I am a male in my late thirties, happily married for 3 years. My wife and I have always used a condom for protection, even during our years dating. We now decided it's time to have children.
Just as a precaution before we have unprotected sex, we both got tested for STD's the beginning of April 2011. My wife tested negative for everything. I tested negative for everything, except for a positive result for HSV 1/2. The test was done by Labcorp, and the test was a HSV I/II IgG test.
The results: Positive 1.8
Apparently positive results are based on the scale that follows:
Negative 1.0
My doctor wanted to run a type specific test to confirm the results, and know if I had HSV 1 or HSV 2. So three weeks later (last week of April 2011) I had another blood draw. However, there was a mix up at Labcorp, and instead of running a type specific test, they ran the same HSV I/II IgG test all over again.
This time around, the result: 1.9 Positive.
Based on these results, my doctor prescribed Acyclovir 200mg twice a day as a low dose suppressive therapy, since I don't have any obvious symptoms of Herpes 1 or 2. My doctor said that this suppressive therapy can reduce the chances of my wife contracting Herpes, just in case it was HSV 2, which can cause neonatal Herpes.
My Doctor still wanted to run type specific tests though, and so during the first week of June 2011, I went in for another blood draw for my Type Specific Herpes Tests.
This time Labcorp did a HSV 1 and 2 - Specific Ab, IgG test.
The results for type specific HSV 1 : <0.91 Negative.
The results for type specific HSV 2 : <0.91 Negative.
So now my Doc says "Don't worry, you don't have Herpes." But with two tests showing as positive, how can I all of a sudden be negative just a month and half later. My wife doesn't want to catch any life long STD. If we are going to have unprotected sex, I would like to take all of the proper precautions, and be on the right suppressive therapy (Valtrex) at the right dosage.
I don't know which test results to believe. Am I negative now because of the low dose Acyclovir? I doubt there could be two false positives.
I plan on getting tested again, but I feel like I've been on emotional roller coaster that never stops. I just want to know - am I positive or negative, and which type am I positive for if I am positive. I want to feel happy about the most recent negative result on the type specific test, but I simply can't.
Has this happened to anyone else? Please help!
Thanks in advance for all of your help.
Concerned Husband