Could my doctor be wrong about negative herpes diagnosis ?
Posted by: Alan in Contact Dermatitis, tags: About, Could, diagnosis., Doctor, Herpes, negative, Wrong
Two days ago I went to the doctor because I had some discomfort in my vagina and I thought I felt a bump on my labia. I thought it might be a razor bump but fearing it could be Herpes I figured I’d get it looked at anyway. She checked me out and said everything looked okay just irritated and that I had something that looked like blisters in my vaginal wall but that she had poked and prodded at them and I hadn’t reacted so it couldn’t possibly be Herpes because I would have been screaming with pain. She asked if I had done anything new and I told her I had tried the KY Intrigue heat. She went on a rant on how those things should be outlawed and said I had Contact Dermatitis. She didn’t give me any medication only told me to put a cold cloth to sooth the area and if it got too bad to use diaper rash cream, which I did use and it did make me feel better. I asked her if I should get a blood test to be positve it’s not herpes but she said it wasn’t necessary that the bumps did not act in a hepatic manner. I thought everything was fine but last night I got a fever out of nowhere and when I woke up this morning I had several more bumps on my labia. They don’t hurt and they are not liquid filled, they are just hard little bumps and my pubic area feels tender. This is only my second time shaving this area so I don’t know how bad razor bumps can get but this feels wrong to me.
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April 12th, 2010 at 6:54 pm
You’re describing dermatitis symptoms. I’m not aware of herpes causing a fever, which is why so many people don’t even know they have it. You can try going to another doctor if you want.
April 12th, 2010 at 7:24 pm
There is a lot going on here, so bear with me.
First of all, the previous responder is not quite correct. Many people experience a fever during their very first herpes outbreak. At this point, your body has NO antibodies to fend off the virus and so they tend to get “flu like symptoms” during the first outbreak.
A blood test at this point will come back negative if you’ve only just now caught herpes. A blood test looks for herpes antibodies in your blood, and if this is your initial outbreak, your body won’t have created enough antibodies yet for a positive blood test. You’ll need to wait several weeks (12?) before a blood test would be positive.
Visual diagnosis of herpes can be wrong. What you could have asked your doctor for was a swab test where she runs a swab over the sores and tests it for the presence of virus.
In this case, though, the symptoms you describe don’t sound quite like herpes to me. My intial outbreak (and most people’s outbreaks – if they are severe) are quite painful. While herpes symptoms vary from person to person, herpes sores typically turn into painful small open lesions, not just bumps. And given that the cream seemed to help, and that they aren’t extremely painful, I would agree that this is probably not herpes.
If it was me, I would
a) Never use that Intrigue stuff again
b) Be on the lookout for another outbreak like this one. If you get one, go straight back to your doctor and insist on a swab test.
c) Ask for a herpes blood test the next time you go in for an annual physical. It’s never a bad thing to know where you stand with STDs, and it will put your mind at ease. Know, though, that most people have oral hepres, and you will likely test positive for HSV1.
Good question.
April 12th, 2010 at 7:38 pm
1. A swab test is needed.
2. Razor burn can show up a day or two later and hurt/itch like crazy.
3. Herpes lesions hurt!
4. Watch for a recurrence and if so get rechecked, ask for a blood test.
5. Abstain from sex until you are positive you do not have it!
April 12th, 2010 at 8:00 pm
Even the first out break of herpes out breaks can be mild enough to feel like a bad rash with pimply looking blisters.
Herpes does hurt but it may at least itch very badly. If the out break was mild enough then you could have only had some mild discomfort when she was poking you.
It could be some irritation or allergic reaction from the KY, razor rash or in grown hairs.
You should ask her to preform a swab test on the lesions just to be on the safe side. I would not rely on just a visual. Herpes can look and feel different for every one who has herpes, no two cases will be exactly the same, or like the pics on the web or in the text books. It could look like one thing to one doctor then a totally different thing to the next doctor. Blood or swab tests are the only way to confirm what you have for sure.