Herpes?

Hello, I've posted recently but recent update have occurred and I just don't know what to do....

Posted less than a minute ago

Worried about herpes...

I had unprotected oral sex with a new partner (partner 1) on 10th June, had no symptoms of any infection.

I had unprotected oral sex and inserted the penis into vagina of another new partner (partner 2) on 17th June, few days later I developed a sore throats with swollen glands to the point I was struggling to swallow, this subsided but didn't finally go for a few weeks, I did visit the doctors the week after and he said there was a lot of mucus on the throat but said to see how it goes.

Then on the 30th June I had protected sex with partner 1, at the time she had a cold sore so we only had sex and no oral or kissing, however we touched hands etc. A couple of days after this encounter I developed an itch in the anus and pubic hair, the anus got quite red and was sore when wiping but I thought this was just down to poor hygiene as I've had similar before, without the pubic itching, I did look and there were no obvious signs of blisters, there was a bit of blood at one point after wiping.

The sore anus has passed but the itchiness of the pubic area and anus, sometimes small burning sensation is still present which is now over 20 days. The itching comes and goes and isn't constant, there are no obvious blisters, or rash. I have also developed burning lips but this may just be down to them drying out and cracking a little, over the last couple weeks but there have been no cold sores.

I've visited the GUM and GP, had tests for chlamydia/gonorrhoea/syphillis/HIV for tests after 28 days all coming back negative. When mentioning herpes testing they just shrugged me off saying these aren't typical symptoms of herpes, so now I'm stuck and I've started a previous discussion on blood tests as that seems the only option.

Hi, @MS123. It's true that a blood test is your only option if you want to definitively confirm whether or not you have HSV in the absence of lesions. There are countless reasons you could have the symptoms you do--some medical, some psychological.

Keep in mind that it can take up to 16 weeks post-exposure to test positive on a blood test. Some people with the virus will create enough antibodies to test positive much sooner, but by 16 weeks, 97% of people who have the virus will test positive. Be sure to ask for an IgG blood test, as the IgM test is notoriously unreliable.

If the two doctors you saw do not want to order the blood test, then find a new doctor. It really is that simple! Otherwise you're just going to drive yourself crazy. :-)