Herpes serum igg (?) test

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Loop - 15 Jul 2003 01:02 GMT

Hi people, long time no post!

A good friend asked me today about the herpes blood test that she is
having done. She asked her gynecologist for the Western Blot and like
most doctors, he said he had never heard of it and ordered a herpes 1
and 2 titer test that also included either the initials IGM or IGG.

Does anyone know how accurate this test is? I was lucky and had the
Western Blot so I know definitively what I've got. My friend said her
doctor told her something about cross-reactivity and the test not
being accurate. She has had herpes symptoms genitally several times
and was never able to get a culture soon enough in the outbreaks,if
that is actually what they were. You guys know how hard it is to get
in to see a doctor in less than a week and by then most OBs are in the
healing phase.

Anyway, I'd love to know what you folks know about this older test.
Should she trust the results? She pushed her doctor on the Western
Blot but he said there was no way his office could order that test.

TIA for the info. I hope all of you good people are having a nice
summer!

Loop

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Angela - 15 Jul 2003 01:26 GMT

Hi Loop! :)

Has your friend thought about going to an Urgent Care clinic the next time
she has a flare up?
She'll be able to have her lesion cultured right away.

Here are some testing links:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/451062?WebLogicSession=PxNIxHTi1HqHTi38xEbnW
AznpLsUPsJZkRUE10vwu5iefx2nndo6|2558723703860310386/184161393/6/7001/7001/7002/7
002/7001/-1
(You might need to copy and paste that one since it's so long)
http://www.healthcheckusa.com/
http://www.westoverheights.com/freebooktext.html#diagnosis
http://www.aruplab.com/guides/clt/tests/clt_h17.htm#1194902
http://www.ashastd.org/pdfs/blood_test.pdf
(I would have your friend print that one out the next time she sees her
doctor ...)
http://www.ashastd.org/hrc/educate.html#findout
http://www.pockit.com/
(the POCkit is no longer available)
http://racoon.com/herpes/main/Testing.htm

You can find these testing links in the testing section on this web site:
http://members.cox.net/yoshi2me/Links/Links.htm

I wonder why her doctor is not willing to contact the University of
Washington Lab to obtain the instructions on what to do?
If that's what the patient wants ... that's what she should get. After all
... it's not the lab of the clinic that she is going to that will be
handling the results in the first place.

Keep Us Posted & Good Luck!!
Tell your friend to hang in there ...

~Angela

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PickingUpThePieces/

> Hi people, long time no post!
>
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> Loop

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Loop - 15 Jul 2003 07:25 GMT

Hi Angela! Good to hear from you!

I cut and pasted your post and sent it to my friend. I have no idea
why her doctor is such an a-hole about this, but he sounds like a lot
of doctors I've had in the past who weren't up to date on current
tests or drugs or technology and almost resented me, the patient, for
mentioning things.

I'd still love to hear from any of you about the accuracy of the test
that she is having or if any of you have personally had it and then
followed up with a Western Blot. I'm trying to get my friend to post
here, but I'm sure she's now lurking so maybe we can draw her out.
You guys were so helpful to me when I first posted. I think my friend
is still scared of the stigma, even though she is one of the lucky
ones because if she indeed has it she has only had a couple of
outbreaks in several years. I'm pretty lucky that way too but all it
takes is one to remind me of what a beast this thing can be.

Loopy

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Angela - 15 Jul 2003 18:22 GMT

Hi Loop! It's good to hear back from you. I'm always happy to help out in
any way that I can.

By the way ... I think it's great that you are such a supportive friend to
your friend. It's nice to see people getting out there and doing whatever
it takes to help themselves. Kudos!

Keep us posted and tell your friend I said: Good Luck! :)
Don't take "no" for an answer and keep pushing until you get to the bottom
of it.

*Hugs*

~Angela

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PickingUpThePieces/

> Hi Angela! Good to hear from you!
>
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
>
> Loopy

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