A month ago I had mild gastro issues that caused my bottom to be very tender which lead to constipation and eventually a tear on anus when I was finally able to have a bowel movement. Then my lymph nodes started to swell, I had a low grade fever for numerous days, I began having shooting pains in the area. It was painful to have anything touch my bottom. I arranged the first available appointment at my GP's wth a NP. She examined me and said it was herpes. She did a culture swap and asked me for a urine sample but I was not able to urinate because I was so swollen . I came back to the examination room and she handed me box of tissues and told me she wanted blood work. Okay, I said. I asked her how could this happen? I had no idea about herpes. Was my fiancee infected? Where did I get this? We have been together for over 3 years. She said I could have been carrying the virus for a long time and then she said the blood work would tell. She walked me back to the lab and announced to the lab tech that she wanted a herpes test and handed her a piece of paper with write up. I was horrified. I was shaking and in shock.
In disbelief, I refused to believe it was herpes and I went home and prayed my condition would get better. It didn't and I went to Urgent Care because I was in agony and still running a fever two days later. She confirmed the same thing, took a swab and gave a me a prescription.
I filled it and started my dose and said it had to be this because now two people told me this. My feet and legs began having tingling, numbness, and aching all the time. Sometimes I would have problems walking it was so painful. I managed to get myself to urinate via showers and baths. I applied lidocaine to the areas effected.
I got a call the next week that my IgG test was negative, culture was negative but the IgM was slightly elevated from my GP. Then Urgent Care called and said my culture was positive. Huh? How could one be and one not?
The tingling and pressure in my perineum area continues today. My feet are tingling and ache often, especially at night. I went back to the doctor and she said that this could be post peripheral neuralgia? Nothing she can do. No meds to prescribe. She did say we could hit it with a different anti viral (Fam) and gave me that. Which I am taking currently.
Needless to say, I told my fiancee and he has been tested and is positive for IgG. He says it was negative three years ago when he was tested for Reiter's syndrome which is like arthritis but way more painful. He swears he has been faithful. Anyhow-could he have been misdiagnosed then? I mean it started as a UTI for him which lead to this for 3 months?

I don't know if I should get a Western Blot test taken? I pretty much feel like it is herpes. I am devastated currently but really want to move on and try and live with this. I don't want to blame. Just get facts.
It's been over a month now and all I can think is this is one brutal virus!
are there couples counselors for this? where would one look? is there something to do for tingling? should I go see someone else? a specialist?
I need any advice on test results, post care, and general information. The web is a slew of information and now I feel like I have everything under the moon after reviewing. Thanks!

welcome to the board ! I'm glad you found us

Can your bf get his blood test results for you to post here? all i need to see are the numeric results - ie hsv1 igg 8.7 and hsv2 igg 2.5 or whatever they are. That way I can be sure he was properly tested and we know what type he has.

Can you call the clinic that you got the + lesion culture result from to see if it was just herpes + or specifically hsv1 or hsv2. if they didn't type it to know if it's hsv1 or hsv2, ask them to please call the lab they use, see if they by chance still have your specimen there to type. Typically they keep them frozen for a few weeks just for things like this.

you don't have phn going on right now. This is still herpes running its course and it will get better. You didn't treat your herpes until it was almost a week into things if I'm getting the time line right which means that this is taking its good ole time and running a full course which can take up to 6 weeks for some folks. you had a humdinger of a first ob - it effected your bowels and your ability to urinate. I actually recommend that you do another full course of antivirals. Since you have famvir currently it's 250mg 3x/day for 10 days. I also recommend that you get tested for yeast and bacterial infections vaginally too. bv especially is associated with herpes being more active and can complicate your recovery. Not everyone gets an odor or discharge with it either, in fact 1/2 of all women who have bv, don't have any symptoms at all which is why in this case, proper testing is in order. I assume you are a little less swollen and having less pain at this point down yonder so getting tested shouldn't be as painful for you as it would've been a few weeks ago.

Are you still having constipation issues? if so, I recommend picking up a bottle of generic mirlax ( it's available as a store brand now which makes it a little cheaper - it doesn't give you gas or pain like regular laxatives do ). Take it once a day for a few days and make sure your stool is very soft and it's all getting out of there. Constipation puts pressure on the same nerves that are controlling pain in your genital area and can make a bad thing worse. A newly acquired herpes infection can affect those nerves and it seems like it has for you so keep the stool soft and have regular bowel movements for the next couple of weeks while your body is healing. Drink plenty of fluids too. helps to keep your stool soft as well as keeps your bladder working better too. urine retention can also occur with herpes initially and you want to avoid an uti from all of this too ( as if you didn't have enough going on already! ).

Take an anti inflammatory like ibuprofen regularly for the next week. It will help calm the irritated nerves you have going on. It also helps with pain relief. you've been through enough pain lately so your body needs a rest from it.

Hang in there! hopefully we can have better answers for you about all of this, get you feeling better again and get you feeling less like you have everything under the sun going on once we know what type you and your bf have, I can help you two with making decisions how to treat, precautions for sex etc. keep asking questions and vent as you need to

betsy

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ASHA Moderator

Thanks for info.

I called the Dr. and she in turn called the lab whom said the test was just a Herpes A and not Typed. Bummer. The sample was thrown out because it's been over 3 weeks.
I guess I need to go get new tests done.
Also, fiancee is awaiting his level reports because Lab Corp just reported that the test was positive. No results other than that. His doctor is calling to try and get the levels and the type as well.

His doctor said really it didn't matter because herpes is herpes. She'sseen it upstairs and downstairs for 1 and 2. She said she treats it the same and with same precautions.
My doctor said if it's a beagle or a lab, it's still a dog.

Yep, that's exactly what she said.

Fiancee just found out that his testing from 3 years ago was not for Herpes but for Chlamydia instead. Despite the fact that they said they did an extensive work up on STD's for his analysis of Reiter's.
Now his doctor said she was not sure how I was not infected after us being together for 3 years. I said, maybe we were lucky and he was not having outbreaks? I mean, it's entirely possible since he says he has never had an outbreak yet he is positive? Basically got the idea that she was implying I had this all along even though my IgG test was negative.
He's angry because I said he needs to try suppressive therapy because he does not know when he is shedding or having an OB. Since I know this lovely sensation, I said I could take meds when it begins immediately since I have the effects.
He thinks it's unfair for him to take this daily and destroy his liver while I don't have to. Also he makes 97% more than me and has insurance through work while I pay for self employed insurance and the co pay has been $80 for 10 days of it. Grrr! Sorry to vent again. Just more to add to the list.
I am going to try and find a counselor locally to give us information and help us through this.
I hope what I read about the co-pays for the generic do decrease. Anyone buy online?

well I've owned a dog or two in my lifetime and currently have a pure bred yellow lab and a lab/beagle mix. trust me there is a difference and you have to handle them both differently....lol.

It is important to know what type you have and it's sad that some practitioners don't recognize that fact hsv1 genitally sheds less and reoccurs less often. suppressive therapy typically is more useful for hsv2 than hsv1 genitally too. Oh well, glad you found the board for better answers!

Herpes isn't as contagious as folks think it is. Not unusual at all to be together for 3 years until it's transmitted. Some partners go a lifetime without transmitting it as long as the infected partner is aware of their infection.

no reason for your partner to take daily suppressive therapy. he's not being bothered by symptoms and you have whatever he has now. also daily suppressive therapy does not have any long term side effects it doesn't do anything to the liver or the kidneys. also acyclovir is much cheaper. I just stickied a post on this forum today about how to treat your herpes - might be helpful info in there for you.

betsy

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ASHA Moderator