Ughhhh HELP Testing results

I posted a while back about weird testing results. Back in 2014 I had a positive swab but negative blood test. recently my vagina has freaked out so I assumed an outbreak from my G HSV 1 and was dealing with it but it has been going on for months. So my new doc wanted to make sure it was actually herpes and we weren't missing something bigger and possibly actually dangerous. So two swabs and two igg blood test each done two weeks apart and all are negative. WHAT THE HELL ? It was my understanding that swabs rarely have false positives and I have had a positive swab. Should I do western blot ? Should I assume its not herpes ?

Yes, they rarely have false positive results. Like, straight up never outside of user error like swapping samples or some human mistake like that. They very often have false negative results, however. Additionally, blood tests are worse at picking up hsv1 than 2. Chances are very, very high you have hsv1 but not 2.

Would you suggest a western blot if I just had to know ?

That's quite a bit of money and A LOT of work to get confirmation on something that's already certain. Given how difficult the western blot process is, like having to ship your blood across the country, Id put less trust in that process than the process that gave you your positive result

Hi, @Newbiehsv1g. If I were in your shoes, I would probably start with requesting hard copies of all lab tests, including the original ones. It'd just be good to see with your own eyes what was done in case there was a miscommunication.

Once you have that, you can pay to do a consult with Terri Warren and get her opinion (more info at the Westover Heights clinic website). It'd be cheaper than a western blot. For what it's worth, I did a western blot (I had a low index value on my IgG) and although it was definitely a chunk of change (I think I paid $250?), but Terri made it easy and having certainty on my status gave me a lot of peace of mind. It wasn't the answer I wanted to hear (positive for types 1 and 2), but I was glad I did it.