How likely is it that I got herpes from my most recent partner?

Posted , 6 users are following.

I looked around on the internet and all the answers I found seemed rather vague to me. Only days after being with my latest partner I have what I believe to be my first outbreak. At first I thought it was vaginal tearing from rough intercourse but its only seemed to have gotten worse in the last 4 days. I have an appointment with the doctor tomorrow but I want to be as prepared as possible to having the "talk" if the results are positive. From what I've read and know about having the chicken pox the virus can stay dormant in your spine and some people never have symptoms but if you do have symptoms does that mean you got it from your last partner or could it be possible that I received it from a previous partner?

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  • Posted

    Here's the update from the doctor who was urgent care so I don't feel like he wanted to take the time to consult with me. I got a pcr but he wouldn't perform the igg because he said it will only show if the virus has been active for the last few months. I'm not sure if he understood what I was asking but if its as he says there is another person I have in mind since I have intercourse about once every month with a different partner. Regardless from everything I've read and what you guys said it could be this recent guy. The doc had a look at my sore and he said that he couldn't tell me until the blood work comes back because I had no blisters but I assume that's because of the friction of running to the bus yesterday in my tight work jeans. He gave me Acyclovir anyhow and told me to take it and to stop taking it if my results come back negative. I'm almost positive I have it because I didn't get a wink of sleep due to the chills. The pain was only bad today after urinating though. I'm going to take a nap now and think again about how I'm going to approach all this. I may also go to Planned Parenthood (a family planning/women's health clinic in the US) to get another view on it. I really don't like that he's giving me too much optimism. I would rather he tell me its likely and the results come back negative than he tell me it could be something else and I be right about my diagnosis.
    • Posted

      I understand where your coming from ...

      But one partner once a month every month ? You're very lucky you have contracted anything else . I never had blisters either . Never . I just had little bumps that Looked like a chemical burn the last thing I suspected was that I was had herpes

      If you do have it don't get so discourage because life goes on. I mean . I still feel so so down I didn't deserve this, if the person would've been honest with me that they had herpes things would've been different

      I know your very anxious and its eating you up inside that's how it was with me & the craziest thing about it is she wasn't even going to Test me for herpes until I told her to ...

      Life goes on love . Always remember that .

      If you don't have it consider this a serious life learned lesson

      Still keep me updated with the news !

    • Posted

      I am very lucky, also lucky I haven't gotten pregnant. But a lot of them were good friends I've known for years. Only a few of them I questioned whether it was a great idea to go unprotected. Like the famous Australian band frontman.. yeah probably not a great idea! I was just talking about this to my friend but after my ex of 7 years I stopped being as responsible about it. Maybe in our 30s we just care less and think everyone has everything figured out.

      It kinda does look like a nair chemical burn when its on your membrane they don't really scab over.

      I'm trying to stay positive. Yeah I don't deserve this but I also don't think anyone does for that matter. It just happens, no rhyme or reason. I'm not mad though. I don't really think the partner that gave it to me is aware of it, and even if he is, not to say i condone it I can understand wanting to pretend. I'm just not looking forward to hear his reaction since I don't know him that well. If he doesn't have symptoms he just might never get tested and move on spreading it to other women. Also he's somewhat known locally so i'm sure he'd flip out if it came to his repuation. But I want to be a good person about it. Its going to suck like hell but I would only hope for the same.

    • Posted

      You say bloodwork, but no IgG, so what did he test for by blood? IgM is worthless, so I hope he didn't test for that. And he is stupid, sorry. If I want to know if I have a new or dormant infection, it's in my right to insist on the IgG test. That's the only way you can tell. Positive swab, negative IgG. Your IgG could potentially go positive in a couple to few weeks, so the window is small to establish your true HSV status at the time of infection.
    • Posted

      Better use protection consistently, especially with so many different new partners, both for your sake and theirs, especially now with the high-risk HPV and possible HSV!

      Fyi, the biggest risk factor for cervical cancer is high-risk HPV, but those who *also* have HSV-2 are at additional risk of developing cervical cancer than those without HSV-2 on top. HSV-2 also increases the risk of acquiring HIV by 2-4 times, if exposed, even *without* lesions at the time. HSV-1 has no known bearing in either of these scenarios, but all herpes lesions (and some can be tiny or hidden internally) are possible easy entry points for STDs, other infections, etc. Also, it's worth noting that HSV-1 does not protect against HSV-2. Dual same-site infections are possible.

      So, knowing your HSV status and type is important, as is getting a guy to wrap up, if you are not in a proper relationship. I don't mean to alarm you or to sound preachy, but it's important that you be aware of the above risks, given what you've so far let on about your partner history. Totally cool to play the field, btw, just play safe!

    • Posted

      He was dumb. He just kept refusing. I just feel like he didn't want to do it. Again I think I'll go to Planned Parenthood to see if they're do it. But I'm wondering if by the time I get in it will be healed I'm gonna have to call around.
    • Posted

      I'm definitely going to tell everyone I am romantic with. So my days of playing the field are over. I didn't know that about the cervical cancer. Makes me really want TJ go to Planned Parenthood. They'd know better.
    • Posted

      IgG doesn't require lesions, and at least he agreed to do a pcr swab, so you should know for sure what you have going on right now. But IgG can help determine whether you already had it or whether it's very recent, assuming that's what it is.
    • Posted

      Thanks so much. I appreciate the material. This is really helping me keep my head above water. Again I'm just so surprised about how little education is done about two stds that are so common and its not regularly tested. I really hope someday in the future I will have to courage to be an activist about sexual education.
    • Posted

      Happy to help! smile For me, the best way to cope was by understanding everything possible, so I read up and researched loads, then thought I may as well as consolidate and share what I learnt. I've even created my own website, lol.
    • Posted

      I visited my pcp yesterday to get a doctor's note and he had a look at my ulcers and decided to run more std test. He did conclude that they are ulcers but of course the test is required to know if its herpes. I got a call about the PCR test I took on Saturday and it came back negative so I'm just curious how accurate it is if I do have an infection. I'm not able to see my doctor until Thursday for a follow-up so I called the nurse helpline and she said I needed to talk to my doctor but did find it strange I was having the flu like symptoms on top of the lesions. I'm scheduled for the igg test on Friday at Planned Parenthood.
    • Posted

      I'd be curious to know how this pans out for you. I was visually diagnosed with herpes in late September / early October with the PCR coming back negative. I did an immediate igg and it did come back positive for hsv1. I have always suffered from oral colds ores so this was expected.

      My partner of 8 years have no herpes infection. I'm living under so much stress worrying if I have this or not or if it was something else.

    • Posted

      PCR is very sensitive and accurate, assuming that's what they did and they swabbed the lesions. It's the gold standard in hsv swab tests. I would take that to be a true negative. You can do the IgG again in 3-4 months for certainty.
    • Posted

      Yes, as you said regardless of whether I have herpes or not I still want to know why I have ulcers and chills since I'm currently being treated for herpes. It's frustrating that I have to keep going back for more tests when they could have done then before but didn't and I have to go to multiple locations just to get my requests. Whether it's herpes or not shouldn't have a swap been done? Is exhausting and it's not improving much.
    • Posted

      He did not swab he just offered the blood test which I heard isn't as accurate as a swab especially since I do have lesions. I also haven't had the igg yet. I'm going to talk to Planned Parenthood about making sure they do that on Friday. I read about the Western Blot Test University of Washington does and I'm really kicking myself I didn't choose them as my pcp yesterday. Planned Parenthood does it but they said it might take a little longer. I need to follow up with the other one until i make the changes to my insurance.
    • Posted

      You said your doc did a pcr, which is a swab test, so now I'm confused. If he didn't do a swab of any kind, then that's even more crazy! Get PP to do a pcr swab, not viral culture (lesions too old now), and IgG blood test, not IgM. Western blot not necessary at this stage.

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