Can you never have symptoms??

[sabine21]

I found out about a month ago through a regular STD test that I have "been exposed to HSV-2" however I've never experienced symptoms. I have been having unprotected sex with my boyfriend for 8 months now and I have never cheated on him. He was tested for HSV-2 after I told him I have it and his test came back negative. This means that I have had HSV-2 for more than 8 months if not longer.

My questions are:

1. Why have I never had an outbreak if I've had it for almost a year? Is it possible to have the virus but never have outbreaks?

2. After 8 months of unprotected sex why doesn't my boyfriend have it?

3. Can blood tests for herpes ever produce false positives?

I really appreciate any input that people may have. Thanks

[InShock]

You can have herpes for YEARS and not know you have it. In fact, the majority of people who have HSV1 do not even know they have it, and millions of people carry the antibodies for HSV2 and don't know they have it. Some people have HSV2 in their blood for YEARS and never have an outbreak. I'd suggest contacting your former partners if you want to know who gave this to you... if you can trust them to be honest.

[sapphiregem]

Yes, you can have herpes and it can lie dormant in you for years. However some people after they are initially exposed to the herpes, they will have their initial OB within 2-14 days of contracting it. I'm not to sure about your boyfriend not contracting herpes, but I do know that there are couples out there that one partner is infected and the other is not. I agree with InShock, if your past partners are the type to be honest and open about the herpes I'd start there to try and find out where it came from, chances are they have it and are completely unaware of it. By letting them know about the herpes they can go and get tested and spare someone else from getting it. I would go directly to my OBGYN for the best answers. Warm wishes.

[BoxofRain]

the posts above are very true. As to why your boyfriend never got it....its that you happened to never be shedding the virus at any of the times you had sex. My boyfriend never had symptoms, like you, never had a clue he could have it and we had unprotected sex for 3 years and then one day I got an outbreak. The doctor confirmed it was new antibodies in my blood, so I knew it was a recent exposure and that it had to be from my boyfriend. Shockingly he had it all along and never knew.......no symptoms ever either. Couldnt believe it.....old antibodies in his blood. Who knows how long he had it in his body.So it is way more common than people think. Its the lack of education that makes people so unaware of how this virus actually works.

[shasha]

hey i just wanted to give my two cents. i was diagnosed a couple of years ago by a blood test (like you) and had never had any symptoms. i (like you) thought the results could be wrong. i've now had two obs following the birth of my second child. they say the stress childbirth brings on your body causes them. and my husband of four years still has never had an ob. who knows if i had it before or if he gave it to me. he still swears he doesn't have it...

[jedigirl]

Yeah, I was confused too. I have herpes but my husband's blood test came back negative. My gynacologist stated that blood tests are not as accurate as having an open sore swabbed. Being that my husband has never had an outbreak, he's never had one swabbed. I just found out last week that I have herpes. My husband ran out and got tested for everything and all came back negative. But, the physician never bothered to explain to him that he probably had an antibody which would cover the herpes.

We've been married for ten years, I have never cheated and I don't believe that he has. We had questionable sexual partners before getting together (even though I had only had 2 before him) and it's HIGHLY LIKELY that we have been carrying it for that long. EVEN without outbreaks! But, I found that the chances of my hubby being negative are very slim.. But he could NEVER outbreak. I also found out that women tend to have outbreaks far more than men... LUCKY THEM!!

[BoxofRain]

theres a chance your husband actually has not contracted the virus from you yet too... me and my boyfriend were together for years and neither one of us showed symptoms....he had it, never had a symptom, never knew....was carrying it for years. We had unprotected sex for years and I NEVER contracted it until last year and got a horrible outbreak which my doc. said the antibody level indicated a recent exposure. I also had a blood test for stds a year prior to me finding out I had it and no antibodies were found then. SO it is more possible than you think....especially if you never had an outbreak.....which means it was hiding all these years ...never activating to the skin (visibly or not) and in that case he would have never got it yet from you. Also, since you just now had your first outbreak I would say that something triggered it....often stress or other types of things can make it surface after years of it hiding and not being on the skin ever before. Given you never had symptoms before...theres also a good chance you were not shedding the virus during these years or that the very limited amount of time you were shedding the virus were such infrequent times that happened to occur when you did not have sexual contact with your husband those random times. It's way more possible than you think for him to actually not have gotten it yet. But yes there are false negatives but I know a couple personally where they have been married for 15 years....one has it, never knew...the other NEVER contracted it all those years because it must not have been active in her system....and then one day one of them got an outbreak and was sooooo confused....had been carrying it for years. No cheating there as well. Also, Ive read posts on her where people carried it for 30 years, never had a clue, never passed it on to their knowledge and then bam! one day they get an outbreak and are so confused. It is just possible is all I am saying that he has not yet contracted it from you....but given the fact you are now symptomatic he will probably contract it within a year if he actually does not have it yet. Only time will tell......also dont bet on a blood test as not being that accurate...in some cases yes it can be false negative but some people never develop lesions so it may be impossible to try and find out that way and that is why credit is due to blood tests to help people become aware they can be carrying this for years and not have had it surface yet.