Will somebody please help me to make sense of all this??

[trayfish]

Ok, so I was diagnosed about 2 wks ago now with both hsv1 and hsv2. I have been with my husband for 12 yrs and have 2 children and have never had an outbreak until 2 wks ago. I have never cheated on my husband and I believe whole-heartedly my husband never cheated on me since we have a great marriage. When all this started happening I thought the worst that could happen is I could have been exposed to genital hsv1 bc my husband gets cold sores and having oral sex.

When the first nurse prac called me with the results she said I was positive for hsv1 only on my culture and positive for both on blood test but reassured me that a lot of cross reactivity could occur and false positives were common. She never specifically told me the levels. Then when the second nurse prac who initially examined me called to check up on me she thoroughly went thru results. She told me that although my culture only came back positive for hsv1 my blood work was as follows:

hsv1-positive IGM 3.97

hsv2-positive IGM 5.01

HSV1 IGG negative 0.15

hsv2 IGG negative 0.05

I was initially blown away bc the first nurse prac made no indication that my hsv2 level was higher than my hsv1. So my only rationale for this is somehow I have had this all along and it's been dormant all these yrs, but the nurse prac insisted that I was recently exposed based on IGG negativity. I have done research and it's been said that everybody's immune system can respond differently and IGGvs IGM cannot always be reliable as an indicator for how long ago you've been exposed, especially for those with an initial episodic outbreak. This test has made me question our relationship which my husband completely denies ever doing anything and I know I've never done anything so how is this possible? Has anybody ever experienced something like this and felt virus has been dormant even though negative for IGG? And also, my husband and I ALWAYS use protection every time we have sex bc I'm not on any kind of birth control. I am completely consumed by all of this and cannot think of anything else. If anybody could please respond to this and give me any kind of feedback I would greatly appreciate it.

[RealisticGal]

I'm so sorry your good marriage is being tested by this situation. Please don't let it make you question your husband's fidelity unless you have other reasons to do so. Herpes absolutely can lie dormant for years. And also, there is no way to know when a person is or is not shedding virus (unless, of course, a visible sore is present).

It is entirely possible that you just recently contracted genital HSV1 from your husband, via oral sex. Even though you've been together a long time, you might have only recently happened to have sex at a time when he was shedding virus.

As far as the HSV2 readings:

IgM results are not considered reliable. They can cross-react with other viruses, especially HSV1 and Varicella Zoster. So if you have either of those (and there is a good chance you do have HSV1), that could be what the IgM test was really reading.

I'd be willing to venture a guess that, if you get a repeat test in a couple of months, the IgG antibodies will have formed to a detectable level. And at that point, I'm betting it will show you only have HSV1.

On the other hand, it is also quite possible your husband has had asymptomatic HSV2 since before your marriage as well.

Has he been tested at this point?

[RealisticGal]

P.S. As you may have already learned from this site, a condom does not equal "safe sex" when it comes to herpes. It only covers a small portion of the skin surface that can shed virus, which is basically the entire area that can be covered by a pair of boxer shorts.

[RealisticGal]

trayfish, here's a link to some info about the IgM versus IgG results that might help you understand a bit better:

Blood test info

[trayfish]

thank you so much RealisticGal for taking the time to respond to me. You can't even imagine how relieved I felt after reading your response and your link. That link thoroughly explained so much about the tests that I was not aware of. It irritates me so much that these nurse practitioners and doctors are not well enough educated enough about the flaws of these tests and it has basically been making me lose my mind this past week. I have absolutely NO reason to believe my husband has ever done anything because we have a wonderful marriage and he's such a great father. My husband has never had any symptoms and even though we have health insurance it did not cover any of these tests so we had to pay cash so we can't really afford the tests for him as well. I know it shouldn't bother me what other people think, but it really irritated me that the nurse prac assumed infidelity and that I had to have recently contracted this. I could have recently contracted type 1 causing an outbreak since my husband performed oral sex right before xmas. From my understanding type 1 causes less outbreaks? Well, thank you again so much for your response. Take care!!!

[RealisticGal]

Theoretically, at least, HSV1 usually causes fewer and less severe outbreaks when it is found in the genital area. But like everything else in life, apparently there are exceptions to that rule. I hope you are not one of them!

About your husband getting tested --- as well as you getting repeat tests to check your IgG levels later --- what about a low cost clinic like Planned Parenthood or something associated with your local health department or even a private STI clinic? Many times they will charge on a sliding scale. It really sucks that your insurance didn't cover this.

I agree that it is a damned shame when health care providers give out misinformation. If they don't know the facts, they should simply say so and not try to tell you anything at all.

[teachme2love]

I feel cheated. I was diagnosed 1 month ago and my doctor did not go over my results with me. He just said that you have hsv 1 and 2. I've discovered from a lot of people on here that doctor's are really misinformed when it comes to herpes. Sad! Anyway, I'm going to have to call and get my IGM and IGG levels so that I can retest in a few months to recheck my levels. Trayfish, I'm sorry about your diagnosis. I agree with RealisticGal, your husband gets cold sores so he may have always had hsv-1. It could've been dormant in both of your systems well before you were married. It does suck that your clinic doesn't cover the test. There are low cost clinics (just use google); my friend was tested for $7. I wish I had gone to where he went, my co-pay was $15. Take Care!

[trayfish]

I sure hope that I'm not one of the exceptions to the rule, but knowing my luck right now I probably will be. I'm so scared I'm going to get another outbreak so it's obviously stressing me out, so then i'm scared my stress will trigger it all over again...like a never ending cycle. I will have to research to see if there are any Planned Parenthood clinics or anything like that in my area. All my tests that they did came to $197!!! I wish I would have known that my insurance wasn't planning on covering these tests before I did them, but then again I just wanted to know what was wrong with me not even thinking twice what it would cost me!! Thank you teachme2love for your response as well! I requested that they mail me a copy of my results so I could thoroughly look at them so I constantly have them for reference. The whole IGG and IGM thing is so confusing to me!! I wish you the best of luck with all of this as I know this is such a life changing experience. Hopefully you have support that you can turn to, and if not, know that we are all here for you if you ever need anything!! I am so grateful for stumbling upon this site! I have relied on the info and feedback provided here moreso than the doctors office!!

[RealisticGal]

I sure hope that I'm not one of the exceptions to the rule, but knowing my luck right now I probably will be. I'm so scared I'm going to get another outbreak so it's obviously stressing me out, so then i'm scared my stress will trigger it all over again...like a never ending cycle. I will have to research to see if there are any Planned Parenthood clinics or anything like that in my area. All my tests that they did came to $197!!! I wish I would have known that my insurance wasn't planning on covering these tests before I did them, but then again I just wanted to know what was wrong with me not even thinking twice what it would cost me!! Thank you teachme2love for your response as well! I requested that they mail me a copy of my results so I could thoroughly look at them so I constantly have them for reference. The whole IGG and IGM thing is so confusing to me!! I wish you the best of luck with all of this as I know this is such a life changing experience. Hopefully you have support that you can turn to, and if not, know that we are all here for you if you ever need anything!! I am so grateful for stumbling upon this site! I have relied on the info and feedback provided here moreso than the doctors office!!

If you can tell me what is confusing you about IgG versus IgM, I could try to help clarify it for you.