Negative HSV IgG at 19 weeks but still having vaginal tingling and discomfort — could this be birth control related

Hi everyone. I’m looking for some input because I’ve been really stressed about this for months.

I had a possible exposure on 10/17. About 24 hours after sex, the guy told me he has HSV. He said he’s had it since he was 18 and takes antivirals, but honestly I’m not sure how truthful he was.

A few days after the encounter I went to my doctor. They did a swab test, and my doctor told me it was very unlikely I had HSV. The swab came back negative. As a precaution I was also prescribed antivirals and took them.

About a week later I switched my birth control to the arm implant, and since then I’ve been experiencing some symptoms that have been worrying me:

• Tingling in my vaginal lips (this is the main symptom)

• No burning when urinating

• Frequent urination

• Vaginal dryness and general discomfort

• Some vaginal odor that I never had before

I never had any sores, blisters, ulcers, fever, swollen lymph nodes, or flu-like symptoms.

I recently got an HSV IgG blood test on 3/5/2026, which is about 19 weeks after exposure, and my results were:

• HSV-1 IgG: 0.03

• HSV-2 IgG: 0.10

Both are negative according to the lab reference range. I’ve also tested negative for all other STIs/STDs.

My questions are:

1.	How reliable are HSV IgG tests at \~19 weeks after exposure?

2.	Has anyone experienced vulvar tingling that turned out to be something other than herpes?

3.	Could these symptoms be related to hormonal birth control (arm implant), BV, yeast, or something else?

I plan to test again at 6 months for peace of mind, but I’m trying to figure out what might actually be causing these symptoms since they started after the birth control change.

Any insight would be appreciated.