Found out I have herpes/ Anus/ not vagina. Very confused

Ok here we go. I’ve been with my current bf for six months. We’ve had unprotected sex vaginally and anal. About a week 1/2 after our last anal intercourse my Butt started to hurt. I became constipated. I went to the dr and she gave me laxatives and then tested me for stds. Bf was tested a few months prior to us dating and he was negative. So they get my results in and I went in today she said I was negative for everything but my white blood count is low. I ask her to recheck my Anus because I feel more bumps then I had on Tuesday night when I first came in to the dr. She said visually she believes it is herpes and gave me valtrex. She said if the medication works that is a good indicator that I do in fact have herpes although my blood test was negative. She said since this is my first outbreak I haven’t developed antibodies and that’s why it’s not showing in my blood. Here’s my few questions

1) did I get it from my current partner? I feel like if I had it from my previous bf I might have had an outbreak in the two years I was with him and also more importantly we never had anal sex. Why am I getting my initial outbreak around my anus and not my vagina if I haven’t had anal intercourse in at least 6 years besides my now current bf. It seems more reasonable that I got it from him (current bf) since he is the only person who has had access to that area(Anus)and now I’m having an outbreak.

2) if it is my current bf and we have regular sex as well as anal why am I not showing sysmptoms in or by my vagina?

Also he is getting retested and I don’t get how mine is negative cause of no antibodies.. if he has never had an outbreak then wouldn’t his be negative as well? Since he doesn’t have antibodies yet??

Please help

Hi, @Denise226. Do you still have lesions? If so, I would get back to the doc asap and ask him to do a swab test. A positive swab and a negative blood test means the infection was recent. At this point though, we don’t know for 100% certain that your symptoms are from herpes.

Another option is to retest in 12-16 weeks and if you test positive on a blood test then, it’s likely this is a new virus. Keep in mind the blood test can miss some HSV1 infections. So when you retest, be sure you’re getting an IgG blood test and you find out which type you (may) have and the index value.

You should also know that taking antivirals can affect the results of a blood test. If you continue on Valtrex and retest in a few months and test negative, it might be worth stopping Valtrex for a couple of months and then retesting.

The blood tests don’t test for the virus itself. They test for the antibodies that your body produces in response to the virus. It can take up to 16 weeks to produce enough antibodies to test positive on the blood test (although some people make antibodies much faster and will test positive sooner).

The genital herpes virus lives in a group of nerves at the base of your spine. It can travel along any number of nerve pathways to exit the body (resulting in an outbreak or asymptomatic shedding). If you have herpes, then you’re having symptoms around your anus simply because the virus happened to choose a set of nerve pathways that led to that area. It’s common to get outbreaks in the same area, but it is possible one could have an outbreak in a totally different area (like the vagina, buttocks, inner thighs, etc.—the “boxer shorts region”) if the virus decides to use a different nerve pathway in the future.

Finally, it is possible to carry HSV and never have an outbreak or any symptoms at all. In fact, nearly 90% of those with HSV2 either have no symptoms or their symptoms are so mild they’re mistaken for other things (like yeast infections, jock itch, razor burn, etc.). I had HSV for 18-25 years before getting diagnosed and had no idea! But even if you don’t have outbreaks, you can still transmit the virus to others if you have it. Things like condoms and antivirals reduce the risk of transmission, but don’t eliminate it. Herpes is really common because it’s not routinely tested for, and most of the carriers don’t know they have it, let alone realize they can still spread it even without symptoms.

My two favorite resources are:

https://westoverheights.com/herpes/the-updated-herpes-handbook/ and

http://projectaccept.org/who-gets-hsv/