After positive herpes blood test, doctor told me I was "fine" and have "nothing to worry about"

[peterk]

So he would wear it proudly and not realize the meaning. What a Guy. Maybe you should get two of em. one for him and one for his next victim. only the arrow needs to be pointing at him.

[Aimee (previously baffled1]

The sad part are there are plenty of women he has done what he does done to me. So many, its scary. Its ignorance of people and blind trust that people like him get away with not disclosing to their potential partners.

[peterk]

The issue is much much bigger than people know since so many keep it quite. In the military its widespread and since you can get kicked out for getting an STP like syph or the clap as an officer or at least greatly hurt your career, the officers plead with the docs to file under a non damaging category. I know this cause my friend was a doc in the air force.

[Aimee (previously baffled1]

thiscantbelife:

i understand the frustration and confusion you feel. i had 1 doctor tell me i dont have it, another doc tell me i was only exposed and doesnt mean i have it and a 3rd doc, tell me i have it for sure, becuase if my blood work and lab work ( even though the lab told this doctor that there was possibily a problem with my lab results). So im not at for sure, i have severe hypoglycemia which has many of the same symptoms.

But to be responsible, unselfish, and not malicous, i will live until i have a defenattive decision. the only thing i know of to do is for me 1. go see an endocrynologist to get the hypoglycemia controlled related to PCOS and 2 an infectious disease doctor to determine my actual status since this something they would be well versed on. also woiuld be able to do the Western blot test, which is said to be the most accurate of any available HSV tests.

this is the test i would recommend you try to get. do your research on how and where you can get it done in the area where you are from. it is not done all over the U.S. which why I will seek out an infectous disease doctor.

[StillLearningInPacNW]

I just joined this site and have been reading some of the posts. The ones from "thiscantbelife" (December 26 ) and Jess330 (October 2012) particularly caught my eye. Although I'm not a doctor or even employed in any medically-related field, I AM a "mature" male who has had herpes for over 30 years. During those years, I've tried to keep up with the latest knowledge about herpes. So, for what its worth, here's my story followed by my best understanding of the herpes bug.

Because an infected partner can carry the virus for years and not show any symptoms and not even know they are infected, I have no idea when or by which female I was infected. My early outbreaks were frequent and always caused about 14 days of vicious discomfort. The outbreaks were directly related to my stress levels, so an outburst of anger was the quickest way to trigger an outbreak for myself. For much of my “young-adult” life I was a short-tempered hothead, so I had lots of outbreaks. None of the meds I tried had much effect. Eventually I realized that I had to make a change, so I aggressively pursued a zero-stress lifestyle, and it worked. My outbreaks have been “infrequent” for many years.

AS I UNDERSTAND IT, the presence of the virus can only be positively confirmed if testing is done during an outbreak. An infected person can carry the virus for years without ever having symptoms, and still be able to transmit it to someone else. Care should be taken not to touch any sores and then immediately rub your eyes. The fluid of the eyes can provide an “expressway” to the brain, where the virus can wreak some real havoc. And here's the factor that is still really messing with my life: the virus isn't just sexually-transmitted. It can be present in basically any bodily fluid, including saliva. So, even though the risk is low, it can still theoretically be transmitted by an innocent lip-to-lip kiss or by sharing a drinking glass or spoon with someone. For years I haven't been unwilling to risk sharing a glass of juice or a spoonful of dessert with my precious stepdaughter, for fear of passing on my very undesirable bug.

It is not fun.

I welcome any contradictory info you may want to offer, as long as it is fact-based and not just casual hearsay. I originally accessed this site seeking some input from a female penpal or two, so get in touch with me if you would like to correspond. And I hope the above note will be helpful to at least one fellow “herpezoid”.

[StillLearningInPacNW]

Oooops,sorry. The line in my Comment that read:"For years I haven't been unwilling to risk..." should have read: "For years I have been unwilling to risk...". One can never proofread too many times. StillLearningInPacNW

[Yadira]

@stilllearninginpacnw I was diagnosed because I willingly asked for the blood test. I didn't have any symptoms so you can imagine my shock and surprise about testing positive. So believe me you CAN test positive even w/o symptoms. I look forward to hearing more about your experiences with living with H.

[StillLearningInPacNW]

Thanx for the input, Yadira. I'm under the impression that one can test positive for the presence of herpes ANTIBODIES (resulting from exposure to the virus) without having ever shown symptoms, but the presence of the herpes VIRUS can only be positively confirmed via testing during an outbreak. Was that distinction discussed when you were diagnosed? I'm not dead sure about this area. I could be way misinformed on this. What do you think?

[Yadira]

@stilllearninginpacnw

Well, this is exactly what my doctor said "there is no need to disclose at this time, this is simply clinical information and you have tested positive for Herpes 2 Antibodies." -I am assuming that I have HSV2 even though I've never had an actual outbreak. My doctor also would not give me meds because he said there is nothing to treat. I have recalled "symptoms" AFTER reading all about prodome. So I don't know if I made up these symptoms in my head because I am afraid or if I actually had them. Either way, I am going forward thinking I have it and will be careful & disclose it to potentional partners. Also the last 2 people I have been with went and got tested and they are both negative. It's so confusing! What do you think?

[WCSDancer2010]

StillLearningInPacNW

 

@StillLearningInPacNW

 

First - welcome to the Forum. I, like you, have had this for most of my life....and you are right - removing stress makes a HUGE impact on OB's.

 

Regarding testing:

 

There are 2 types of blood tests (ie, not swab culture) to diagnose for herpes.

 

1) PCR blood test: The PCR blood test can tell if you have genital herpes even if you don't have symptoms. The PCR test looks for pieces of the virus' DNA.

 

2) Type specific Igg Antibody tests like Western Blot ... they can reliably distinguish between herpes 1 and herpes 2 antibodies... for people who have had herpes for some time, IgG serum tests are pretty accurate (80-98% specificity). The problem that I have seen here with this one is in more recently exposed folks whose body is trying to fight it off and have not developed enough antibody to make an accurate result....possibly complicated if they are taking Valtrex. We have a Dr-in-training on here who can give a better explanation of the tests than I can but my point is there ARE tests that can confirm Herpes in absence of an OB. But these tests ARE used to diagnose people who are not having an OB.

 

And here's the factor that is still really messing with my life: the virus isn't just sexually-transmitted. It can be present in basically any bodily fluid, including saliva. So, even though the risk is low, it can still theoretically be transmitted by an innocent lip-to-lip kiss or by sharing a drinking glass or spoon with someone. For years I haven't been unwilling to risk sharing a glass of juice or a spoonful of dessert with my precious stepdaughter, for fear of passing on my very undesirable bug.

 

OK - so here is where I think you need some clarification.

 

There are 2 kinds of HSV -

 

Type 1 ("cold sores" - normally found orally ... present in up to 80% of the population...up to 60% of young adults have this one - but it CAN be transferred to the genitals with oral sex

 

and

 

Type 2 - The Gential version - present in up to 16% of people from 14-49 years (the numbers continue to go up with age group). Very rarely does this one end up in the mouth/oral area.

 

So if you only have the Genital version, then your stepdaughter is quite safe. It can't transfer to her because it is in you GENITALS, not your mouth and it doesn't travel around the body. Wherever you got your first exposure, that is where it will stay because it hides in the ganglia of the nerves but doesn't travel in the bloodstream.

 

If you have the Oral version on your mouth then yes, you have to be more careful. BUT, I got mine at age 3 (I hit the jackpot and have both - got HSV2 with my first sexual experience... GO ME! :p )...possibly from a doting Auntie but also quite possibly from a big sloppy kiss from another kid in playschool. And as I said, many, many kids already have it.

 

And regarding the Ocular Herpes and Encephalitis - yes it can happen but it's pretty darned rare and no cause for panic - just use regular sanitary precautions and you should be ok :)

 

You may want to read the handouts and ebook that Adrail has provided:

 

Handouts:

http://bit.ly/h-opp-diagnosis-handout

http://bit.ly/h-opp-disclosure-handout

 

Disclosure e-book:

http://eepurl.com/b4IPP

 

And yes, all our stats and info is evidence based :)

 

Peace :)