Weird testing results but symptoms. Newbie here and very confused.

Please bear with me this is a weird long story. I was diagnosed with GHSV1 when pregnant with my first child. I had a single small read bump it hurt horribly. It was swabbed and came back positive for HSV 1 and negative for HSV 2. Hubby was negative for both types. I went on valtrex for a little while then quit after our healthy baby was born. I kept having pain and burning and kept getting swab tests that all came back negative in the first year after our daughter was born. My doc was against blood tests as my swab was positive ( 3.3) but she was an STI researcher and couldn't figure out why my swabs kept coming back negative. I would get swabbed on multiple days between 3-5 days this happened numerous times. I did the blood test and it came back negative for both HSV 1 and 2 antibodies. This would have been about 3 years after what I assumed was my exposure ( rape). It was an IGM pcr test I think for the blood test. This was about two years ago and I had no issues after that first rocky first year but now I am having lots of pain that wont go away so my new doc ( new state) is testing me again. I am so confused . Do I have it or not ? Old doc said that she did not believe I had it but could not explain my pain and issues. Sorry if some terms are incorrect I am new to this. I can look up medical records if anyone needs clarification. HELP ! My anxiety is pretty bad and my hubby is no help as he looks at it like no big deal.

I'm sorry to hear of your experience, that's truly horrific. Good to hear your baby is safe.

A positive swab test is definitive. If that said positive for hsv1 you have hsv1.

Swab tests, especially after the first outbreak, have many false negatives because there isn't enough material anymore to come back positive.

I am not familiar with igm pcr, but igm tests are only useful in determining primary herpes infections. Otherwise it's fairly useless. Perhaps igm and igm pcr are the same thing.

If you've also come back negative on igg, that is because the igg has a false negative rate of almost 30% for hsv1.

Thanks ! It was a igm test that was negative. With numerous negative swabs and negative blood test and one positive swab I should assume positive ?

And if positive my husband and I have been having unprotected sex since my doc told me I had a false post I've he's getting tested too again but has no symptoms or issues. Could he have it ? That is what's freaking me out !

He could but if his igg tests are negative he probably doesn't. Hsv1 genital doesn't shed often. It's very possible, if not likely, that you haven't passed it to him

I reviewed my results from years ago and it a igg negative test

If your negative igg was just a couple weeks after your exposure then you would not have built the antibodies for the test to uncover. Additionally the igg test is embarrassingly bad at picking up hsv1 antibodies.

If you truly did have a positive hsv1 swab and there was no mixup, you have hsv1. The test sensitivity (says it's positive and it actually is) is 100%