HSV 1 Infection HSV 2 Seropositive

I've been tested yearly for everything including herpes. I've been with the same man for years. I took the IgG test and I've had a retake the results came in today. I've never had a mild symptom pimples or nothing. But at this point I've got to learn how to live with this and move forward. He knows because he's the first person I looked at.

Yeah, what I am learning about this is it is a weird virus. I too had been tested each year, and always my tests were negative. In fact my last BF was my last partner and that was over 5 years ago. I always was in long term monogamous relationships (less than on one hand by my mid-30s). I made the mistake of getting intimate (no sex) with the wrong person I guess and I ended up getting HSV2. I think it is the stigma of this virus that is actually worse than the virus itself.

Like FelisCatus has suggested, I would ask for a copy of my results and would go over them with the doctor.

Another possibility is that the man that you are with is a carrier and you contracted it from him. You could have been with him 10 years and never have caught it (it is something like a 4% chance annually of catching it with a partner who has it) , but you happened to be sexually intimate with him at a time when he was asymptomatically shedding. Just because you have been with him for a long time and just now catching it does not indicate infidelity, rather it just indicates that you had sex during a session in which he was asymptomatically shedding (as apparently must have been what happened to me. I engaged in fooling around with a guy who says he doesn't know he has it and he was asymptomatically shedding. He too needs to get tested. Sucks, but like you, I am now learning how I must live with it.

meaning your partner needs to get tested, as he may be a carrier if you have been tested every year and just now have contracted it.

He claims he has been tested and his results were negative. I asked to see the test and have yet to see it. However he's still trying to be with me which draws a red flag for me. I have done everything I'm suppose to do and would never jeopardize another. I posted my story in another discussion you should read it.

My results are on my chart there were no values or index available. I ask for them she told me the test didn't show them. My testing was done with Mayo clinic in Jacksonville Florida. Should I try to contact.

You can try. Some places don't divulge the exact number, only something like >5, but they should still have an index value if you were tested by HerpeSelect, for example.

I remember your case, by the way. It was the one that made me mad at your partner, lol. Is he still refusing to do the proper test? It's true that he could be a long-time carrier and you only got it now, but I also recall you saying he recently cheated, passed on trich, did a useless test as proof he's HSV negative and won't co-operate any further, which are all big red flags...

Yes that's me! I asked for the test and never received. However he's still trying to be with me and claiming he's not positive. That's definitely a red flag for me!

Why don't you tell him that for you to even toy with the idea of being with him again (even if you have no intention to!), he needs to do the IgG test first and show you his results.

I've said everything you could imagine. We are no longer together and we are not in the same home any longer. The fact that he tried to have sex with me let's me know his test was positive or that he OK with catching it.

Oddity's suggestion is good. If the lab won't tell you your index values, you can test elsewhere, even online, and get your index values that way (but maybe check first that they will give you that info). If you recently tested at the same place as previously and were always negative by the same tests until now, then that would seem to indicate that something has changed. I would still want to know my index values, though. Were you previously negative or positive for Type 1?

Yes I negative from my knowledge....I

I do want to know index values....would that help me to know how long I've had it? Do you think I'm a carrier?

Unfortunately, the window period for determining that is rather short, so probably not in your case. Helps to also have a suspected first outbreak at the time, too, then the person can be swab and blood tested simultaneously to find out, instead of having to go back for another blood test months later.

Everyone who has herpes is a carrier and infectious. However, having said that, if your IgG index value for Type 2 is a low positive, especially if you have existing Type 1, that should be followed up and reconfirmed.

I just had another test done last Wednesday and got the result on Monday it still says i'm positive. So really I thought it must be accurate.

The test for Type 2 is largely accurate, but low positives that remain low after several months are worth confirming by the University of Washington western blot (The Test for herpes, but expensive and needs to be specially ordered, as it's mostly for research purposes), as some such cases were actually found to be negative. That's why it's useful to know your index values.

I definitely agree it is good to know your index values, but if you have had two or three tests (I am not sure if it is two or three as making sense from this thread) and they all come back positive for HSV 2,the chances are probably good that you have it even if you have never had any symptoms (as something like 85-90% who have it never have symptoms, hence they are not aware that they have it, as HSV1 and 2 tests aren't common in regular testing/pap smears, most of the time you have to specifically ask for them).

My understanding is also, that as a carrier (if you recently tested positive, you are now are a carrier and are contagious, even if you don't ever have an OB) you could also have an OB any time, even years later. This is why when you engage in future relationships it is information that has to be divulged, at least so that person has time to make an informed decision on relationship progression. And being a carrier, you are contagious, even if you don't have an OB, as you could still be asymptomatically shedding at anytime. There are some statistics that show the difference in shedding between symptomatic and asymptomatic carriers, and if you break it down to days of the year, it is something like asymptomatic carriers shed randomly 30-40 days of the year and symptomatic carriers shed randomly something like 60-80 days of the year.

I think many of us on here weren't given that choice (you included, I read your story and it absolutely sucks. There is no excuse for his actions--or maybe I should say lack of actions. I think on my own story, and how the guy just felt off so I refused sleeping with him, but we had already had done some fooling around for a very brief period before I stopped and pushed him off. The guy has been very blase, saying he doesn't have symptoms doesn't see the need to get tested even though he said has never been tested for anything, which angers me because he is out there infecting other women, but also shows a complete disregard for his own sexual health. Sounds like your ex is the same in that regard (not caring that he is spreading a lifelong virus--that can be very painful for some, but incredibly stigmatizing for most).

The hardest thing about this virus is the stigma and knowing you have it and are a carrier. I have known (tested positive) for about three weeks now and the last three weeks have been a whirlwind of emotions, mostly what I fear most is having to have the talk in the beginning stages of a new relationship, and coming up against rejection because I now have this communicable virus. Some days I feel depressed when I think about it, and other days I feel hopeful. I do know though, that at least that means a lot more openness has to come out in the beginning of a relationship. And it is common, so chances of a future partner having it as well are not incredibly low (them knowing they have it is another issue, which is why in that beginning stage before sexually activity it would be good to do testing together if that is a relationship that is to progress--again, this definitely changes the way we have to (or maybe I should say "should") approach relationships now.

 

h79

I appreciate your reply. I feel for sure I am positive for this virus however I would like to know my index values. I would never in a million years sleep with another person without telling them. Not my character......as of now a new relationship is not what I am looking for. Casual sex.....not my thing. I just want to get comfortable with who I am and living with this virus. I am aware that herpes testing is not included in the panel of STDs or STIs. I am a medical student and have written many papers on herpes and HIV. So I always ask for it.....As of right now I have not had an OB and truly at this point I don't know how long I have had it. My next yearly appointment is not due until June 2016. So I pray that I don't have that encounter. I'm going to face my issue head on stay positive because it could have been HIV and it's not. My doctor told me as I was in tears that my life isn't over this infection is not a life threatening issue. She finished that sentence with she had a patient who would have switched places with me and lived life and would have been happy! That patient was 22 years old and she is 6ft under ground. So I refused to be worried about rejection because clearly that's not the person for me. Thank you again for your post I appreciate it.

Same here on the 'have never had and never will engage in casual sex'. Have only ever had a handful of monogamous relationships except the one fooling around session with a guy who I had gone on a handful of dates with and that was a lesson to learn. 

Even today I have done a lot more soul searching and realized that it is not the end of the world and that it is nothing more than a skin disorder really that can be contagious every once in a while (like any other herpes infection, chicken pox, shingles, etc) and that it could be worse (and in that case I am glad I didn't have sex with this person because who knows what else possibly could have contracted).

Like you, I will be above board and honest when entering relationships (and honestly I haven't had a relationship in 5 years because was too busy finishing my doctorate to pursue one, and at this point don't want to think about one either). However, I never want to pass this on to anyone, particularly with someone I care for, but deep down I know that the right person won't care about this and it will be fine:-)

Doesn't matter how many tests a person's had done that come back positive for Type 2. If they're all only just over the positive threshold (e.g., 1 something), and especially if the person also has Type 1, there's a chance that it's false. IgG scores over 3.5 are in nearly all cases true positives. The closer one's positive score is to the equivocal range, however, the greater the chance that it may not be. A number of people in the low positive range without symptoms who are aware of this choose to further test by western blot for this reason.

h79

I wasn't implying anything towards you. I apologize if it came off in that matter. The casual sex thing was made in reference to how people are today. Sex seems to be the only thing on people's mind. Not a relationship....

I'm also pleased how you pointed out the skin conditions all related to herpes. Most people would never look at it that way. I believe if people would look at it that way there would be a sigh of relief. Thank you because you just gave me another outlook on herpes😃

Except that HSV (and presumably all other herpes family viruses) is actually a nerve condition that can manifest itself in the skin (and nerves), so it's not a true skin condition, nor does it behave like one at all. Not a fan of the "it's just a skin condition" viewpoint, but that doesn't mean herpes can't still be seen through more rational eyes.

FelisCatus

I understand your viewpoint of not being a fan of "its just a skin condition" however that's how doctors bring it across when they do not think its that serious. All those that she listed does affect the skin and hurt and itches like crazy as well as they are contagious. I haven't had a outbreak so truly I don't know how it feels. So maybe I'm being a little premature to look at herpes as the same as chicken pox or shingles.

Oh, they are related, but chickenpox is also nerve-based, hence why shingles (chickenpox virus when it recurs) can cause pretty bad post-herpetic neuralgia (residual nerve pain) in some people. Lol, gHSV-2 is kinda like frequent mild chickenpox/shingles of the genitals for those with symptoms ("frequent" compared to VZV, at least).

Anyway, bottom line is that no actual skin condition I can think of is both life-long *and* infectious (even when skin issues are absent). Usually they're one or the other, not both like the case with herpes, hence my issue with the (incorrect) oversimplification that it's "just a skin condition", whether made by doctors or not.

Well it is what it is......