[Best herpes test shortly after possible infection?]

Adrial, one more quick question:

Can the swab test only be performed if the pimple/sore is an open wound?

[Herpes Treatment Questions (which drugs, dosage?)]

Aerial & Adrial,

Thanks so much for the information. Yep, I've already had a look at the handouts. Super useful, thanks for putting them together.

 

Suppressive therapy:

Seems like 2x 400mg of Acyclovir per day will be the best choice then. I don't like the idea of taking pills on a daily basis, but it makes sense to protect my gf.

 

Additional questions:

(I fully understand that I should also discuss this with a capable doctor.)

 

1. If you have an outbreak while on suppressive therapy, do you take additional medicine and/or increase the dose?

2. If I were to use Acyclovir for episodic therapy, would I take 4x400mg per day for 10 days (twice the amount that @Aerial2013 mentioned since it's Acyclovir instead of Valtrex)?

3. Does dosage or type of medicine taken vary based on type 1 / 2, body weight, etc?

4. Could I become resistant to anti-herpes drugs by taking wrong doses?

[Best herpes test shortly after possible infection?]

Adrial,

Thanks so much for the reply, really useful!

 

Cheers!

[Herpes Treatment Questions (which drugs, dosage?)]

Hey everyone,

As mentioned in my other discussion I currently don't have access to great doctors that understand herpes well. After about 15 hours of herpes research I'm a bit confused and exhausted, so pardon me if these questions have been answered on this forum before.

 

1. Treating herpes during an outbreak

 

Initially when my herpes was diagnosed as a skin infection, I was prescribed oral broad spectrum antibiotics and antibacterial/antibiotic cream.

 

Once the doctors realized that I actually might herpes, they added in Acyclovir which I have been applying to affected areas twice a day (things have gotten a lot better)

 

My questions:

1.1. For how many days should I apply Acyclovir cream? Until symptoms disappear or only for a limited amount of time?

1.2. Going forward, if I have another outbreak, should I again use Acyclovir cream or look into oral medication (or even a combination of cream+oral medication)?

 

Or "which drugs do you take if you have a herpes outbreak?".

 

 

2. Taking ongoing herpes medication

I might go down that route in order to protect my girlfriend.

 

2.1. Which drugs should I take?

From the research I did, acyclovir and valicyclovir both help best to reduce viral shedding.

Source:

 

It seems that you have to take acyclovir at least 2x day and valicyclovir once a day. Is therefore valicyclovir the best solution.

 

Or: "which drugs to you take as ongoing medication and in which dosage?".

 

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Best herpes test shortly after possible infection?]

Hey everyone,

 

I just got my herpes test result back and it was positive. (I still don't know if i have type 1 or type 2, the doctor I went to seems completely inept - he didn't test for it saying that "it doesn't matter"). I've got an IGG value of 33 or so, IGM was inconclusive/

 

Now my girlfriend will have to get tested, but I am not sure which test is the right one.

 

Background info:

* I think I must have aquired Herpes over the last couple years. 2 weeks ago was the first outbreak I've ever noticed.

* We've been dating for about 3 months.

* The first 2 months of our relationship we were using condoms, the last month she was on the pill.

* I once had sex with her (without a condom) about 2 weeks ago at the beginning of my outbreak (only a small blister on the bottom of my penis). Another inept doctor initial said "there's no way you have herpes, this looks like a normal skin infection" so I went ahead and slept with her =(.

 

###

To explain the inept doctors: Not sure what things are like in the US, but I'm a Westerner living in an Asian developing country which probably explains the inept doctors.

 

###

 

If I have transmitted herpes to her (I really hope not) it probably happened about 2 weeks ago.

Which herpes test will be the best one in this case?

 

* It seems that the IGG test might not show results until 3-6 months after the infection.

* As far as I understand, the IGM test might work in my case but lots of smart people have said it is useless, eg: http://drjengunter.wordpress.com/2013/01/19/understanding-blood-tests-for-herpes/

 

Is there any point in getting tested at all in this case? Are there any other tests that might make sense?

 

In terms of potential symptoms, she has a tiny, tiny pimple near her vagina but it doesn't really look like herpes to me.