Is this even possible?

[secreta]

Hello! I’m 25, female and I’ve been diagnosed with genital HSV a little over 1 month ago. This diagnosis has raised a lot of questions and I’ve been doing plenty of research, but still can’t find a few answers. I’m not from the US and here in my country the information about this virus seems to be quite outdated, so keep that in mind.

I’ve started showing symptoms after I had unprotected sex (both oral and penetration) with this guy I was seeing. I’ve had to take a blood test twice, since the first one came out negative, but my doctor said it was probably because it was a recent infection, so I didn’t have enough antibodies to be detected yet. The second one came out positive, as I imagined. I told the guy I’ve been diagnosed with HSV (he was the last person I’ve had sex with, btw) even if my first blood tests came out negative so he’d also do a check up and only then he told me that he had the HSV virus orally and had an outbreak a few days after the last time we met (when I also started showing the symptoms). We both didn’t know if you could get genital HSV receiving oral sex from someone who has it in their mouth, when I asked my doctor about this she said they’re two different viruses, but doing my research I’ve found that both strains of the virus can cause genital and oral infections.

So here’s my question, is it possible that I got genital HSV because he performed oral sex on me and was shedding the virus even though he didn’t have any visible cold sores? If so, why didn’t I get HSV orally if we also kissed before having sex? Or is it more likely that he had genital hsv as well and was asymptomatic? 
 

The tests we have here in my country don’t tell which strain of the virus you have, they just check for antibodies. I know that knowing these answers might not be really important, but I’m curious. I even went to see a different doctor to ask for a second opinion, but she also told me that genital and oral HSV are caused by different viruses and that’s all she knew about it.

I appreciate it if someone can clarify a little bit more of this situation for me! Thank you and I hope you’re all staying healthy and safe ✨

[Flowerteacher55]

Hi! 

I hope you are well ❤️ I am so sorry about all the confusion and the stress you have been experiencing. Please know everything will be okay, and that this common virus does not have the power to take your happiness away! 🙂 

First, what type of blood test did you have, and IgG or an IgM? If you aren't sure, you can either check your lab results or you can call the place where you had your blood drawn or call your doctor's office and speak to the nurse.

Second, what type of HSV did you test positive for? HSV-1 or HSV-2? 

This is what's confusing... people use confusing words for describing the type of HSV someone has. Instead of being specific and stating the type and the location, people will just say "oral" or "genital" herpes. For example, I have have Genital HSV-1, meaning I have type one in the genital region. Other people might call this genital herpes because it's in the genital region. Others call the type HSV-2 genital herpes, but you can get HSV-2 in the oral region too, so, it can get pretty confusing!! Just like how oral herpes is what people cal type 1, even though you can get oral herpes in the genital region. So, this is why it is essential to state the type AND the location, instead of using generalizing terms!

So, you could have HSV-1 in your genital region, and your doctor referred to it as "genital herpes" because of the location, when they really should have said the strain type. You could have gotten the HSV-1 from oral sex, (which is the way I got HSV), which is weird because I was also kissing this person and never got it orally. But, I got it genitally. Weird, right?!

Did this person get the sores in their mouth tested/get their blood tested, and if so, is the strain of the virus HSV-1 or HSV-2?

I am so sorry about this again. 

I am praying for you! Stay strong and reach out if you need any support ❤️ 

Blessings,

grace

 

[secreta]

 

@Flowerteacher55
Hi!! Thank you so much for the reply and all of the support, I truly appreciate it. This situation is giving me a lot of anxiety and it’s good to know that someone shares a similar story. 

So I’ve done both an IGG and an IGM test, but the thing is here in my country (Brazil) they don’t disclose the results separately to which strain of the virus you have. They test for antibodies for both type 1 and 2, so people never really know which one they caught. And doctors here just assume you have type 2 if it’s genital or 1 if it’s oral 😕

I believe the person I’ve got it from didn’t test their cold sores either, because it’s not something easily available to us. I’ve heard it’s possible to do a PCR test here and that apparently tells if it’s type 1 or type 2, but no one really does that. People usually just get their blood work done. I’ve heard that HSV2 is usually more agressive, but I’m not sure if that’s true. 
 

And thank you so much for sharing a little bit about your story, I was doing a lot of mental gymnastics thinking that it was impossible to get a genital infection from someone who has it orally and for me to not show any symptoms orally as well, since we kissed. I’m a bit more relieved to know that these crazy things can happen and I’m not the only one 🥺

I’m really scared, not gonna lie and I keep feeling a weird sensation in my vagina, like a strong tingling/scratchy feeling that lasts for a few seconds or minutes and then goes away. I keep checking with a little makeup mirror but I don’t see any visible bumps or sores and this is going on ever since I’ve finished taking the antivirals. Is this an outbreak? Is it normal to have these feelings in the beginning? I’m wondering if it’s just my body adjusting to the virus. It’s not extremely painful, but definitely bothers me.

About testing for the strain of the virus, I’ll talk again to my doctor to see if there’re aren’t really any other tests available to find that out.

Thank you once again for all of the support and prayers! I can’t thank you enough and I’m feeling much better after reading your message. 

Take care 💛

[Flowerteacher55]

Hi! 

I totally understand ❤️ All is well! You are not alone and your symptoms are not unusual. The weird sensation is common to have after the first outbreak, especially if the sores are still healing. Because H lives in the bundle of nerve at the base of the spine, it can cause neurological symptoms such as tingling or itching sensations. How long has it been since you finished the antivirals, and how many days did you take them for?

I completely understand using a makeup mirror to examine! Don't get too worried about it, and try not to hyper-focus on it. Sometimes we can get psychosomatic symptoms (we think about our symptoms so much we actually make them worse!). 

Thanks for clarifying about your testing. Do you happen to know which test you got first that came back negative and which test came back positive (the IgM or the IgG?). The IgM test cannot determine strain, but the IgG can! So, if your IgM test is the one that came back positive, that means you would have to wait about 12+ weeks to have an IgG, which would tell you the strain you have. The test results would literally tell you the type, and of course your OBGYN or doctor should be able to tell you the specific results of that test. If they don't tell you, really push them and make them either show you the results or ask the legit number results for type 1 and type 2 from the IgG test. 

Also, yes, there are PCR swab tests that are helpful to have done when you have active sores. However, they are only reliable within the first 48 hours of noticing sores. The swab test is pretty accurate but it's prone to human error, because if not enough of the virus is swabbed from a sore, it can produce false negatives. 

I know that Brazil is currently facing some issues with women's reproductive rights; are there any centers in Brazil where you could receive some support and testing with doctors who will tell you the results? 

Sending blessings of health and happiness your way! 🙂 Stay strong, and remember that You are beautiful. You are pure. You are worthy of love and respect... ALWAYS! 🙂 💛🌻

Blessings,

grace

 

[secreta]

 @Flowerteacher55 ohh I see, I had no idea about the neurological symptoms. I've noticed I started to get itchy in other parts of my body too, do you think that could that be also associated with H? I thought at first I was having an allergic reaction to something or was just the anxiety. So my doctor prescribed me Acyclovir for 5 days at first and then the outbreak didn't really get better, so I took for another 5 days. It's been two weeks since I've finished treatment and 5 weeks since I've had the first outbreak. The sores I believe are healed, I can't see them anymore, they didn't scab, just sort of vanished. 

Also, thank you so much for the tip about not getting too focused on the symptoms, I definitely was getting obsessed with it. I didn't know psychosomatic symptoms were also a thing, but it makes complete sense, I even thought to myself "maybe it's because I'm hyper aware now and everything remotely different I feel down there, will make me panic". But I really appreciate that you're sharing this information with me and I'll try my best to not think about it as much.

No problem, I know things can be completely different from one country to another! So in my case technically both tests the IGG and IGM came back negative at first. The IGM though my doctor said appeared to be rising, since I got tested not even a week after I started to show symptoms, I guess my number of antibodies was still too low to be detected. So when I retook the test last week, that's when both came out positive. Ohh I see, I really wish things were like this here. I don't know if the labs don't have enough technology or it's just something they don't know yet that can be done... I've got access to the results online, but they just say the Index Number and nothing else. And beside the number there's a chart where you can see "below 0.9 - non reactive" - "0.9 to 1.1 - indeterminate" and "above 1.1 - reactive". My results came back as 1.7, I'm attaching a screenshot so you can see (it's in Portuguese, but I guess you can get a better idea 😊). But, either way, I'll push my doctor to get more information about it. Maybe there's some other lab that I'm not familiar with that can do more detailed exams. 

Really? Yeah, I don't have visible sores right now, so a PCR test isn't even an option, right? But thanks for explaining nonetheless.

Yes! Unfortunately women's reproductive rights are still very much rudimentary over here 😔 I've been researching a lot, but can't find any information online about it. I'll keep looking though, maybe I can find something or some new initiative shows up eventually. 

Thank you so much!! You're a very enlightened person and I do appreciate all the help. I couldn't find much information here where I live, but it's good to know there're people like you out in the world that can share information and give support to whoever is needing. I wish you twice as much love and blessings you're sending my way, you're very kind and beautiful! Thank you soooo much 💛💛

[Flowerteacher55]

Hi!! 🙂 

I'm so happy I could helpful provide information!! Knowledge is power 🙂!!

I don't see the attachment! 😞 Maybe try uploading it again? 

Aww, thank you for your kind words and blessings!!! 

Stay well and stay kind to yourself! You are a warrior! ❤️❤️ 

 

 

[secreta]

It really is! Oh sorry, I think I've done something wrong when I posted it 😅

Here it is: 

As you can see, it doesn't have much information. And the note below the chart just says that has been a change in the diagnosis kit they use for this test, so alterations in the results might happen. 

Stay well 💛