Do i have herpes please help...

[ota598]

Hi,i'm 27 years old male, well i had unprotected sex manytimes but never with prostitute , recently i have a girlfriend and we've been together for 3 months, first time we had sex it was in 22nd of may 2011 as i remember well and it was unprotected,  i haven't noticed any symptoms since then, but 10 days ago we had sex after that i noticed a small red pimple on my pubic area while i was shaving and it burned i thought its from shaving so i forgot about it, the day after i saw my girl and we had sex but during intercourse it hurted me so i stopped and i noticed another sore pimple popped out and slight pain when swallowing the next day so i decided to see a doctor, i went to an std provider " doctor" and she checked out my pubic area and first she thought i have syphilis so she wanted me to make a blood test and i did, the day after i went back there and the results came out negative and she told me that it might be herpes so now my test also was included hiv 1 and hiv 2 !! and i have to go back in 15 days , currently i have 4 to 6 open sores, 2 on the shaft and 4 on my pubic area and they itch alot and painful as well with redness around  also painful swollen glands in my groin, i'm so confused is this genital herpes or initial hiv symptoms?  i have anxiety most of the time and i cant sleep as well please help me with some information?

[gracefromHHP]

many things that run their course even without treatment. proper follow up will get you answers but it might not be quickly :(

[ota598]

well grace i really don't know what to do, seriously i have been so anxious the past three weeks waiting for the good news and when they came out i felt okay, but now after what you're saying I'm being so worried. and i don't wanna go through that again.

replying to your answers:

i have read many of YOUR replies to people that those symptoms they can appear for those who are experiencing the first infection of HSV.

you're saying additional testing must be done!!  i have nothing going on with me now i feel so healthy , every single symptom appeared just went away after two weeks, i used "zovirax 10g" and now i feel okay plus the the glands are getting back to normal. no headaches or muscle aches, does this change your mind or still i need to follow up?? i mean what it COULD BE if its not HSV???
  
my gf did nothing after my results but she's willing to do it in a few days.

[gracefromHHP]

no it can be due to many things which is why further follow up is important.

yes indeed you'll need additional testing.

did your gf get tested yet to see if you have to worry about hsv2?

[ota598]

Thanks for your kind reply.

but i want to make the picture clear for you with no details, cause i'm so confused now.. well i met my girl in may and about three months later the symptoms appeared.

i went to the only and best hospital treatment of STD's in Greece and i got the results in about three weeks, all negative except HSV 1.. should i TEST AGAIN or not???


this is what worries me at the moment cause you say something and the doctors say something els. and are these symptoms related to HSV 1 if this is only the case??

[bobrope45]

You are assuming you caught something 3 months ago. But you might have caught it not in the very beginning relationship, but rather after weeks/months of sex. That's why is important to have a blood test 3-4 months after such symptoms.

Herpes is not transmitted easily; that said, you gf might have it and only have it transmitted to you weeks/months later. It's usually not transmitted in the very first instance of sex.

As I said above, and as Grace already told you, it would be ideal for your gf to get tested. This way you can confirm it's not HSV2. That's it.

[gracefromHHP]

unfortunately your provider isn't very knowledgeable about herpes testing from the sounds of things :(  

you still know nothing about what went on genitally. only about half of people are testing accurately on the igg blood tests 3 weeks later.  

at this point, your gf needs tested for std's, including herpes, to see what her status is and go from there.  

[ota598]

your saying that i had the test  too early, but i'm telling you again my first unprotected encounter with my currnet gf was in may. so if i contracted anything it would show up in the results i'm i correct or not?

[ota598]

it wasn't a week later , actually the results came out 21 days atleast after my first symptom, the doctor told me to wait three weeks for accurate results , fortunately all results came out negative except HSV 1, and for me as long as i've been with this girl for more than three months i guess it does make sense, but i'm just confused about the symptoms that i had thats it,

i mean are they related to my case as HSV 1 positive, i mentioned above its my first time.

[bobrope45]

It's a shame that no culture was taken. It was the right thing to do.

From your post it sounds like you had symptoms a month ago. Correct? And then a week later or so you had a positive blood test for HSV1.

Your doctor is not right to assume you have genital HSV1 from your latest results. Blood tests take up to 4 months to come positive - that said, results as yours should be disregarded and are only important to establish a baseline result. You had a blood test way too early. Since no culture was taken and you had symptoms that were considered herpetic, It would be ideal for you to get another blood test IgG for HSV1 and HSV2 within 3 months or so.

Better yet, you should tell you partner to get tested as well. If she's HSV2+, you might have contracted it from her. If she's HSV1+, genital HSV1 is still a possibility. Makes sense?

[ota598]

i havent had any cold sores in my whole life or anything els ,, this is my first time and the blisters appeared on my genital area with the rest of the symptoms as well. i told you blood test was done not a culture was made. HSV 1 was positive only the rest stds were NEGATIVE...

i've been with my gf for 3 months and a half , and i did this test 3 weeks ago ?  so probably the results are okay do you agree with me?

another thing the doctor assured me theres nothing other than HSV 1.. but my question is are these symptoms related to initial HSV 1 ?? and is it possible to have the symptoms after 3 months assuming the virus was dormant??


And last thing do you think the results are accurate after this period of time???

[gracefromHHP]

at your age, 1 out of every 2-3 people has hsv1 orally. it's impossible to determine if your hsv1 is oral or genital without a lesion culture coming back +. I assume you can't recall any cold sores previously?

  continue to follow up with providers if the cream they gave you doesn't take care of your symptoms.   your gf also needs a full work up done in case you recently contracted something from her that isn't being reflected in your testing yet.

[ota598]

And does HSV 1 genitally cause these symptoms for the first time... i told you this is my first time in my whole life i got something....

[ota598]

thanks alot for the reply ,,


but can you do me a favour and read my questions again ... i need some help here and answers for what concerns me ...

she didn't do any test but i did . and my results are negative except HSV 1 .. please answer my questions above .... i live in Greece and i find the language barrier all the time even with doctors..

[gracefromHHP]

if you were never tested for herpes before, no way to know if your hsv1 is oral or genital. odds are it is oral.

has your gf been tested to know her own herpes status?

at this point, if symptoms reoccur, be seen again for further work up.

grace

[ota598]

Hi Grace..

today i got my results for all stds all came out negative except HSV 1 it came out positive... "no culture was mad btw, all through blood test"

as i mentioned before i had unprotected vaginal and oral. and actually i'm a bit confused now with many things...

1. can all the mentioned symptoms i had be from HSV 1 only ?? since its my first time ??


2. why i had it on my genitals and how did i contract it, orally or genitally ? though my gf doesn't have any symptoms and not even a cold sore was seen in her mouth or lips ?

3. one more thing, as i know that HSV 1 and HSV 2 symptoms generally show up about 2 up to two weeks after infection so why it took me 3 months ? now i've been with my gf for 4 months almost and my symptoms appeared 3 weeks ago!!

4. also, as long as i have HSV 1 genitally now and probably i got it from her, is there any possiblity that she will contract it genitally as well ?

5. last thing, could it be something els according to my symptoms or just HSV 1? do i have to retest ? i'm really worried ?

[gracefromHHP]

many things cause these symptoms. continue to follow up with your providers as needed.

[ota598]

the doctor has doubts of herpes after my negative syphilis results and i did a blood test already and waiting for the results, and i already told my gf to do a test.

on the other hand the doctor gave me a cream for damaged skin because she has no case as she said. but what are all these symptoms "itching and painful sores,swollen glands in the groin which is also painful" are these related to herpes ? or it might be an hiv? i'm so worried .


thanks

[gracefromHHP]

did they do any herpes lesion cultures on you?

I encourage you and your gf to go for full std testing that includes type specific herpes igg blood testing and go from there.

did they give you acyclovir for the suspected herpes?

grace