Do I have HSV 2 now?

January 2, 2012 4:18 PM

Had unprotected sex with someone who has Herpes HSV 2 and was having an outbreak on her back. Did not know it at the time. I am freaking out so badly I can not effectively google the topic and read the results. Please help me.

She has HSV 2 on her back and was having an outbreak. We had unprotected intercourse and oral sex but I did not touch her back and she left her t-shirt and sweater on. She has an outbreak approximately 4 times a year.

Today, she told me that she also has HSV 2 on her vulva but has not had an outbreak during 2011. This was news to me. She did not disclose this when she told me about the outbreak on her back. Over the last two weeks I have performed cunnlingus several times.

Am I at risk for HSV 2 now? Even though she did not have an outbreak on her vulva any of the times we had sex? What about when we had intercourse/cunnlingus when she had an outbreak on her back?

Please take it easy on me, I am freaking the fuck out. I have known her 10 years, she had been celibate for a long time, she is unable to have children. We were at a friends house, no condoms were around and we were not planning on becoming intimate, it just kind of happened. I know I made a bad decision but am just trying to explain what I was thinking.

I have already left a message on my doctors voice mail and hope to get in to see him tomorrow so I can talk to him, but I need some information, please help me out.

posted by Francophone to human relations (20 answers total)

Someone raised a good question over memail. Over the last two weeks I have performed cunnlingus on the same partner who has HSV 2, not another partner.
posted by Francophone at 4:40 PM on January 2

Herpes is usually focused on a part of the body. So, for instance, you can get an infection in your mouth and have cold sores, or you can get an infection in your genitals and it's genital herpes, or you can get an infection on your chest and it's called wrestler's herpes, etc.

So there's a good chance that you don't have it; even if she had herpes of the genitals, not having an outbreak reduces the chance you'll pick it up by a lot. That said, there are tests that can actually answer this question definitively.

That said, calm down! If you do have it, it'll be irritating, and you'll have to admit it to future sexual partners and take precautions to avoid transmitting it, which can be embarrassing, and you'll feel foolish. But it's not fatal or particularly dangerous, so there's really nothing to get worked up about.
posted by Lady Li at 4:54 PM on January 2 [3 favorites]

Yes, you are at risk. HSV 2 can shed asymptomatically i.e. even if there are no symptoms or "blisters" there are times that the virus sheds and can be passed on to partners.

There is every probably that you have already come into contact with HSV 1 and 2 many times and even the possibility that you already have it but do not have obvious signs.

It's a virus and nothing to freak out over. Unless you are immunocompromised this virus is unlikely to cause anything more than inconvenience for most people. There are treatments such as acyclovir for those who suffer from the disease to the point of discomfort or frequent outbreaks.
posted by YukonQuirm at 4:56 PM on January 2 [1 favorite]

From my understanding, it's much harder to transmit female to male
posted by Raichle at 4:58 PM on January 2

Oops, sorry, pressed post when I meant to press enter. Herpes typically enters the body through a weakened or chaffed area i.e. if you have an abrasion it makes it easier to enter. It can also affect you more when you are worn down. Watch for signs of tingling, inchyness or neuralgia. If you feel these in your genital area you could approach your physician and ask if they are willing to give you a treatment such as acyclovir. The sores will go away on their own. They are not connected to other illnesses in the way that HPV (genital warts) may be connected to cervical cancer.
posted by YukonQuirm at 4:59 PM on January 2 [1 favorite]

Go see a doctor and get a test. Don't freak out right now. What's done is done, seek a doctor's advice and expertise.
posted by anniecat at 4:59 PM on January 2 [2 favorites]

IANAD, but yes, you are at risk. At the same time, it's also entirely possible that you DIDN'T catch it, and you can't undo having hooked up with her, so take a deep breath and try not to worry about it too vigorously until you know for sure that you have anything to worry about.

Even if you did catch herpes, it won't be the end of the world. It's not an ideal situation, but nor is it fatal, and the suppression drugs are good. Either way, in the grand scheme of things, everything will be okay.
posted by Countess Sandwich at 5:00 PM on January 2

Here's Dan Savage's advice to a guy in a fairly similar situation.

Breathe. You're going to be ok.
posted by bunderful at 5:07 PM on January 2 [1 favorite]

seconding the advice to relax and calm down...herpes reacts to stress...you are much more likely to contract it or have an outbreak (if you already have it) if you're tired, run-down, or stressed out. do whatever it takes to take your mind off of it...and see your doctor.
posted by sexyrobot at 6:35 PM on January 2

Have you ever been tested previously for HSV 2? It is entirely possible you already have it and have never had symptoms.
posted by Trivia Newton John at 6:37 PM on January 2 [2 favorites]

Yes, breathe, and frankly if you want to be really worried you should be worried about the unprotected intercourse with someone who is not shaping up to be particularly trustworthy. I know you know this now, but seriously, never, ever, ever take someone's word that they can't get pregnant. Even if they're telling the truth as they know it, they could be wrong. I have had two different OBs tell me that I would have a very difficult time getting pregnant, would probably need medical help, etc., and I got pregnant extremely easy. You do not want to become a father like this.

Good luck.
posted by the young rope-rider at 6:47 PM on January 2 [6 favorites]

Stop freaking out. 70% of people already have HSV, and most of those never have an outbreak, or have one or two. Even if you have never been exposed before and were exposed now, and even if you did contract it, that is most likely your fate. It's definitely better to not have HSV than to have it, but people seem to really overestimate the danger and panic unnecessarily.
posted by namesarehard at 8:04 PM on January 2 [2 favorites]

If you want something to do in the meantime between now and your Doctor's appointment, go ahead and take lots of Lysine and Vitamin C supplements. It may help and it can not hurt. (too much vitamin C will make you a little bowel incontinent, not fatal. Google Lysine tolerances, but I think you are OK there, too. In the short term. I wouldn't maga-dose long term!)

Please Google to confirm what I'm writing here, but I'm pretty sure I am remembering this vitamin protocol correctly.
posted by jbenben at 8:14 PM on January 2

Have you ever been tested previously for HSV 2? It is entirely possible you already have it and have never had symptoms.

If you choose to be tested, you might want to consider the timing of your test. I believe even if you were infected, you might not test positive right away. Which might mean that getting tested immediately would allow you to see if you are already an asymptomatic carrier for HSV. If the results come up positive, well, you've learned something. If the results are negative and then you get tested after the latency period you'll have a clearer picture not only of your status but also its provenance.

Good luck!
posted by the real deal at 9:26 PM on January 2 [3 favorites]

If you're the kind of guy who is reassured by learning everything, this book is pretty good and in depth but still written accessibly to laymen.

You have gotten a lot of really good advice so far. Even the new and wonderfully specific serum tests aren't sensitive immediately after exposure so it would be mysterious for at least a few weeks if you were in fact previously uninfected.

There is however, one anti-viral that has shown some promise in working well enough at reducing latent infections that if used early enough it may reduce your friend's chance of ever developing an outbreak. Famciclovir has been shown to work this way in vivo as well as have efficacy at preventing a first outbreak in mouse models. If it were me I would go to that doctor with those papers in hand and this bulletin to see if they can get an off-label prescription.

It hasn't been evaluated by the FDA but its worth a shot.
posted by Blasdelb at 9:43 PM on January 2 [1 favorite]

"she is unable to have children"

+1 to the young rope rider: this is such a frequent misconception. Many people somehow conflate a history of PID, or a diagnosis of endometriosis or PCOS with "unable to have children", just because it was mentioned as a possibility by their family doctor. In general it's a crazy bad idea to inseminate someone who says they're "unable to have children", unless they've a) been sterilized b) had a hysterectomy c) have a developmental sex disorder that really precludes pregnancy. All sorts of other conditions that may limit fertility, are unsafe if you intend to stay child-free.
posted by roofus at 3:29 AM on January 3

Testing may be able to distinguish between a new HSV-2 infection and a previous infection -- IgG antibodies peak during new infections, while IgM antibodies are more diagnostic of older infections.

I suggest you look at this and Elizabeth Boskey's other material on About.com -- she consistently cites the primary literature, so you can drill down into the nitty gritty of the matter if that's the kind of thing you like.
posted by endless_forms at 6:41 AM on January 3

Damn, I got that backwards:

Many doctors will tell patients with a positive herpes IgM test that their test results mean they were recently infected with herpes. This is because herpes IgM antibodies, and IgM antibodies generally, are thought to peak shortly after an initial infection and then recede. In contrast, herpes IgG antibodies develop more slowly, but they are expected to remain high throughout the course of an infection.
posted by endless_forms at 6:42 AM on January 3

Addendum to Blasdelb's answer: out in the wild I am observing providers prescribe famciclovir pretty readily to prevent primary infection. This class of meds has a low-risk profile so going off-label with it when the research is both promising and logical (in terms of the mechanism of action of this drug) is pretty easy for a provider to get on board with.
posted by rumposinc at 4:39 PM on January 4 [1 favorite]

to answer your question most directly, yes, you are at risk. but I would question whether whatever rash she had on her back was HSV 2. HSV 2 is genital herpes and kind of by definition, it causes outbreaks in the genitals (80% of the time, the other 20% of the time it's oral lesions). Having an outbreak on your back would be quite unusual. Yes, you can get herpes lesions elsewhere in certain situations, I could go more into detail on when it happens and why but let's just say I have my doubts about this thing on her back being HSV2 (IAAD, IANYD). More likely to be something else - pimples? Shingles? Hard to say without a photo.
posted by treehorn+bunny at 11:40 PM on January 4