genital infection. It usually presents pretty "classic" and with obvious lesions and lots of pain, not just a feeling of irritation.

[sunshineone]

Just to clarify,  I'm saying that based on the genital symptoms that I had around the same time as the mouth exposure, and the fact that I did receive oral sex, I am wondering if HSV-1 could have been passed to my mouth through kissing and passed to my genitals through oral sex, as the kissing and oral happened one day apart and I believe the kissing may have led to the mouth sores that I think may have been HSV-1.

Thanks!

[sunshineone]

Thank you for your reply Grace.  If I did test a false negative, does that mean if I go back again for another blood test and test negative again that it's possible the test just isn't good at picking up the antibodies in my system.  

Or, when you say the test misses one out of ten, the chances of me being missed on a second blood test also would be very low?

I can go get the symptoms swabbed but if I'm not presenting symptoms for a while and still want to find out for sure, I'm just wondering if a second blood test would be reliable.
I've also read that people who present with oral HSV-1 can also acquire genital HSV-1 if the exposure happened at the same time, which I believe it did.  I am concerned that I could have acquired both at the same time and I want to get to the bottom of this.

Thanks!

[gracefromHHP]

Even the best herpes blood tests still miss 1 out of every 10 hsv1 infections unfortunately.  all  you can do is each time you have mouth symptoms, be seen for an exam. If they think they see a cold sore, they can do a lesion culture to look for herpes.

grace