Newly diagnosed. Questions about transmission.
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I'm a gay male who was diagnosed last week with herpes. It started with a small pain over two days and then turned into lesions and significant pain. I was given acyclovir for 10 days and today is day 4. The pain has almost subsided completely. The lesions are still visible but are flush with skin and not so bumpy. I've done an extensive amount of reading the last few days and though the first 2 days were very emotional for me, I've come to terms that nothing I can do now will change it, so I need to deal with it. An article that mentioned that diabetes and asthma are not as common as herpes is really helped hit the nail on the wall. I plan on meeting with my primary doctor after I finish this first outbreak to talk about starting valacyclovir for suppressive therapy. I've been in a long term relationship with my boyfriend for over a year and unfortunately we have both had sex outside the relationship (yes we knew and yes condoms were used). I was and am really worried about him leaving me because of me having this. Although he says he's here for me and isn't going anywhere.
My question is about transmission. Here's the timeline to help with my question. On Thursday my boyfriend and I had unprotected sex (I was the receptive anal partner). When he went to perform oral on me in my anal region, he complained of a smell. Which I thought was strange because I had literally just showered. (I now know the odor is common with herpes) We proceeded to have unprotected anal rough sex on Friday and Saturday. Sunday I began to feel pain as if I was too rough with toilet paper. Then Monday the pain got worse and Tuesday the flu like symptoms began. The lesions appeared on Thursday (before Xmas) at which point the doctor diagnosed me and provided medicine. We are now on Tuesday and like I said it feels as if my outbreak is ending
The exposure in which I think I contracted herpes was one week prior to the Thursday that my bf and I had sex. How soon after I was infected could I be capable of transmitting the disease ? Am I able to transmit it before I have symptoms or did the symptoms need to be present ? My boyfriend and I must have had sex 4 times unprotected after my initial exposure and I'm worried I may have unknowingly infected him. He has yet to show any symptoms what so ever. He was planning on going to get tested next week. But from what I read herpes can be asymptomatic for people and it can take up to a month before it'll show up in a blood test. Also I know that herpes is a skin to skin contact transmission unlike other stds which are body fluids. Which is why I ask if I had no symptoms when we had sex. Could I have transmitted it to him? Does the viral shedding occur only on the skin surface? Or could it have been in my rectum or in my body fluids?
Thank you for your help.
0 likes, 7 replies
jeff106
Posted
justsolucky524 jeff106
Posted
Sorry to hear you're going through this but I'm glad you're learning to deal with it. As far as your testing it sounds like you may have been swabbed, correct? It may be helpful to get a blood test (igg not igm). Condoms decrease but do not totally eliminate transmission so here's the thing. You were intimate outside of your relationship just a short period before you were with your bf, the condom may have helped there and do you know that persons hsv status? You were then with your bf unprotected (much higher risk) and shortly thereafter developed symptoms ( symptoms can appear 2 days to 2 weeks post exposure) did you know your bf's status prior to you being intimate with him? By now I'm sure you may know it could've been your bf (asymptomatic). You are contagious once the virus has been transmitted even if you are not yet experiencing or displaying symptoms.
jeff106 justsolucky524
Posted
Hi justsolucky. Thank you for your response. Yes we have discussed that it is possible my bf infected me. In fact he is worried and feels bad that he did infect me. But we both honestly told each other we used condoms outside the relationship. I just considered it a less likely situation since I had begun to get that odor in my anus region prior to having sex with him recently. I also think it's highly likely he is asymptomatic because I believe my bf has a super strong immune system. He eats very healthy, exercises regularly, and takes a bunch of vitamins.
To answer your question about swab test or blood - On the Tuesday when I got the flu like symptoms prior to the lesions I went to urgent care because I thought it was a hemorrhoid or gonherra. The doctor did take a swab test. But he said everything looked normal. So said it was most likely a hemorrhoid but treated me for gonherrea to be safe. So without their being lesions, will that swab test bring anything back about herpes?
The Thursday that I developed lesions, I went to the ER because I was out of town visiting family for the holiday and was in excruciating pain. She confirmed the herpes from a visual exam. After looking for a few ninutes she confirmed I had herpes. They did take blood from me but just ran a few basic panels to make sure nothing else was wrong. I don't believe they ran a igg or igm test. So I was planning on waiting the month to go to my PCP doctor and get a blood test run.
To answer your other question, I do not know the hsv status of the person whom I slept with outside of the relationship. We did use a condom. But I just considered that interaction high risk since one I did not know his status and the encounter was rough (meaning his pelvis was up against my buttocks several times).
FelizCastus jeff106
Posted
jeff106 FelizCastus
Posted
I did get a swab test but that was before the lesions appeared. No blood test yet. I plan on going on the one month mark to ensure its be a more accurate one
FelizCastus jeff106
Posted
You got swabbed before lesions, not when you actually had them? That's a shame. Swab tests are better than the blood tests, even IgG, and for a more accurate IgG result, you should really test at 3 months. By all means test at one month as well, but not everyone seroconverts by then.
jeff106 FelizCastus
Posted
Ahhh ok. :-/. Yes unfortunately. The lesions hadn't appeared yet. So the first doc was swabbing for gonherra. (See my reply above to justsolucky). The second doctor I saw when I had the lesions. Just visually confirmed I had herpes as well as an internal hemorrhoid.