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HSV False Positive
Hi Doc,
I've read a bunch of your answers to threads on false positives for IgG testing, but wanted your thoughts on my story.
I had testing done via Herpeselect IgG at 4, 7 and 11 weeks post encounter. I came back negative for HSV-1 and HSV-2 on all. From what I've researched, to be HSV-1 and not have detectable antibodies by 11/12 weeks I would be in a very selective 7 % of the population.
I had great anxiety (borderline OCD) over the 11 weeks up to the last test and had symptoms that could be related to either anxiety or mild HSV-2 (i.e. burning urination, tingling feeling in perineum, sensation like sitting on a golf ball). During this time I never had a sore or ulcer, although every pimple I had brought on the "is this my initial OB?" anxiety.
After my 11 week test was negative, I sought PT treatment for CPPS and had made a 98% recovery on all symptoms.
At the 1 year point I asked my doc to do one last HSV 1-2 test for peace of mind. Feeling sure it would come back negative, I didn't ask for the Herpeselect test that is done via Quest. This time the sample was done at the military clinic at Brooks Military Hospital.
Results were HSV-1 negative, HSV-2 positive. No titer was drawn, just a positive and negative result. I was unable to get a brand name for the test, but it's listed as a immunoassay IgG.
Upon hearing this news, my old symptoms (mainly tingling and discomfort) had made their return in less than 12 hours. Still no sores to date, although I did have what I chalked up as a heat rash between where my scrotum and penis meet a few weeks ago. I had been working in the heat for several days and thought that was the cause.
I ordered and took a Western Blot today and will find out in 2-3 weeks.
In the mean time, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on False positives for IgG when HSV-1 negative and if you think I may have a chance of being one.
Thank you and the staff at medhelp for your support.
Cheers,
Borat
I've read a bunch of your answers to threads on false positives for IgG testing, but wanted your thoughts on my story.
I had testing done via Herpeselect IgG at 4, 7 and 11 weeks post encounter. I came back negative for HSV-1 and HSV-2 on all. From what I've researched, to be HSV-1 and not have detectable antibodies by 11/12 weeks I would be in a very selective 7 % of the population.
I had great anxiety (borderline OCD) over the 11 weeks up to the last test and had symptoms that could be related to either anxiety or mild HSV-2 (i.e. burning urination, tingling feeling in perineum, sensation like sitting on a golf ball). During this time I never had a sore or ulcer, although every pimple I had brought on the "is this my initial OB?" anxiety.
After my 11 week test was negative, I sought PT treatment for CPPS and had made a 98% recovery on all symptoms.
At the 1 year point I asked my doc to do one last HSV 1-2 test for peace of mind. Feeling sure it would come back negative, I didn't ask for the Herpeselect test that is done via Quest. This time the sample was done at the military clinic at Brooks Military Hospital.
Results were HSV-1 negative, HSV-2 positive. No titer was drawn, just a positive and negative result. I was unable to get a brand name for the test, but it's listed as a immunoassay IgG.
Upon hearing this news, my old symptoms (mainly tingling and discomfort) had made their return in less than 12 hours. Still no sores to date, although I did have what I chalked up as a heat rash between where my scrotum and penis meet a few weeks ago. I had been working in the heat for several days and thought that was the cause.
I ordered and took a Western Blot today and will find out in 2-3 weeks.
In the mean time, I would be interested in hearing your thoughts on False positives for IgG when HSV-1 negative and if you think I may have a chance of being one.
Thank you and the staff at medhelp for your support.
Cheers,
Borat
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum. For several months you have been extremely active on MedHelp, with 90+ posts on this forum, the herpes forum, and the community forums. Most of those were supportive comments, advising other users with unexplained genital symptoms to accept their blood test results as evidence they don't have herpes. It seems you could benefit from a dose of your own medicine!
Given the nonspecific nature of your symptoms, I would never have tested you for HSV. Almost certainly you can rely on the negative results you had over time, until the recent apparently false positive result. You might check again whether a numerical value is available for your test, which probably would be low. It could be the lab had a number, but only reports positive/negative to the clinic that sends the specimen. But it's possible that a qualitative test was done, such as BiokitUSA or a Focus immunoblot (instead of ELISA).
In any case, I predict the Western blot will be negative. In the meantime, I see no point in speculating and I'm not going to comment on your symptoms. From your many other comments, you understand -- intellectually if not emotionally -- that they are not due to herpes. Even if your WB should be positive, it will not explain your symptoms. It would mean you have asymptomatic herpes plus undiagnosed genital discomfort.
Let me know what the WB shows. I won't have anything more to say until then.
Regards-- HHH, MD
Given the nonspecific nature of your symptoms, I would never have tested you for HSV. Almost certainly you can rely on the negative results you had over time, until the recent apparently false positive result. You might check again whether a numerical value is available for your test, which probably would be low. It could be the lab had a number, but only reports positive/negative to the clinic that sends the specimen. But it's possible that a qualitative test was done, such as BiokitUSA or a Focus immunoblot (instead of ELISA).
In any case, I predict the Western blot will be negative. In the meantime, I see no point in speculating and I'm not going to comment on your symptoms. From your many other comments, you understand -- intellectually if not emotionally -- that they are not due to herpes. Even if your WB should be positive, it will not explain your symptoms. It would mean you have asymptomatic herpes plus undiagnosed genital discomfort.
Let me know what the WB shows. I won't have anything more to say until then.
Regards-- HHH, MD
Borat,
So happy to hear about your results! And I echo you sentiment about the work that Drs Handsfield & Hook and their team do via this site!
I, too, would be lost without the info and support available on this site.
Thanks again to the Drs & Staff and congrats on your test results!
God bless!
So happy to hear about your results! And I echo you sentiment about the work that Drs Handsfield & Hook and their team do via this site!
I, too, would be lost without the info and support available on this site.
Thanks again to the Drs & Staff and congrats on your test results!
God bless!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Of course I'm not surprised surprised your WB was negative. I hope you are successful in putting your herpes fears to rest.
Thanks for the thanks about MedHelp. I'm not surprised to hear about that other website. Many (most?) websites run by and for people with a particular health problem provide biased information about that condition, especially if not moderated by an independent health professional.
Thanks for the thanks about MedHelp. I'm not surprised to hear about that other website. Many (most?) websites run by and for people with a particular health problem provide biased information about that condition, especially if not moderated by an independent health professional.
Doc,
I would like to point out the differences between the support I've received here at Medhelp.com and the posts that are ongoing at herpe-coldsore.com
Doc, you, Grace, Petal and Terri have been convinced that I'm not HSV-2 infected even though I had at positive HSV-2 1 year test. In contrast, over at herpe-coldsore.com, a person with jock itch might be convinced he had herpes, let alone one that had non-sore related symptoms with a positive test result via IgG.
The support I've received here at Medhelp.com has been incredibly important over this last year and I would like to thank you and your staff for the professional service they provide.
Furthermore, I would like to say that you were correct.
I tested negative at > 1 year for HSV-1 and -2 via the western blot test.
The 1 year HSV-1 neg HSV-2 pos IgG done at Brooks Medical Hospital was a false positive even though I am HSV-1 negative???
My symptoms have been caused by extreme anxiety which accumulated itself in becoming Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome.
Thank you so much for your support and without you and your staffs incredible knowledge, I would of been lost to the truth.
God Bless,
Borat
I would like to point out the differences between the support I've received here at Medhelp.com and the posts that are ongoing at herpe-coldsore.com
Doc, you, Grace, Petal and Terri have been convinced that I'm not HSV-2 infected even though I had at positive HSV-2 1 year test. In contrast, over at herpe-coldsore.com, a person with jock itch might be convinced he had herpes, let alone one that had non-sore related symptoms with a positive test result via IgG.
The support I've received here at Medhelp.com has been incredibly important over this last year and I would like to thank you and your staff for the professional service they provide.
Furthermore, I would like to say that you were correct.
I tested negative at > 1 year for HSV-1 and -2 via the western blot test.
The 1 year HSV-1 neg HSV-2 pos IgG done at Brooks Medical Hospital was a false positive even though I am HSV-1 negative???
My symptoms have been caused by extreme anxiety which accumulated itself in becoming Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome.
Thank you so much for your support and without you and your staffs incredible knowledge, I would of been lost to the truth.
God Bless,
Borat
To make sure the data is correct for this, I did confirm I had a negative 16 week Herpeselect test as well.
So to date,
HSV-1 negative HSV-2 negative at 4, 7, 11, and 16 weeks via Herpeselect
HSV-1 negative HSV-2 positive at 1 year via unknown immunoassay test (different faciility than previous tests) with no titer results available.
Western Blot at 1+ year confirmation test = pending results will post when UW reports to Quest.
So to date,
HSV-1 negative HSV-2 negative at 4, 7, 11, and 16 weeks via Herpeselect
HSV-1 negative HSV-2 positive at 1 year via unknown immunoassay test (different faciility than previous tests) with no titer results available.
Western Blot at 1+ year confirmation test = pending results will post when UW reports to Quest.
Doc,
Gotcha....
The only important thing I posted in there was thanks again to you and your staff....
and Grace should get a pay raise!!! :)
I'll post back when I get my WB results.
See yah,
Borat.
Gotcha....
The only important thing I posted in there was thanks again to you and your staff....
and Grace should get a pay raise!!! :)
I'll post back when I get my WB results.
See yah,
Borat.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
"Let me know what the WB shows. I won't have anything more to say until then" meant what it said. I deleted your long follow-up comment without reading it; I don't have the time or energy to read follow-up comments that exceed the 2000 character count permitted for initial questions!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I saw this. Makes no difference in my opinion or advice.
Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the episode above was a protected encounter... although I know that rubbers don't always prevent a female to male transmission. I don't know if the woman was HSV infected or not, and their hasn't been any encounters since then that would risk HSV infection.
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
