Question:
Well, I went today to get diagnosed and from everything I've read on here, I'm not sure if my dr new what the hell he was doing. First, he didn't even ask me what I was in for...I had just told the nurse that I wanted to talk to the dr when she asked me. He looked at my blood pressure that the nurse had taken and wanted to set me up on some medication for that...meanwhile I'm thinking...asshole I think I have herpes. No shit my bp is high! So I tell him why I'm there and he takes a look at my abdomen where I have the breakout. He says he doesn't think it's herpes because when he sees it, it's on the penis. Well, I tell him that I was practicing safe sex with the girl whom I (believe I) contracted it from (I always practice safe sex unless I've been with a girl for a long time and that has been a while) and that's why it's not on my penis. He says he's going to send me in for bloodwork and I say that I've read that the antibodies can not show up in the blood for up to 12 weeks and that I would like to get swabbed. He tells me that the swabbing is only 50% accurate and that the bloodwork is the way to go. So I reitterate my concern about the lag time and what does he do!?! He goes and opens up the door and calls his nurse/pa over and starts asking her...RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE F-ING RECEPTIONIST AREA! At this point I'm frickin embarrassed. He comes back and says go get bloodwork done and if it comes back negative wait two months and get it again. I tell him my concern for my eyes because I wear contacts and I'm afraid I might have infected them before I knew anything (they've been itchy and burning) and he says for me to wait on the results of the bloodwork. Argh!

He writes me a prescription for acyclovir tablets and cream (damn this stuff is expensive) and sends me out to reception. ALL the women are looking at me funny including another patient. I'm embarrassed beyond all belief, sign the paperwork, tuck my tail, and walk out.

I'm thinking about waiting a week or two to get my blood work because I've only had this for a little over a week. Do you guys think that's crazy? Should I go ahead and get the bloodwork done? Second opinion? I've got the medicine anyway and I've started taking it so I don't know if it matters to get a second opinion. Please give me your thoughts.

This sucks...

dac

Answer:
I went through a similar thing a few weeks ago and found out that knowing if you already had HSV before "the scare" is important.

Get a blood test ASAP (you want blood taken BEFORE antibodies form) and then a second blood test after waiting at least 4 weeks. Comparing the two test results can (sometimes) tell you when and by whom you were infected. This could tell you which sex partners from your past that you need to inform of your HSV status. You'll likely have to wait weeks or months anyway for the second test because antibodies can take 12-16 weeks to show up.

Sounds like your doctor would need this explained to him, that you want pre-infection and post-infection blood tests for HSV1 and HSV2. Get IGG or Western blot blood tests. IGM blood tests are useless.

Hope I am making sense. Good luck.

Answer:
I know this wasn't your question, but have you thought about putting a complaint in against your doctor?? Disgraceful, unprofessional behaviour.