Question:
I have been recently diagnosed w/the big H this past week. The man I suspected of giving it to me has sworn to me that he doesn't have it. We used protection. He took 2 blood tests (2nd set he paid out of pocket) and showed me the results. My husband, (yes I am married please no judgements) swears that I am the only one he has ever been with. I believe him also. My question is, could I have contracted this back in college (14 years ago) w/the only other person I have ever been with? Could the whole stress of infidelity lying in my mind have brought out the H that I may have been carrying? I have had 2 children since college and never had any such symptoms except for after being with the other man. Am I naive? Who should I believe? I feel so alone.

Answer:
Yes, it is possible for it to lay dormant and be brought on by stress. It happens, although if your outbreak occurred between 2 and 20 days after intercourse with this other man, i'd be more inclined to think it was him.

There's really no way to know, unless you test negative for a blood test, and positive when retested. That would indicate a new infection. Otherwise, it's all a guessing game. Sorry.

Answer:
Thanks for responding. I would like to thank my no good doctor who did a culture on me but not the blood test. Sure they tested for the STD's but not the HSV virus...IDIOTS!!! I got my bood drawn about a week after the culture was taken, is that reliable enough? I'm supposed to get the results today:confused:

Answer:
If this is your first outbreak, i'd say you've got a good chance of having the blood test come up negative. That would indicate a recent infection. If it doesn't, and you're SURE this is your first outbreak, it's probably from at least 3 months ago (ie, a while, no way to tell). And please keep in mind that if you happen to get negative results to BOTH tests, you'll still want to get tested again in a few months, because false negatives for culture tests can happen when your doctor doesn't catch it at just the right time.

Answer:
Let us know what you find out and what happens. Im sorry to hear whats happened to you.

Answer:
Just wanted to update people: Everyone has neg blood tests: me/spouse/3rd party. What's going on here? I'm really confused. What is the igM? If I had chicken pox in the past, would that make it positive? How reliable are cultures? Could they have done the wrong type of culture?

Answer:
Thanks for responding. I would like to thank my no good doctor who did a culture on me but not the blood test. Sure they tested for the STD's but not the HSV virus...IDIOTS!!! I got my bood drawn about a week after the culture was taken, is that reliable enough? I'm supposed to get the results today:confused: Doctors generally do not test for HSV unless you specifically request it. I think even if you say "STD'S", that doesnt always include it. You have to specifically request to be tested for HSV 1 and 2.

Answer:
I'm confused -- you got a positive culture but negative blood test? Or the other way around? when you first posted, you said you got a positive result. The second post said it was JUST a culture but you were getting a blood test. I'm confused....

It's possible you have had this for a long time and have avoided giving it to anyone while it was dormant. However, i'd recommend you all get retested in about 3 months, just to be sure.

I'm not sure why you're all negative, but there is some possibility of a false negative (especially from a culture if it wasn't done in the first 24-48 hours [can't remember the timing]).

Answer:
Ok, my culture tested positive; the billing statement says 'viral culture'. But my blood was neg. Both people I have been with in the past 2-3 months also tested neg blood. When I asked the doctor what type it was (I read you could type it from the culture also) she said that they don't test/look for it because of cross reactivity? IF I were dormant all these years, I assumed that I would have some antibodies in my blood, right? Then she went on to talk about having igM antibodies.

So now I'm wondering what's going on... Could either of the 2 people I was with be contagious even though they are testing neg? Could I still be contagious b/c my culture is + but blood is neg. I'm really confused.