recently diagnosed with genital hsv-1

[newbie11]

I have been with my partner for several years and have never had an issue.  I was just diagnosed with gential hsv-1 recently.  I am wondering all the possible ways of getting it.  My partner has never had a cold sore but he did date someone who had oral hsv 1 and claims he never kissed her when a sore was present.  I also had a blood test about a year into our relationship and everything came back negative, including herpes.

Is it possible that I have had hsv 1 for years, even though my blood came back negative?
Is it possible that he has had hsv 1 for years and never had any sort of outbreak but passed it to me?
I didn't have a bad outbreak--1 bump on my clitoris.  No other feelings of being sick, it didn't hurt, no problem going to the bathroom, etc.  What does that mean?  Will I get it again?
Is it possible to have hsv 1, never get a cold sore, and one day it just chooses to show up on your genitals?
Lastly, my dad has had oral hsv 1 since as long as I can remember.  Is there anyway I could have gotten this from him?

Any insight to this would be extremely helpful as I am so confused how this could have happened.

[newbie11]

Thank you!!

[gracefromHHP]

just be open and honest with him. you had symptoms, you went to be seen and weren't you surprised to find out that you have hsv1 genitally and go from there.  

[newbie11]

Thank you so much for responding, Grace.

Last question...

Do you have suggestions on how to tell my partner without him freaking out on me, even if it is possible he is the one that gave it to me?

[gracefromHHP]

herpes testing is not a part of routine std testing. there was no reason to test for herpes for hormone replacement therapy. odds are he's never been tested for herpes before.

is it likely that a recently acquired hsv1 infection is causing all your urinary symptoms? well it could be. a newly acquired herpes infection can take up to 6 weeks to totally run its course but since you are getting these pains again, I'd give your provider a call and see if they want to repeat any urine testing at all. if you continue to have pains like this, make sure they do a thorough work up and not just keep saying herpes as a cause ( hope that makes sense ).

grace

[newbie11]

Thank you so much for getting back to me.  I feel a little better already.

I honestly don't know if he has been tested for hsv-1.  He has had a full blood panel done maybe twice in the last year or so because he is on testosterone replacement therapy.  Would that show hsv-1?

Also, a few things just dawned on me.  A week and half before my bump appeared I thought I was getting a UTI/bladder infection.  No pain when urinating but discomfort in my bladder and the urge to urinate often.  Took 3 days dose of Cipro.  Lab lost my urine culture but dr said if I was feeling better then I should be fine.  Two weeks later and the same day I went to my gyno to look at my bump I started getting the same feelings again.  I went to a diff GP and she gave me a week's dose of another med.  I felt better after a few days.  Then on Monday she tells me the lab results came back negative for infection.  Yesterday I started getting pain in my lower back, my bladder area, my groin and down the back of my thighs.  Can this be attributed to hsv-1?  It is possilbe to get these symptons AFTER my bump has gone away?  I don't have any other bumps.

[castello80]

Has your partner been tested for HSV-1 before? 57-80% of the U.S. population has HSV-1 and only about 20-40% of those infected actually get obvious symptoms such as cold sores or fever blisters. Cold sores are still contagious even if there is no visible outbreak, so this is how your boyfriend probably acquired the virus. If your boyfriend has been your only partner since your last negative HSV-1 test then he is the source of the infection. If so, then your boyfriend is in the majority of those with oral HSV-1 who never show symptoms. If he's never had genital symptoms of HSV-1 then you can assume that his infection is oral.

Regarding your future (if you stay with the same partner) sex life, you really don't need to take any precautions. If you get an uncomfortable outbreak, which is unlikely then avoid sex. Both of you have the exact same strain of the same type of HSV-1, so you aren't going to ping pong this back and forth to each other in different locations. His body and your body have antibodies to HSV-1 that prevent it from being spread to other parts of the body.

Here's a link by STD expert Dr. Handsfield that will likely address future questions:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/STDs/Partners-have-different-HSV1-genital--oral-/show/1129351

If you have any further questions then feel free to ask!

[castello80]

In 90% of instances of acquiring genital HSV-1, it is through oral sex. The rest is through genital-to-genital sex.

Since your blood work came back negative, it's indicative of a new infection and not an existing one. In almost all (possibly all) genital HSV-1 cases the person has had no prior infection of HSV-1 orally.

Now, to answer your questions:

1). No. Since your culture came back positive, but your blood test negative then this is definately a new infection.

2). No. Since you were tested last year and the blood test was negative for HSV-1 during that time then this means it's a new infection. People with established infections would have shown up positive through a blood test, which doesn't apply to your case.

3). For many, the primary outbreak of HSV-1 much worse than you describe, and you are fortunate that it was so minor. In almost all cases the primary outbreak is the worst, so your future outbreaks (it's likely you won't ever have one again) could be unnoticeable. This minor primary outbreak means you have great genetics and a good immune system. About half of those with genital HSV-1 never have another outbreak.

4). You get HSV-1 through skin to skin contact, and you got it on your genitals most likely through oral sex. If you haven't noticed any oral symptoms then you will not ever be reinfected orally since your body is producing antibodies to prevent this infection from spreading to other parts of your body.

5). Absolutely not.

[newbie11]

I would like to add that my doctor took a culture of the bump on my clitoris and that test came back positive for hsv-1.