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Have to get this out, im going crazy.


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Hi guys. im sorry if i posted this in the wrong spot, im really anxious and scared. when i was back in high school, my best friend came to me and said that we had slept with the same girl. he also said that she had given him herpes. it scared me, i hadnt used protection. so i started examining my body very carefully, morning and night. i never saw anything, i thought that if he already knew this information, its bc he had a breakout, right? a few more years passed with no symptoms. it was still on my mind daily... so i went to go see some doctors in my area. i asked for all the blood tests available, i told them all that i thought i had been exposed to herpes. they all kinda seemed to blow me off. they asked if i had ever seen open sores on my manhood and all that kinda stuff. I honestly never once saw a thing. they all said i was fine, not to worry about it, and gave me tons of HIV, ghonorhea, HEP tests, etc. One of them told me that herpes tests werent very conclusive at the time, anyway? well, all my bloodwork came back negative and i felt like i was good. i felt like i had dodged the bullet.

im 30 now, and i had a big night of drinking and overindulging two days ago. i mean i really lowered my immune system good for the first time in years. i woke up yesterday with tiny red dots and blotches on all spots of my body, except for my penis. maybe there were some, but it really doesnt seem like it. i had a few small blotches in my pubic region. my face had a few red spots and was very itchy. i wasnt around anything foreign to me, and i dont have any allergies. i dont remember ever itching all over so much, since chickenpox. Today i got the flu like symptoms. i had soreness in the joints on the dominant side of my body, and i had chills all day. But theres not really any fluid or pus in any of these spots. at the most, a very few spots just look like ingrown or infected hairs. something has to be wrong. i have very clean and clear skin. i shower like i have ocd. ive been itching all day long and the itch is always right on one of these red spots. i know i have to go force the blood tests now. :( i just know this bad and its not just

i was just growing out of my rebellious, immature phase too. the girl next door that had adored me for years, the one that i overlooked bc im an idiot, has now stolen my heart. thank god she lives in the state i grew up in, and have moved from...we havent met up or made anything official. i called her immediately and told her everything. it killed me but i adore her too, so i would never lie or hold anything from her. now she thinks im “icky.” she had real ocd and washes her hands like every ten minutes, so i know its over. she’ll be my friend and i think she’ll continue to be here for me, but i know im going to have to watch her fall in love with another man now :”( ive never felt so sad. she was gonna save me and make me a really good man. God this is so awful.

I have so many questions. What are the tests i need to request? can they swab and do cultures if no sores seem open and oozing? what if everything is gone before i can get to the doc? if i ever find someone in the herpes community, are we just going to make each other's viruses worse? will we just ping pong the outbreaks off of each other like ive read on other websites? i just know something is wrong. i keep myself very fit, and the bumps and stuff seem to be fading quickly. but these are a different kind of red. they seem to look like they are on fire. are my symptoms likey to spread and get worse? ive seen the term “non genital hsv2..” could that be what i have if it seems like a full body rash? ive been researching endlessly and everything is so unclear. it sounds like these viruses can mutate into whatever the hell they want, and attack any part of our bodies any way they want. Anyway, thank you for reading and i hope i didnt sound too ridiculous. id love to hear from some nice people.

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Why are you worried about what some girl next door thinks?

Herpes ain't no thing. The vast majority of people alive have it- 9/10.

 

Go read the real stats and facts on herpes and you will realize that you are just lining the pockets of pharmaceutical companies by freaking out over herpes. Might as well just write them a check if you are going to get worked up over a harmless skin condition.

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@ch2017 Personally, I wouldn't jump to the conclusion that what you're experiencing is related to herpes. There are many things that can cause the rash-like bumps on your body, including an allergic reaction. Even if you've not had allergies in the past, you can develop them later in life. The fact that you overindulged and lowered your immune system can bring about a lot of things, not just herpes. No need to convince yourself (and the girl you like) that you must have herpes without finding out definitively from a doctor. When you get in to see the doctor, ask for a type specific IGG blood test. The risk of transmission from female to male is rather low, even without the use of condoms and antivirals. So, even IF the girl in high school had herpes when you had sex with her, it doesn't mean that you definitely contracted it. Good luck, and let us know what you find out. :)

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No, genital herpes would not cause a full body rash. Most often, genital herpes has no symptoms or has symptoms mild enough to go unnoticed. In cases where people have symptoms, they appear in the area that would be covered by boxer shorts, not all over a person's body. Many other things can cause a body rash (syphilis is one example, but many other non-STI causes, as well).

 

As for HSV testing, bear in mind that 80% of adults will test positive for one or both types of herpes simplex (type 1, type 2, or both) and blood tests will not pinpoint whether the infection is oral or genital. Only a swab test of a lesion can do that. HSV2 is generally assumed to be genital in the absence of symptoms elsewhere, and HSV1 is assumed to be oral if the person has not yet had oral sex or intercourse. Once someone begins having sex, if they don't already have HSV1 orally, they are vulnerable to contracting it genitally.

 

In the U.S., most people contract HSV1 over the course of a lifetime, either orally or genitally, and about 40% of people contract HSV2. Both are very common and incidence increases with age (with HSV1 rates increasing after birth and HSV2 rates increasing after people become sexually active). The CDC recommends testing for people who have symptoms in order to confirm a suspected diagnosis. However, most people do not have obvious symptoms that prompt diagnosis and treatment.

 

Some people do choose to get tested specifically for HSV before having sex with new partners. In those cases, it's important for both people to wait three months after last having sex before testing to allow for most accurate testing. After 3 months, IgG tests will accurately identify 70% of HSV1 infections and 95% of HSV2 infections. But as you have experienced, some doctors are reluctant to offer this testing in the absence of obvious symptoms. They will often site the fact that the tests are not super reliable. They are mostly referring to the fact that false *positives* can occur, though those are easy to identify because they almost always fall in a specific range (less than 3.5), and then there are also false negative (30% for HSV1, 5% for HSV2). And most doctors are aware that HSV is very common yet highly stigmatized and are most focused on treating those who have symptoms rather than identifying carriers.

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