Extreme misunderstanding with hsv1 diagnosis

Sexual health
1

So I have just been diagnosed with genital hsv1. I have only had one sexual partner my entire life who is my current boyfriend, he took my virginity. I have never had any type of sexual encounter with anybody else. My symptoms began about two weeks ago while on my cycle . I had on a pad which did not fit into my underwear correctly , so I started feeling irritated and immediately went to the bathroom to remove it. The sticky part of the pad had somehow flipped upside down and got stuck deep between my vagina. After I removed the pad I felt immediate relief, however I had two lesions appear immediately after. I initially figured I had gotten irritated by the pad and went to the doctor to get checked out. The nurse practitioner informed me that it looked like hsv2, genital herpes . I was 100% sure it was not hsv2 because I had only had one sexual partner in an exclusive relationship for three years and I would’ve probably caught that years ago. I then informed my boyfriend and immediately told him to get tested , so he went and got his blood tested , and his tests came out negative for both types . I am aware that blood tests can be very inaccurate if done too early.  It might also be helpful to know that we both experienced flu like symptoms around the same time I had irritation ,  I had a wisdom tooth infection which could’ve been the cause of my sickness. It should also be noted that I was sick first and after we had seen eachother he got sick after. He assumed that I got him sick and went to the doctor and was told he had a stomach virus . However if I was sick because of my wisdom teeth I know I couldn’t have caused his sickness because I couldn’t give him my infection from my wisdom teeth,unless I am unaware about an instance in which wisdom teeth infection causes a stomach virus . It should also be noted that he had a cut on his penis around the same time he experienced flu like symptoms.

When he got his blood tested the doctor looked at his cut and said it was nothing to worry about . So now back to the test results , his blood test was negative , however my culture test was positive and I know it is highly unlikely to recieve a false positive swab result. 

The main question here is how was it transmitted ? I know that hsv1 can be transmitted to the genital area via oral sex , which I did recieve a few times before the symptoms occurred . However , his blood tests were negative so that means that it could’ve been too early to detect the virus , which also means that it would be a new virus ? Or it could mean that he truly is negative .  

We both recently went on vacation in which We may have shared drinks with other people . He probably shared more drinks with people than me because I am especially careful about sharing drinks, as I don’t even drink after my own mother. I remembering tasting drinks with my own straw and never coming in contact with anybody else’s and I only did that maybe once or twice . 

Since this is obviously a new infection , could I have gotten the virus from one of my friends that I shared a cup with and then a week later used my own saliva in a sexual act? How likely is that ? 

Or is it more likely that my boyfriend who probably shared more drinks than I did , got the virus and infected me through oral sex? 

We have both never had cold sores or fever blisters and I know that doesn’t mean we don’t have the virus as it can lay dormant for a long time , but if I did already have the virus for a long time I could not have infected myself because I know that you develop antibodies which prevents self infection . 

So to sum everything up 

1. It’s likely very new

2. I had a positive culture 

3. He had negative blood tests

4. Could I have infected myself with my own Saliva a week after I possibly got it from drinking out of someone’s drink ?

5. Did he give it to me by sharing drinks and then a week later performing oral sex on me? 

6. Could he have always had the virus and just now given it to me after three years even though his test was negative meaning it is likely a new infection ? 

7. Could our sickness and symptoms that occurred at the same time be a coincidence or could that mean we simply started to show signs of the infection at the same time ?

8. Even though it is highly unlikely , could the swab have been incorrect ? 

( once again I have had only one partner my whole life which is my current partner, we are in an exclusive relationship, neither of us have kissed or had any sexual encounter with anybody else) 

My situation is much different than anything I have read because I have only had one partner and I know for a fact that if I got it , I got it from him or I somehow gave it to myself . 

2

I’ll be honest I really don’t know enough to answer your questions but I was diagnosed with HSV2 3 years ago and still don’t know who I caught it from. I was in a very committed relationship when I had my first outbreak and it’s either 

1. I had caught it from a previous partner and it had lay dormant until my first outbreak which could have been triggered by the fact I was moving House and stressed 

2. My partner already had it but never knew due to only have very mild symptoms. If he had an outbreak without knowing it I could have caught it from him then. 

The clinic said that there was no point swabbing my partner for testing as it can only be diagnosed during an outbreak. 

With HSV1 I know it can be transmitted via oral contact so I guess it is entirely possible to catch it from sharing a drink with someone. 

I think unless you’re doubting your partners faithfulness don’t get hung up on how and when you caught it otherwise you’re going to drive yourself mad and let’s face it it’s hard enough getting your head around having the virus let alone worrying about how and why xx 

3

Hey thanks for such a quick response !

I am not questioning his faithfulness at all, I am just quite shocked at how I probably got infected , it seems like such a silly way to have contracted it. That was The only time that I or him have probably ever shared drinks with other people ( he was in padre for spring break and probably shared liquor with multiple people and I simply drunk out of a friends cup) and that led me and most likely him to contract  hsv1.  I actually found myself questioning the diagnoses (although I know the swab is highly accurate ) because of how it all happened. 

4

Now I find myself constantly wiping off straws and silverware in restaurants and wiping off drinks I buy even though they’re brand new, now that I know how easily I have contracted it . 

5

The reason I am asking this is because when I told him about the positive culture he looked at me as if it was my fault ( which I guess it could be if I did give it to myself , but if I did give it to myself it happened during a sexual act involving him ). He was convinced that because his blood tests were negative it was an issue that I must’ve gotten myself into alone even if my only sexual partner was him . I was not very informed about how in accurate the blood tests can be until now. I have tried to explain to him that the blood test could have been a false negative because of how early it might be , but he just saw the negative as being negative and that he was good. I am getting my blood tested tomorrow to see if I also get a negative. 

6

We weren’t offerered blood tests at all so I don’t know much about those, I’m guessing we may be in different countries? Im from the UK.

I think if it’s still really concerning you then you should try and find a second medical opinion. We accepted what we were told and just dealt with it but that is the Bristish way of doing things lol. 

Herpes wasn’t even on our radar as a potential risk and to be honest since that first horrific outbreak it hasn’t had much effect at all. 

My main concern now is that we are hoping to start trying for a baby after we get married in September and I worry about the implications of HSV and pregnancy xx 

7

Yes ! I am in the U.S , I guess we seem to over worry about things here lol , or atleast I do , I have been an extreme hypochondriac since I was young , I use to read my grandmothers medical encyclopedias when I was only about 8 or 9 lol. I am also a pre-med student so I find myself extremely obsessed with this, especially since I plan to go into gynecology. 

But they do offer blood tests over here and from what I’ve researched , there is no reason to even have the blood test done because of how inaccurate they are. I am only getting one done to see if it comes up negative . 

Wow congratulations on your engagement ! I too want nothing more than to have healthy children ( in the far future) and that was the main reason why I have become so obsessed with it . It’s not so much about me because I know it’s just a thing that happens and probably won’t ever happen again since I supposedly have hsv1 . It’s more about me being able to reproduce healthy babies . 

8

I was the same I was obsessively researching the virus when I was first diagnosed but there seems so little out there about it! Even the doctors I saw seemed to know very little about it all which wasn’t too reassuring! 

As far as I’ve read HSV won’t affect the development of a baby or have any health issues unless you have your first outbreak during the first trimester of pregnancy. 

And also if you have an active outbreak you cannot have a vaginal delivery as it can be extremely harmful to baby if it comes into contact with the virus at birth. 

So I’m guessing if there’s any risk of an outbreak at the point of delivery it would be the case of needing to have a c-section...I don’t mind that really its just one extra thing to worry about I guess! Xx

9

Sorry if I missed this, but was your culture positive for HSV1 or HSV2?   Although HSV1 is typically what causes cold sores, it can be passed to the genitals as well.  If it HSV1, I’m wondering if he contracted it through sharing drinks and gave it to you through oral sex.  And the reason it did not show up in his blood test is because it was still too soon to detect.  Also, did you get a blood test too?

10

Hello ! I’ve kind of gotten off of here now . It was hsv1! I did get a blood test and it was negative . My doctor was very confused , in fact all the doctors and nurses were gossiping about the whole thing . I did ask him if he could’ve gotten it from sharing drinks and then given it to me through oral sex . My doctor said that if he had gotten it from sharing drinks he would’ve had an outbreak on his mouth , and he said he never had any cold sores . This is now just an unsolved mystery. However, I recently found out I was pregnant so now we will figure everything out for sure !