Newbie needs help to understand more about herpes

[hopefull01]

Hi everyone,

 

I need help to understand more about herpes. So here is my story, when I was in my 20's I had a 7 years relationship with a guy and he might gave me herpes but at that time I wasn't sure. I got a couple white sore in my genital area but never really that bad so I thought it was just an ingrown hair. It would go away within days. So the relationship ended and since then I slept with 4 different guys. And now I am also in a long term relationship with this wonderful guy. and once in a while I still get my sore/bumps. So last july I went to get herpes test and the doc said I have HSV-2 and it was the IGG blood test. I was a little surprised because all these years I never knew about this and none of these guys ever had any break outs including the one that I am currently with. So last week right before my period i had a little red bump and I went to my doctor and he had a culture swab and sent it to the lab and it came back negative! So now I am confused if I have herpes or not. Help???

[WCSDancer2010]

First - welcome!

 

My first thought (not being a doctor) is that the bump you had *could* be a pimple but you could still have Herpes. You said your other outbreaks were white sores (which is how I remember my first ones over 30 years ago) but this one was a red bump.... sounds like this may have been a pimple/ingrown hair :/

 

Based on that, I would say it is likely you DO have HSV2 but the sore you had cultured was a simple pimple. You could always re-run the blood test or wait until you have another outbreak with the white bumps....

 

Hope that helps!

[hopefull01]

Hi WCSDancer2010,

Thank you for your reply. To clarify my break outs usually starts with red bumps and a little itch, not many though maybe 1 or 2 and it would turn white and heal within 3-4 days. I will get re-tested to be sure. Thank you so much!

[WCSDancer2010]

3-4 days is a fast turn-around for herpes (but not impossible) ... perhaps if you get cultured again you can ask them to also culture for bacteria (which would be more likely to show up in a pimple that H I believe. At least you can ask the Dr if that would help you figure out what they are so you can treat them appropriately.

 

But the blood tests are pretty accurate for the positive results.... certainly test again though to get a conclusive result, for your peace of mind :)