I will try to make this as short as possible. My doctor had been giving me the runaround for three weeks and I'm tired of this nonsense. I'm also medical student and if you have any reference material to suggest, I would greatly appreciate it. Let me begin by saying I've tested negative for every other STD.
On May 19th, after an abnormal pap smear, I was given a colposcopy. Thursday the 21st, I had an extremely strange discharge. I reasoned this was the "discharge" my doctor had warned me about, but it was almost solid, yellow, quarter sized, and completely foreign to me. Friday I came down with extreme lethargy, a mild to high fever, muscle aches, more yellow discharge, and went straight to the emergency room in case I had an infection. The ER doctor and pelvic exam concluded that I had cervicitis. I was placed on hydrocodone and antibiotics. Saturday, red bumps appear around my entire genital area. Sunday, the bumps fill and burst in a HSV fashion and are so painful I throw up several times throughout the day. They appear dime sized, almost ragged, and relatively spread out with little to no cluster formation. Memorial Day Monday, I get ahold of the on call nurse and she prescribes Valtrex for herpes symptoms. My doctor visually diagnosed me on Wednesday the 27th, and took a culture (this is within 72 hours and my first outbreak). He also stated, and I quote, "This is a textbook case of herpes. If I were writing a book I would take your picture." He assured me that it was my first outbreak and that my fiance had knowingly given it to me (which I now know is completely presumptuous).
Well, my PCR results are negative and I'm scheduled to have blood tests on Monday. Thing is, I do not trust the accuracy of the blood tests as much as the PCR. I've read studies on the error between visual diagnosis and PCR testing, but have yet to find anything conclusive. Isn't the test supposedly the "gold standard" of hsv cultures? Are false negatives common in PCR testing? Is there a possibility of another type of infection cured through my antibiotic treatment? The symptoms were similiar to a first outbreak, and the flu-like aches, fever, and cervicitis are present in a primary episode, but the PCR is hanging over my head. Also, visually, I've found nothing to confirm my outbreak looked like genital herpes. The ulcers were quite large, never crusted over, and slightly ragged. It feels like I won't get an accurate diagnosis until I have another outbreak (if I do).
Thank you for your time and I appreciate your response. I've also scheduled an exam with another doctor for a second opinion.