My False Positive Genital Herpes Story
Posted , 4 users are following.
It all started when i went to get checked for my annual physical. To start off, i have only given oral sex and never received oral sex. I had never even had genital to genital contact with anyone. My doctor asked me if i wanted a full STD screening and I agreed. I already knew I did not have anything but a little confirmatory test wouldn't hurt. They took my blood and sent it off to the lab. Everything came back normal except for one test, my herpes test. I came back positive for both HSV1 and HSV2. I already had an idea that I was HSV1 positive because when I was around 6 years old, I would get fever cold sores. However, this was the first and last time I had ever gotten a cold sore. I was not necessarily shocked about this diagnosis as I had had symptoms before but what truly shocked me was that I was HSV2 positive. For my HSV1 the antibody result came to a 44.00 and for HSV2 the result was 1.24 . This is 1.24 is just borderline of a positive and equivocal result. However, I was still shocked. I had never had any symptoms of any STD, BV, and I also had never had a yeast infection. I had never even been itchy in my genital area ever before, so learning that I had HSV2 really took a toll on my mental health
I went through a period of major depression. I was so digusted with myself that I did not take a shower for a week. Every time I would cry after my diagnosis, I would get very itchy all of a sudden. What I thought was my HSV2 symptoms turned out to be something very different. I was very angry with not only myself but with my parents. My parents are very conservative and never had conversations about sex. My mother is a physician and it hurt that she could not understand the importance of having the sex talk with her children I was not even aware that one could contract herpes through oral sex. I did not even know what BV, trich, and all those STDs were. I also attended a catholic school that advocated for no contraception's so that did not make anything any better. I strongly believed that if my I had one great friend who was very supportive of me along my journey and after everything was all said and done, I vowed not to have sex until I found someone to accept me for who I am. But I believed I would never find love. I have never had a boyfriend or any significant other, so with the diagnosis, I believed I would be incapable of being loved. I lost about 10 pounds and cried everyday for a month. After, I was slowly getting out of my depression, I began researching about HSV2 and how to keep others safe and learned the importance of disclosure. A few weeks after my diagnosis, I started to get papercut like fissures, itching, and VERY watery discharge. I went to gynecologist and got diagnosed with a yeast infection. This made me skeptical because the reoccurring itching i felt when I cried turned out to be a yeast infection when I had believed it was the HSV2 symptoms.
After a few months of learning how to love myself with this new diagnosis, i had learned about the Western Blot Test administered by the University of Washington. I read their case study about all the false positive tests that had occurred. They mentioned that individuals who scored a 1.3 or less had a 90% chance of a false positive. I had scored 1.24 so this gave me a lot of hope. I finally decided to get the test. The test itself was around $230 but I had to pay for someone the draw my blood and overnight shipping from Washington Dc to Seattle. I ended up spending around $450 but to me there was not a price you put on my peace. I believed this test would put me at peace as it would give me the real results. I ship my specimen and waited about 2 weeks. I got my result and came back negative for HSV2 and positive for HSV1 (which I had already knew). I had read somewhere that having a high HSV1 count can counteract with HSV2 and make it show up as positive which I believe was my case scenario.
Ever since my false positive result, I don't plan on changing my viewpoint. I still plan to wait until marriage to have sex. I believe this will be better for me by weeding out the individuals who don't really love me for me. I know have a new understanding and knowledge about STDs which I believe I would not have gained without this false positive result. I believe it is very important for those to understand the prevalence of false positive herpes tests and how common they can misdiagnose you. If I had tested positive for HSV2, I would still be as happy as I am today. This community really helped me get through some dark times in my life and honestly made me realize herpes is not a big deal as long as you take the right repercussions.
2 likes, 4 replies
kj53186 lola56800
Posted
hi can you tell me the steps you took to get the western blot done. i also tested with a low positive amount for hsv2 and would like be 100% sure
lola56800 kj53186
Posted
I ordered my test directly from the University of Washington Medical School. I called to inquiry information on how i could get more info and they gave me the information and I received the kit in a matter of 3 days and got my results in a matter of 2 weeks after I had sent the kit back. Although it is costly, it definitely eased my mind. I saw your post and you numbers look similar to mine, your most likely in the same boat as me.
claris45630 lola56800
Posted
Hi, thank u for the info! I went to email UW however, they replied me with this:
We cannot send a kit overseas, however, you can take the attached packet to your physician have them fill out the paperwork, collect your blood sample, and send it to us via FedEx.
The sample needs to be overnighted to us. Once we receive the sample at UW, it takes 2-3 weeks for results to be sent to the ordering provider. The cost of the test is $253.31, though we send the kit out free of charge, you can include a check or money order when you send the sample in or wait a week and call our billing department to pay over the phone with a credit card.
and they advised me to check with Terri Warren at Westover Heights Clinic.
Hmm how do I go about this
ryan64668 lola56800
Edited
Ugh, so happy for you. Sounds like my little mental break down in my early 20's. I was cheated on multiple times and like any young, dumb, and in love boy does, I stuck around. When my dad knocked some sense into me i went and got tested. All clear except hsv 2 was a 1.03. My heart was in my throat so i waited 6 weeks then went to the hospital and asked to be checked and they tried talking me out of it cause even with insurance it was still costly. But they did igm and igg and both came back neg.