I had a possible exposure on Friday. I have scoured the internet for when STD symptoms could start to show and what to look for. Mainly herpes. This woman told me she did have herpes but no breakouts for quite some time and was on medicine for it. I stupidly did not use a condom and am now worried. 

How long does it take for symptoms to show?

What kind of testing Is available?

What type of test should I look for?

When should I test/when are they accurate?

If I dont see symptoms by a certain time is it safe to assume I didnt contract them?

The normal time from infection to symptoms is about 2-10 days. 

The testing you would want, if you test, is IgG or herpes western blot but you should wait 10-12 weeks before doing any testing for greatest accuracy as the test looks for antibody, not virus.  If you developed symptoms, you should have those swab tested for the virus itself.

About 80% of those infected with herpes virus type II are unaware of their infection so you could do a baseline antibody test now if you chose to do that but I'm not necessarily recommending that. The problem comes when people wait 12 weeks to test and they are positive and they assume that the infection came from the most recent person with whom they had sex. This is not necessarily accurate.

The symptoms that you should look for our source or blisters on a reddened base on the penis

Terri.

Would it be safe to say if I reach Tuesday/Wednesday with no symptoms I SHOULD be ok or is the cutoff to POSSIBLY be in the clear 10 days?

Is there an RNA PCR test for herpes that tests for the virus similar to HIV?

So I woke up this morning with a bit of a sore throat. I also woke up in the middle of the night with the shivers. I tucked myself back in and went back to bed. Do these sound like the flu like symptoms people get prior to an outbreak

There is a PCR swab available for herpes yes, a early blood test for herpes is not available, if that is what you are asking. 

It really isn't possible to know if your symptoms are herpes related or not but if I were you, I would be focusing on genital symptoms and less on systemic symptoms.  Symptoms can show up between 2 and 10 days so yes, they could show up in 8 days or 10 days - any of those.

Terri

Glad you were able to respond. Can you explain how the PCR swab test works? Yes, I was referring to a blood test. 

Thus far, 4 days have out I do not have any symptoms on my penis (knock on wood) with the average being 4-5 days how much do my chances lessen that I've caught it after day 5/10?

The PCR swab from a lesion is just something like a cotton swab (it isn't cotton) rubbed over a lesions and transported to the lab

I suppose the chance is 50-50 since you can develop lesions from 2-10 days after contact and you are at day 5.

Terri