Advice needed

[Tinkerbellla]

Hey, I need some advice, about 3 years ago I had what I thought was my first herpes outbreak. I went to the dr had swabs it came back negative. I had some crazy anxiety about it all as I was sure he was mistaken, he gave me aciclovir in case it happened again to keep me happy.

nothing happened until last week ( 3 years later) I have a newish partner. We were a bit rough and I tore a little, a few days later little blisters have appeared that are very painful to touch. With a vaginal discharge. I’m in the uk and can’t get a drs appointment for days.. this is definitely herpes I have no doubt. The first time I had no pain, so I have no idea if this is the first time or not. My question is I still have the aciclovir 400mg tablets, I have a dr appointment in 2 days, shall I start taking them to help and how many? Thank you 

[Flowerteacher55]

Hello! ❤️ 

I am so sorry that you are experiencing the physical and emotional stress! Please know it will be okay. We are all here to support you! 

Swab tests are quite sassy. Basically, they are helpful, but only really helpful within 48 hours of seeing a sore. And even then, the likelihood of the medical professional getting "enough" of the virus on the cotton swab varies, since it's prone to human error (swabbing a sore that is healing/not shedding the virus, etc).

To answer your question, you have two options:

1. Do not take the medicine, so that a swab test has a greater chance of coming back positive. Also, ask for a blood test Sadly, this prolongs your physical symptoms, but it helps for the sores to not heal so quick and slow the viral shedding, so that a swab has a higher chance of grabbing the virus. Since you have the active lesions, the doctor may feel that it is needed for blood work to be done (really push for the bloodwork! Often times doctors say "No, it's not needed," however explain that this happened 3 years ago and you didn't get a definite answer and you want to know if you have the IgG antibodies!

2. Start taking medicine and get the swab done, and ask for a blood test. Again, taking the medicine might cause a false negative if you are getting another swab. However, Still ask for a blood test with the reasoning above! 

I hope this helps!

Feel better ❤️ 

Blessings,

Grace