Very confused

[CarolTB]

1 year ago I had a suspicion of herpes outbreak had some blisters down there but after when I did the tests it never came out positive, even after more than 6 months. Once it came out undetermined to HSV 2 and negative to HSV1. 3 months after I redid the test and this time it came out undetermined to HSV1 and negative to HSV2. How can it be? My doctor assured now it wasnt herpes because I never felt pain, just some itchy and she says it could be anything else. I didnt have another outbreak since then so I believed her but I am worried and stressed because I have 2 blister there it could be ingrown hair since I shaved last week but I dont know its scary. I have a new partner now and I never told him about it because my doctor assured it wasnt herpes. What do you think?

[WCSDancer2010]

I would go get it swabbed ASAP - that is the most accurate way to diagnose ... definitely don't pop them until you get that done because they need the fluid to get a good sample. Make sure the Dr is an OBGYN not a PCP because they are way behind much of the time on their info.

 

If it still comes out undetermined, I suggest you get a Western Blot test .. I can get you the info on how to get it if you need it, but it's the Gold Standard of the Herpes tests...but it takes a bit to get it done.

 

It's always possible you are either having a Contact Dermatitis reaction or some kind of ingrown hair issue too... if you get the swab and it's negative, do the blood test again. *Some* people build up the antibodies very slowly....

 

(((HUGS)))

 

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-tests

 

Herpes facts video

[riverstyx]

@CarolTB

 

Definitely get the area swabbed. Like Dancer says, a swab or a DNA test by PCR (polymerase chain reaction) are the ideal methods of diagnosing this, because they look for the virus itself.

 

For the vast majority of people, a type-specific IGG antibody (blood) test for herpes will be positive by, at most, one year post-infection. I recently read a study by Dr. Anna Wald out of the University of Washington that shows that, in *extremely* rare cases, antibody-formation can take up to 18 months. But that is really so rare, that I wouldn't put too much stock in that as a genuine possibility here. The majority of people have antibodies by 12-16 weeks, and almost everybody else by 6 months. A few others sometimes take up to a year. Outside of Dr. Wald's study, I have never heard of it taking longer.

 

While it is true that in the majority of cases blisters in the genital region are due to sexually-transmitted infections, other conditions besides herpes can cause them as well. A doctor will correctly diagnose the cause of the blisters just by looking, only about 80% of the time, so there is a significant margin of error here.

 

I will note that most commercially available type-specific antibody tests look for one protein, and one only: gg-1 for HSV-1, and gg-2 for HSV-2. Generally speaking, gg-2 is a "late bloomer": it forms after most of the other proteins/antibodies have already formed and fallen into place. The Western Blot is far and away the best blood test for H out there, and even if it comes back, say, "indeterminate," the number of bands that show up on the test strip will tell you something about whether antibodies are in the process of forming or not. If it is several bands, then antibody-formation is taking place. If it is one, or at most two, then you can be confident this is not the case. The Western Blot is recommended not only because it looks for 14 HSV proteins, as opposed to other tests' 1, but because Western Blotting is an inherently more accurate diagnostic technique than any immunoassay method--which most commercially available tests use nowadays.

 

First, I would do a swab and see where that gets you. If, like Dancer says, it comes out "indeterminate," then I agree the Western Blot is the best way to go. I believe that, given a year or more has passed since your suspicion of a herpes outbreak, if the Western Blot comes back "negative," you are well and truly negative, and can put the matter to rest.

[CarolTB]

Well here they dont usually swab, they only do blood tests and my doctor says its not necessary to take any more tests. I think I will look for another doctor. I just thought that nightmare was gone eell the blisters I have now almost dont have liquid and are so much more smaller than my first possible outbreak. They dont look the same. Also no redness or swallow area.

[CarolTB]

Thanks for the answers girls

[WCSDancer2010]

Try planned parenthood or a std clinic then. ..

 

Is your Dr a PCP or OBGYN? If they are a PCP then get thee to a Gyn as they are FAR better informed about STDs than PCPs

[CarolTB]

OBGYN... I have seen others OBGYNs before and all the same.

[WCSDancer2010]

Where are you located? Swab tests ... if you have a full on OB, are FAR more reliable for accurate results :/

[CarolTB]

I am in Brazil

[riverstyx]

If you can find a doctor that will do the swab--any doctor--then that is the best way to go. But there is a limited window of opportunity here because often waiting even a couple of days will kill the virus in the blisters, giving a false-negative if it really was a herpes recurrence.

 

I thought about this, and I think the odds are greater than 99 to 1 that your blood test(s) were picking up "static" from other antibodies in your blood. Herpes antibodies don't just appear at one time (hence the undetermined first result) and then magically disappear later. The fact that this was the testing pattern suggests that something else in your blood set off the test the first time.

 

But I agree that *getting swabbed* *as soon as possible* is the way to go here. If for some strange reason that is not a possibility, then a blood test that is negative at 1 (one) year post-exposure is most definitively evidence of a true negative. When I spoke to the University of Washington in August, they told me they had never heard of a case of antibody-formation taking longer than that. It does not happen. There are no reports of it in any clinical studies, nor in the medical literature.

[WCSDancer2010]

Ah - Brazil - well that's a nuisance as you won't be able to get the Western Blot there ... ugh.

 

Sounds like you are stuck and may have to wait a few months and try the blood test again ... but keep calling around and see if you can get a cooperative Dr to do a swab if you have another OB :(

[CarolTB]

Well right now I have nothing if it was an outbreak, it's gone, my doctor keep saying it wasn't one. But people, thank you for your answers.