Hi, this is complicated so please bear with me. For many years, I’ve often been getting what seems to be canker sores inside my mouth, and once in a while, a sore even gets on my tonsils. About ten years ago, a doctor swabbed one in my throat, and said “It’s not strep. We don’t know what it is, but it’s viral”. If these aren’t canker sores, they do look identical to them, and they get very painful.
Recently, I decided to get a blood test for any STI’s. I’ve always been careful, but it’s good to make sure of these things at some point. The only thing that came back positive was HSV-1. I already knew that I had this (people in general have it) because I got cold sores around the outside of my lips fairly often as a child, though I very rarely get those now (maybe once every several years. The sores INSIDE my mouth are far more common). I later picked up the paperwork just to look over any specifics I might have missed.
Well, according to the paperwork (and everything I’ve heard), antibody levels that indicate HSV-1 are at 0.90 or more. My HSV-1 antibody level was at 43.00, which I think sounds EXTREMELY high. I’m wondering if this is a common level, or if it being that high means I’ve likely had a recent outbreak?
I know the obvious answer should be “Follow up with your doctor”, but please understand I’m stuck living in a middle of nowhere town with no insurance, I can only go to an income based clinic, and any treatment I can get is substandard (to put it mildly), so follow-ups with doctors usually mean coming back to be told “Well, we can’t really say for sure” while I lose more money and get no help at all.
If anyone might be able to help me out with my weird questions I’d very much appreciate it.
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