Question:
March 23rd I had unprotected sex with a friend. On March 28th it started to burn when I urinated. On March 29th I went to my Dr. and got a full STD test which everything came back negative. My pain was at its highest when I got swabbed. April 1st my symptoms went away with no medication. On April 8th my friend called and said she was breaking out. Her and her boyfriend went for the same tests and tested positive for herpes. She was test on April 10th. It was her first outbreak of her life. I have been having unprotected sex with my girlfriend the entire time and she knows about my encounter. I have had no bumps, lesions, itching, fever or pains. My girlfriend has had absolutely no symptoms and its been four weeks. Can someone be contagious before their first outbreak? Can I have had an outbreak before my friend? Could my swab test be wrong? I understand the 3 month rule about the blood. My burning only lasted 3 days and went away on its own. I thought if I had it my girlfriend would've had an outbreak within 2-20days. Please help, maybe its just anxiety. Thanks everyone for your time, I appreciate it.

Answer:
no, you never need to have an outbreak, or any symptoms that you might even associate as being herpes at all. It is extremely common to contact the virus, have it immediately retreat into the nerves and never cause any initial symptoms...it lies in the nerves until something activates it. Sometimes it take weeks or months or years before any visible signs of it surface, if ever at all. The whole time, a person can never be aware they have herpes as a result of seeing nothing and feeling nothing, when in fact they can be spreading the virus unknowingly. The virus is so different in each body and often the symptoms are not evident at all, or range from a slight burning sensation, a tingling, an itchy feeling...for a few minutes or hours, a slightly dry patch on the skin, slight redness, or tenderness in an area, or what you might typically picture as herpes...it is so varied and that is why herpes is not detected in millions of people who actually have it. Also, when a person gets tested for ALL STDS, they are tested for everything EXCEPT herpes which is crazy since it is one that has no cure but thats the way it is. So people who get tested for ALL STDS go around with a false sense of security thinking they are clean from all stds when in reality they are carrying herpes around asymptomatically and are never aware of it until something or someone theyre with gets symptoms.... unless a person specifically asks for a herpes blood test in addition to being tested for ALL stds, they can very well have herpes. Also, you should get a herpes specific blood test now, as there is a chance the antibodies may be present if you have it, and then get a retest in 12 weeks to find out for sure, but why wait all that time, just in case the antibodies are already present....there is a chance you could be the one who has had herpes the whole time and given it to your friend that time you had sex...and then she gave it to her boyfriend. The average 2-20 day advice about it showing up after being infected is true for about half the people who contract the virus, however, for the other half of people, they will not see signs right away and it will go unnoticed and undetected as I described above.....which is why people are so unaware they have even contracted herpes so much of the time. Its best to also have your girlfriend get tested a herpes type specific blood test as well very soon, and then a repeat test in 12 weeks as well if negative the first time to be sure because there is a chance you got it from your friend and gave it to your girlfriend, or a chance you had it all along, never knew and gave it to your friend , and possibly your girlfriend( either recently or previously)or in a long shot....your girlfriend could have had it, never known and given it to you and so on.... so get tested soon and then again later if you dont recieve a positive result at first. Its tough when it comes to this....so many possibilities. Good luck with the test. If negative after 12 weeks then at least youve learned a scary and valuable lessen about how easy it is for herpes to spread and that a person never needs to see symptoms to have or transmit this, so in the future you can be more aware.

Answer:
BoxofRain, thank you for your reply. I did get all the herpes tests done because the doctor said that sometimes you can have them and not see them that's why the herpes test was the most important to him and they came back negative, both the swab and the blood tests. My friend later found out that her boyfriend had it the whole time and after a year and a half she experienced her first outbreak. Don't know if that changes anything, sorry to be a pest.

Answer:
Nope, good that you know you friends boyfriend had it, but remember, that he could have gotten it from her, even though she herself never had a recognizable visible outbreak until now. Doesnt matter much though....just still get retested via type specific blood test in 12 weeks to be sure, and also still have your girlfriend get tested soon via blood, and again in 12 weeks if negative at first....just to ensure you and her do not in fact have it. Its a good test to have your girlfriend take anyway because a lot of people carrying and spread the virus and never have a clue....so imagine if your girlfriend had the virus too.....kinda crazy but ya never know.... i hope your results are also negative in 12 weeks....good luck to you and your girlfiend ....hope you both are fine....until you know for sure its your choice on whether or not to take precautions just in case.