Shaken with an equivocal herpes test result

[Rapture]

Hi everyone,

First of all thank god such a community exists.

I did a recent and my lifes first std check and hsv1 came back with equivocal result.

It is a 1.09h for the "hsv1 igg type specific ab"

I got flue 17days after my last exposure.

No temperature but body pain and headache,no itching,no rashes,no cold sores.

Nothibg which indicates towards herpes or any std.

Did the test 28days after the last exposure.

What are my chances of this being a false result?

Can any pain killers cause this elevation of immune?

Should i retest after 2months more since its close to a month now?

Worried since 1.09h is on the higher side of equivocal.

Thanks

[PositivelyBeautiful]

Hey, and welcome! Anything below 1.1 is considered negative.. but you are close to the false positive zone (1.1-3.5). 40% chance of a false positive in that range. Body and head aches don't necessarily indicate herpes. Your immune system could have been fighting anything, and pain killers should not affect your results. To be as sure as possible, you would normally need to wait 4 months post exposure. If you decide to test in a month and your antibodies are higher, this could indicate a recent infection. If your results stay the same, you might want to get the Western Blot test, which is the gold standard of herpes tests. It tests for 14 different proteins in the strains as opposed to 1 or 2. That will give you a more solid yes or no, over Igg. For now, don't assume anything, but take precautions. Just treat others as you would want to be treated, that might be telling someone that you are physically involved with that you are unsure of your status at this point in time. Another thing to note... since you don't have 'visible' symptoms, and you are not completely sure at this point, it could be HSV1 oral or genital. Did the person you were with indicate that they had either? Just keep that in mind. If you have any more questions, or need to vent for any reason, we are all here to help.

[WCSDancer2010]

@PositivelyBeautiful hit the nail on the head regarding the results... and to reiterate, if you don't know for sure that you were exposed, *if* you have HSV1 odds are very good that you have had it orally since childhood ... 60% of kids have oral HSV1 by the time they are young adults.

 

I would re-test in 2-3 months. If it comes out positive and you never had symptoms, I would suggest you try the Western Blot test. None of them will tell you *where* you have it but if it's HSV1 genitally,, the rate of transmission for H1 there is very, VERY low .. if you have it orally you just want to be careful with oral sex to not give oral to anyone who is immune compromised or has knicks/etc from shaving...or if you have *any* sores on your mouth.

 

Either way, right now it sounds like you are fine - but a re-test should give you a better idea and you can go from there :)

 

(((HUGS)))

 

http://herpeslife.com/hsv-1-hsv-2-types-of-herpes/

http://herpeslife.com/genital-hsv-1-herpes-and-oral-sex/

 

 

Handouts + disclosure e-book:

http://eepurl.com/b4IPP

 

Herpes facts video

 

[Rapture]

Thank you so much to both of you for the valuable answers.

I asked the petson i was with and she said she never had any hsv1 or 2.

I will wait for 1more month and do a retest .keep you all posted.

Thanks good people

 

[WCSDancer2010]

Uh - how does she KNOW she hasn't had HSV1 or 2? Because if she never specifically ASKED for the test, odds are she's not been tested. And given that 80% of people with herpes don't know they have it. So while I stand by what we already said, you may want to inform your friend of the facts about testing and asymptomatic carriers ;)

[Rapture]

Agree , will do. Thanks again

[Rapture]

Its been 6weeks since my last exposure.

Last week i noticed a slightly reddish rash(little raised area )on the mid section of my middle finger.

no itching or pain and feels watery inside.

Yesterday it looked very reddish but today it looks very pale red.

Noticed same thing on my other hand ring finger and on pinky.

Is this herpetic whiplow?

Can i get a herpetic whiplow in the 6th week?

I heard whiplow is painful,but mine dosent pain or itch.

Or is that because this is very initial stages and i noticed it very early?

I inspect each inch of my body everyday since equivocal result day and this is the only thing i found so far. No fever ,headache and no symptoms of a primary outbreak.

 

 

[WCSDancer2010]

Doubt its HW... it usually gets in near the cuticle and is quite painful.

 

Stop checking yourself from head to toe looking for something to be wrong. Believe me, 99% of people get it in one place or the other (mouth or genitals) and that's it. The reason we have a higher percentage of the "oddities" here is that people can't find information so we get a much higher incidence of the folks whose experience isn't quite "normal".... I had nothing to go on when I got Herpes (back in the late 70's) and I likely did everything "wrong" as far as having my hands in contact with the sores, sharing towels, kissing my kids (I also have H1 orally since childhood) and all that ... and I never spread it anywhere else on me :)

 

You probably just have really dry skin thanks to the weather :/

[Rapture]

Doubt its HW... it usually gets in near the cuticle and is quite painful.

 

Stop checking yourself from head to toe looking for something to be wrong. Believe me, 99% of people get it in one place or the other (mouth or genitals) and that's it. The reason we have a higher percentage of the "oddities" here is that people can't find information so we get a much higher incidence of the folks whose experience isn't quite "normal".... I had nothing to go on when I got Herpes (back in the late 70's) and I likely did everything "wrong" as far as having my hands in contact with the sores, sharing towels, kissing my kids (I also have H1 orally since childhood) and all that ... and I never spread it anywhere else on me :)

 

You probably just have really dry skin thanks to the weather :/

 

Thank you so much.

Update on the redness in fingers- the middle finger is slightly red today and skin kind of looks little rough and i can feel like some padding inside (watery slightly) there are 2,3 small pinch type red dots if i look very close.

The pinky and small finger is just slightly reddish and looks like how ur fingers look like when they get beaten,redish and little swollen.

No fever or no discomfort or anything.

Wish i could upload some pics here.

I am going for a blood test today.will keep you all posted good people.

 

 

[WCSDancer2010]

If the area is weeping, get it swabbed. A blood test won't tell you WHERE you have it ... only a swab will give you a definite answer about whether that is HW or not :)

[Rapture]

This morning almost everything have disappered

There is a slight reddish tone to the skin,but thats it

The watery feeling has gone and feels like other normal fingers.

I dont think this can be whitlow :)

[WCSDancer2010]

Yup - probably just an angry cuticle or whatever :)

[Rapture]

Yup - probably just an angry cuticle or whatever :)

Thank you :)

 

[Rapture]

I got 5 bumps on thw front side of the tongue,its wayback inside almost end of tongue.

There are also some small pimples one side of the tongue.

The bumps sort of look like round shaped ,projected and white color on the top.

Have little difficulty in swolling solid food,not much discomfort.

Can this be related to hsv-1?

[WCSDancer2010]

Nope ... sometimes something just irritate the papillae on the tongue and they swell up .. if I eat too much sour candy or pineapple I sometimes get them ....

 

HSV1 very very rarely affects the inside of the mouth.... there are TONS of things that can irritate the inside of the mouth that have nothing to do with Herpes ... ;)

[Rapture]

Wcsdancer2010 - you have no idea how much your words makes me feel better everytime.

Thanks again for being here for all of us,

[Rapture]

I got the hsv1/2 igg test results and its showing 1.37 for hsv1 ,before a month it was 1.09h.

My last exposure was in dec 24th. Does yhis mean the antobodies are buildg up?

Can this be false positives?

[PositivelyBeautiful]

Hi Rapture, this could suggest your antibody levels are building, yes. You do still fall into the 40% false positive zone, but a second test with higher values might indicate building antibodies. It can take up to 4 months for the antibodies to fully develop... I would suggest waiting until 4 months post exposure to do another one to know for sure.

[WCSDancer2010]

Yep - too early to have a definite result my friend ... so hate to say it but you will need some patience grasshopper... and retest at the 4 month point