Praying for a false positive herpes test result!!

[BTShaw]

So some anonymous person sends me a test and states that I had sex with them while they unknowingly had an outbreak. The last time of our encounter was mid to late January. I went in to my doctors office and asked for a STD test and a herpes test this past Monday. My doctor called me Wednesday evening, and said the test was positive of hsv2, negative for hsv1, and negative for hiv. This has completely shattered my mind. I have not had any symptoms of herpes. So I have researched and read a ton of articles since Wednesday. I' am waiting to receive a hard copy of my results from LabCorp to determine what my actual numbers are and to determine which test they used.

 

My first question is, if a test tests for the presence of antibodies does it mean that the actual virus is in abundance and living well inside of me.? And if the antibodies are there, aren't they attacking and getting rid of the virus?

 

Are there any tests that actually detects the presence of the virus itself?

[WCSDancer2010]

@BTShaw

 

Hello and Welcome!

 

Well, be thankful the person sent you the info, even if it was anonymously. Better to find out through a blood test than someone telling you that you gave it to them... at least this way you can do things to protect future partners if you actually are H+

 

Generally if your numbers are between 1.1 and 3.5 with no symptoms, you have a 40% chance of having a false positive. In which case we recommend that you do a test called the Western Blot. It still looks for the antibodies but it's the gold Standard of herpes testing because if looks for 14 proteins where most tests look for one or two. No there's no test that looks for the virus in the blood because it doesn't travel there - it lives in the nerves, so the only way to do a viral culture is through a swab of an active lesion.

 

Whatever the actual result, you will be fine. I've had this for over 35 yrs and its generally just been a speed bump at times in my life. Yes, disclosure can suck but it can also help you to become stronger and wiser in your dating/relationships ... even the casual ones ... and that's really a GOOD thing 🙂

 

(((HUGS)))

 

http://herpeslife.com/herpes-tests

 

http://depts.washington.edu/herpes/faq.php#faqCat-3 Westover Heights Clinic, http://westoverheights.com/ (503) 226-6678

 

Handouts + disclosure e-book:

https://www.herpesopportunity.com/lp/ebook

 

Herpes facts video

 

[BTShaw]

Thank you so much @WCSDancer2010

 

My doctor actually called a few minutes before your post. He told me that the normal range for hsv2 is 0-0.90 and that I tested at 4.53. The name of the test is "Herpes Simplex Virus 1 and 2 Lgg antibody" from LabCorp, test code 138787. From my readings on here, anything over 3.5 is very much conclusive.

[WCSDancer2010]

Yup - 4.53 is pretty conclusive. He's right about the "normal" range for that test ...

 

So - at least you know. Now to get educated. I suggest you read as much as you can on here, especially the Success stories so you can see that H doesn't have to keep you from finding love or having a fulfilled and rich life... the secret is to realize that the stigma is a made-up thing in people minds, thanks to Big Pharma convincing us in the 80's that Herpes was a terrible virus so we would buy their drugs (which is sad, because with a better run campaign people could have felt ok about having H AND bought their drugs :/