Help?

Dr. Rockoff,

I'm sorry, I know this is my obsessive-compulsive personality at work, but just one more question for you.  Approximately six years ago (yes, six), I experienced a bout of vaginal itching that lasted maybe 3 weeks.  No pain, no discharge, nothing else.  It ws the end of summer, hot and humid, I was working outdoors, and I was extremely stressed out about starting college the following month.  My boyfriend (the only intimate partner I'd ever had) got tested for STDs at my request & tested negative.  My doctor told me (over the phone) to use over-the-counter yeast medication.  The medicine worked at first, but didn't completely relieve the itching.  It went away as soon as I left for college (and my stress level subsided, along with the heat).  I've never had this problem since.  My question is, could this have been caused by a scary STD, such as herpes, with no recurring symptoms?  Or is it possible to have itching due to heat/humidity, stress (and subsequent stress caused by worrying about this!) and other possible irritants that went unnoticed?

Thank you so much for your help (and I REALLY have to stop looking at those "symptom" websites!  They scare the heck out of me!)

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Itching without a visible rash suggests heat, humidity, or worry, not stress.  I suggest you have your doctor draw a herpes titer, one of the newer glycoprotein-based tests.  See www.herpesdiagnosis.com for details.  A negative test will prove conclusively that you don't have herpes.  As an alternative to worry-inducing symptom websites, I suggest more useful alternatives, such as those devoted to heavyweight wrestling....

Take care!

Dr. Rockoff

[anxious333]

Dr. Rockoff,

I have to say, I was freaked out by your reply.  Did you advise me to get tested in order to alleviate my anxiety, or because you believe that a single bout with mild vaginitis, 6 years earlier, with no recurrences, is cause for concern?  Deep down, I know I'm just being extremely anxious, but I was hoping for reassurance, so I can quit worrying.  Thank you for your help.

[anxious333]

Again, I'm so sorry, but I'm literally feeling sick about this.  I just want to stress again that a.) I've never had unsafe sex - vigilant about protection, b.)my boyfriend has tested negative for STDs, and c.) This was a mildly annoying vaginal irritation/dermatitis, which went away by itself.  Can I stop irrationally worrying about this, which happened six years ago??

Thank you, and sorry for so many questions.

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

I suggested you get a herpes test, not because I think you have herpes but because I am quite confident you don't.  Of course, we can't go back and re-examine you six years ago, but we can do a test now that will shed light on what went on then--most probably nothing important.  If you have a test and it's negative, then you can be absolutely, positively sure that whatever happened three years ago wasn't herpes, and then you can finally put the matter to rest and stop thinking about it.

Take care.

Dr. Rockoff

[Smokinjoe]

I don't know of any man that will go get an STD test for a woman and "tell her the results"  If I paid to get a test I would "show" her the results and how much I spent!  You haven't mentioned anything about getting a pap.  Paps are very useful in identifying HPV, and other asymptomatic conditions.