Mariamne

I'm sorry the clinic doctors are not helping. Do you have a Planned Parenthood near you or can you go back to the doctor who did the swab? Have you heard if that was positive or not? Herpes can stay dormant or be active with few symptoms so it's possible that you got it at some point before you became sexually active with your current bf and he doesn't have it because you've never been intimate when having an outbreak or you've just not had an outbreak until now. OR you could have just given it to him, but it isn't showing up on a blood test yet. It also depends on what they're testing for. There are 2 things they test for - IgG and IgM. Think of G as the Guardian - it shows up to fight the infection and stays in your blood for life, ready to do battle if it needs to. Think of M as a Mouse - it shows up to fight the infection when it first appears, but then it might get distracted and leave. The tests for both IgG and IgM have issues so you can get false positives and false negatives with both. Same with the swab - it's most accurate if swabbed within 48 hours. It could come back with a false negative. So your BF might have it, despite what the blood test says. Or he might not. And if it turns out that to do have it, that doesn't mean he has to. The chances are higher that he would, but there's also a chance that he wouldn't. If he doesn't, you can take steps to cut the chances of him getting it. Don't be scared and don't be intimidated by the doctors! Your body is your body and you have every right to ask for a better explanation or better care. Doctors don't actually know everything and many are so overworked that they just look for the easy answer so you have to stand up for yourself and ask for the right care. Sounds like the second doctor you saw was nice so I hope you get some answers soon. The swab results can take a week or more to come in. Hang in there.

Loyalloulou, this is not normal. In fact, my doc doesn't even like to tell people over the phone! I had to reassure them that I would much rather be told on the phone than have to spend an hour in the waiting room! If your doc told you that you have it, you should have received a prescription for meds and a discussion of what to expect including what to do to limit exposure and reduce the risk of outbreaks. I'm sure more people here will have a better idea of what that should look like. If all you have is something in the patient portal, I would call and ask. If this is a dr. you see regularly, I would definitely go in for a follow-up or at least call and ask about next steps. Sounds like you need a new doctor. Is she a family/general practice or gynecologist? Clinic? Good luck!

Partial Update: I saw the doctor today and they're doing a full blood panel for HSV1 and 2 and also everything else at my request. I mean, if it is herpes and has been dormant for years, I'd like to know if there's anything else! She did say that it didn't look like a regular herpes lesion to her, but acknowledged that it can present this way so she took a culture. Blood tests should be back in 2 days and the culture in a week. Maybe by Friday. In the meantime she started me on Valtrex, just in case, and gave me a steroid cream in case it isn't herpes. Should know more soon.

Hi everyone, hope this is the right place to ask this. About 3 weeks ago I noticed I had a stinging, itchy place on the outside of my labia - kinda down in the valley between pelvis and where the labia meet (if that makes sense). Anyhoo, I looked at saw what seemed to be a scratch so I figured I had accidentally caught myself with a fingernail or something (not that I'd done that before, but I didn't think much of it). I slapped some antibiotic ointment on it, but a couple of days later it was still stinging and itchy. More ointment. Still didn't really think much of it, but I've been putting ointment on it for 3 weeks now and it still stings. I feel like if it were "just" a scratch it would have healed by now. I'm mid-40s, sexually active since 18, was testing regularly for most of my life. I've been in my current relationship for 6.5 years and haven't been tested since before the relationship started. No other symptoms, just this scratch - it's maybe 1/4" long. I haven't noticed any discharge. I'm going to schedule an appointment with my doctor to have it looked at, but I've read herpes can appear as a single lesion that looks like a scratch. Appreciate any advice/feedback you have. Thanks!