Please don't count this as a question, I want to get reassurance that if someone searches my name or any info I gave to be billed the $25 that my question will not be attached to me and anonymous. I read the privacy thing but talked a lot about third parties.  I'm trying to make sure this question won't show up if someone researches me before I ask it. Thanks

Your billing information and contact information is held in strict confidence and is not searchable by me or anyone reading this post other than the administrators who handle our billing and logistics.  Following completion of an exchange or three questions, whichever comes first, posts are available for others to read in order for others to be able to learn from the questions our clients ask but no identifying information is provided.  On occasion, we can also delete posts from the record.  In years of working on this and our MedHelp forum before this, there have not be confidentiality problems in tens of thousands of interactions.  EWH
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Ok thank you. I was married for 25 years and then divorced. The first 6 months I had two experiences and got tested for STD's just to be prudent. All was negative. I had herpes 1 but was told pretty much everyone did. 6 months later I got tested again and this time came back positive for herpes 2. I had a 2nd blood test to be sure. That was 5 years ago. I have never had any break out whatsoever even going through the highest stress levels in my life. I have searched but cannot find any studies about whether it's possible to never ever have a breakout. I have such high hopes that I may never ever have a breakout. are there any studies or do you know if this is possible? Or is it likely that at some point it will happen? What is the longest period of time without a break out that you know of? I hope you have good connections because I couldn't find anything on the internet. Thank you

Hi Carol,
It's Terri Warren.  Since your question is about herpes, I'm going to take it from here.  While it is certainly possible to have HSV 2 and not have recognized outbreaks, I think we should consider some other options first.  Are you able to get a copy of your HSV 2 test results?  There should be a number associated with your positive result (at least, most often there is).  Sometimes there are false positives on these tests and since you are describing no outbreaks, I just want to confirm that this is an accurate test result. 

Terri
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Hi. I called the Dr's office and those two tests are in storage. So I could not get the numbers. I can get them if I pay $25 to get them out of storage but I assume maybe it would be best to get retested. I will try to find a discrete way online to retest. in the meantime, my follow up question would be what is the most innocent way a person can contract herpes 2? I hope you know what I mean by that. what would be the most innocent skin to skin contact?like kissing would be more innocent than other sex acts for example. And of course even without the numbers can you try to answer the original question if you have seen people never have an outbreak for 20 years or never have one? Thank you so much

What is the most innocent way you can contract HSV 2?  Well, it isn't transmitted by kissing, it is truly a sexually transmitted infection. 
Have I seen people who have been infected for 20 years and never have an outbreak?  Yes, I have.  But more often, people are infected and don't recognize the symptoms that they have as herpes.  They don't realize that outbreaks can happen anywhere in the boxer shorts area, for example, so an outbreak on the buttocks or thigh or belly might be missed as some people mistakenly believe that all herpes outbreaks occur specifically on the genitals.  Some women get misdiagnosed with a yeast infection or UTI when it is really herpes.  And yes, some people just don't have symptoms.  But I think retesting is a great idea for you to get clearer.  If you pay the $25 and get the numeric results (and not all herpes tests have numeric results), and it is below 3.5, you are going to need a confirmatory test.  A new online test is probably going to run you about $75 and you can do it very discreetly, yes.  Whichever you do, when you get results, you can run them by me for more help, if you wish.
Best
Terri
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I received the test back quickly and after almost 5 years it did come back positive "high" at 1.55. So please answer the question about not having one outbreak, what statistics are out there if people can go without ever having one or not? Thank you

Hi Anon,
I'm sorry, your subscription allows for three posts and you are now past that.  I'm going to go ahead and respond but this is our final response.  There is an 85% chance that is a false positives.  The herpes western blot is the best confirmatory test to clear up whether this is a real or false positive.  And as I mentioned above, yes, some people just don't have symptoms.  If your question is how often, statistically does that happen, my answer is that 80% of those who test positive for HSV 2 antibody report that they have not had symptoms consistent with herpes.

Terri
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