Recently Diagnosed. Waiting for IgG results.

Good morning all. I just found out my IgM value was 12.8. I haven't received any news about my IgG index yet. I'm so scared. I'm confused. I'm angry. How can I know how long I've had it? I've been tested for STDs before but didn't know I had to request testing for herpes. I don't know if I had an anxiety attack or if I was experiencing symptoms of an outbreak. I couldn't sleep. I had cold chills and thought well what if this is that tingling sensation I read about. I've had a cough for a few months now, but so does everyone around me. I currently have vaginal itching and anal itching but I just shaved a couple weeks ago so I don't know if it's just my hair growing back (sorry for the honesty there).

This news is shocking because I've never had any symptoms of what herpes actually looks like. I do have hidradenitis suppurativa (20 years) but this looks nothing like the herpes outbreaks I've seen. With the hidradenitis I get these huge painful cysts on my groin, close to my panty line and I have inclusion cysts under the skin of my vaginal lips that itch infrequently. They look like nodules. So I honestly can't tell if this is new and I'm having an outbreak or if I've always had it and just now having symptoms or I've had this for a long time and these are my symptoms. I read that symptoms of an outbreak can vary and can mimic a yeast infection... I've had vaginal itching before and anal itching before but never accompanied by lesions or blisters and any cysts I get don't look like herpes. I have no idea what to do.

I have a billion questions. If my Igm index is 12.8 did I just contract the virus or has it been there for years and I never knew bc the symptoms aren't what I expect and I've never been tested before. If this is new and I'm in the middle of having an outbreak when should these blisters show up? Where will they show up? Can I have had this forever and not have any blisters or lesions at all? What's the purpose of the Igg? What is that supposed to tell me?

My husband uses Abreva for cold sores he doesn't get them often but if he does have oral herpes can I get genital herpes from him if he performs oral sex on me? I'm afraid to tell him bc what if he doesn't test positive and its just me! Then he'll think that I've been unfaithful. I just want wake up from this nightmare and everything will be back to normal. Please help me.

Hi, @DazedandKonfused. Yes, you can get genital HSV1 from receiving oral sex from someone who has cold sores (oral HSV1). It's also possible to have HSV (either type) for years with no symptoms at all, or symptoms so mild that they're mistaken for other things. Many, many people don't ever have symptoms. I picked up HSV 18-25 years before being diagnosed with it by a clinic that does happen to test for it routinely and I had no idea. I did, however, in hindsight have frequent itching and yeast infections. I know think a lot of those yeast infections were actually herpes outbreaks.

The IgM tests are unreliable according to experts, and their results should be ignored completely. God only knows why so many health care providers still use them. You'll find a lot of medical professionals are woefully uneducated about HSV. The IgG test is far more accurate and will tell you which type you have (1 or 2). Really, at this point, you don't even know if you have HSV. Plus, the majority of Americans have oral HSV1, often picking it up as a kid, so if you're not having any symptoms I would wait for the IgG results to confirm.

Ultimately, HSV is a nuisance skin condition and that's it. A great place to start getting educated is here on the H Opp site. I also really like the handbook here (as well as the author's full book): https://www.westoverheights.com/herpes/the-updated-herpes-handbook/

{{hugs!}}

p.s. This is another one of my favorite links. It's a great visual of just how common the herpes simplex virus is! http://projectaccept.org/who-gets-hsv/