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Primary outbreak, possible autoinoculation?

Hi,

A few weeks back I had a herpes sore on my mouth. I didn't realize at the time that's what it was because I have a food allergy that often causes my lips to become irritated, but then I looked close and noticed a small blister. It became an open sore, then crusted over and healed. I went to the doctor to get myself checked out but too many days had passed for a swab test.

I realized after the fact that I had touched my sore and then soon after masturbated. I was very worried about autoinnoculation because I'd never had a herpes sore before and I read that you can autoinnoculate during primary outbreak.

I had not been sexually active prior to this outbreak for months. The day before this outbreak, I had a somewhat sexual encounter, but it did not involve any kissing on the mouth, oral sex or sexual intercourse. While I don't think I got the virus from this person, we stayed up all night and the next morning I biked to a meeting, was out in the hot sun, had no water, and was physically exhausted. The day after that I got my outbreak. I think the exhaustion is what triggered the outbreak.

Another week or two goes by and I start to feel slightly itchy and irritated on the lips of my vagina. I ride my bike a lot and I could feel mild discomfort on the left side of my labia when riding. I checked myself out and I didn't see any blisters, although that area did feel tender. I was worried about autoinnocuation, but I knew it was pretty rare, so I tried to move on and not worry about it. A few days later, someone gave me oral sex and the morning after I checked myself out again and the area between my outer and inner lips looked bumpier than usual. It was a type of bumpy that looked like it was all over the general area, not concentrated in one area, although that mild itchy and irritated feeling was concentrated on my left side of my labia. Since my previous oral herpes outbreak was not painful, I thought I might be having an outbreak where the symptoms were similarly mild. I went to the doctor at a local clinic to get it checked out and she said she didn't see anything unusual, just that it looked like folliculitis. She said she didn't see any bumps. I got her to give me a blood test for herpes, but only because I had also had her check out my anal area where I have irritation from an anal tear related to past hemorrhoids. She wasn't sure if that tear could actually have been herpes or not so she ordered a test.

The test came back positive for hsv1 (which I expected) and negative for hsv2. I asked if it tested for antibodies and she said yes. Later I called the office to ask the name of the test. I could not get her to tell me the name of the type of test (hoping she would tell me if it was IgG or IgM). She just said it was an hsv 1 and 2 test. She seemed to be pretty satisfied with the results. I didn't push further because I felt embarrassed asking directly if it was IgG or IgM because I felt silly acting like some sort of expert from stuff I've read on the internet.

I know that a type specifc test detects antibodies for the virus in your system, and if I have the antibodies for hsv1 then I'm immune to passing it on to my genital area. However, it makes me nervous not to know which type of test I got. Here are my questions:

1) Was the outbreak I had my primary outbreak because it was my first visible cold sore? Could I have had a primary outbreak in the past that was so mild I didn't notice?

2) My big question: Even without knowing the exact type of test I had, should I be confident that since the test was type specific, that I have antibodies for hsv1 and that I've had these antibodies for quite sometime? Does this mean I couldn't have autoinnoculated?

3) If for some reason I did autoinnoculate, could my symptoms have been mild enough that my doctor missed it? Could that bumpiness just have been from general fluctuations in my vaginal area or from recently having received some pretty vigorous oral sex?

4) As a side note, should I be concerned about that small anal tear as a possible symptom of herpes? I was diagnosed with hemorrhoids a few months ago, after dealing with pain/some blood when passing a stool on and off for the past 2 years, but my last doctor didn't notice that tear. She just felt on the inside of my anal area and said she definitely felt a hemorrhoid. At this point, the tear isn't bleeding or irritated, but I still do feel it a very slight irritation when passing a stool. A tear from herpes wouldn't be ongoing, would it?
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Avatar universal
Most people are infected with HSV1 in their youth and never contract it elsewhere on their body in their entire lifetime.

If this is you, and it probably is, then you will test positive for HSV1 antibodies. The IgM is then useless in any diagnostic sense once you have an established infection.

You hence will not have become infected in any other location as Life360 as confirmed.
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Avatar universal
Any other answers people would be willing to give to my questions?
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Avatar universal
Can someone else chime in to confirm what Life360 said, especially in regards to my question #2? I've heard of doctors ordering the IgM test instead of the IgG test, which doesn't give reliable results. That's why I'm wondering if I should know what type of test I was given...
Helpful - 0
3149845 tn?1506627771
Hi, when a person has hsv in one area they are basicly immune to contracting it in an other area.
1. a primary outbreak occurs within the first week after exposure on average not months later.
2. yes
3. immune
4. since you tested negative for hs2 its not herpes
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