Penile Balanitis? Cancer? Herpes? Yeast?

[nyactor]

I'm a 24 year old, single, gay male. I have been experiencing symptoms down below for several weeks now and have been to the Ryan Clinic for Cheslea/Clinton twice, with different responses.  I'm paralyzed with fear and am consumed with finding answers.

On February 24th, I took part in oral sex and genital rubbing with a childhood friend of mine who I hadn't seen in years.  I hadn't had a partner before that in over a month.

About 2 wks later, I experienced severe itching that woke me up at night.  I got nervous because I noticed a small bump/pimple on my penis and another sort of pinkish area and started to research itching in relation to that.  I was most worried about herpes.  Then I inspected my happy trail and found a CRAB.  I freaked out, found several more, so I got RID.  I treated the area & shaved myself very closely.  I also trimmed my leg hair, and swabbed my entire genital area with tea tree oil.

Next day, I went to the clinic and had a male doctor inspect my genitals. He said it was surely crabs and would prescribe a stronger medication to make sure I got them all.  He said I should discontinue the tea tree oil too and then he took blood tests to see if I had another STD.  He didn't seem to concerned about the red marks and said that they were like little insect bites.

I used the Elimite he gave me, and I found more crabs, but I still itched (could be anxiety/imagination). I then read that crabs can affect all hairy areas so I repeated the RID treatement on the lower half of my body.  RID the 2nd time, because the marks on my penis were very agitated by the elimite and swelled up and became red.  There also appeared to be more of them - (1 right above,1 right below my urethra opening, 2 on the left side of my penis head.)  

THIS IS UNREALISTIC to describe 3 months of distress and going in to doctors in 2000 characters.  My initial post is located here: http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/485636?post_id=post_2747347.  PLEASE read there and HELP.!!

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

Absolutely nothing in your story sounds anything like herpes.  Herpes doesn't last that long.  The fact that it has lasted this long argues against herpes, but then nothing argues for it.   It isn't scabies either.  Most likely you had crab lice, and all the rest is itching, scratching, and anxiety.  People do tend to get aloof when you keep asking the same questions, even after they tell you the answer, especially when it's a good answer......  Please leave everything alone for two weeks, and show what's left to a doctor then, if anything is left.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff

[nyactor]

Here is the rest: A little over a wk later (26th of March), the area showed no sign of healing, so I got a walk-in appointment.  The sores had kind of crusted over & were scabbing.  They were never filled with puss & they never ruptured.  They also never hurt or looked like the herpes pictures I found online... still I thought it could just be a milder case.

I requested my results and told the female doctor the whole story.  I was tested negative for Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Hepatitis, HIV, etc.  But the doc I saw the first time DIDN'T test me for HERPES.  I was mad, demanded another blood test.  She looked at the scabbed over sores and said that it looked like scabies burrows that were healing.  The first doc said it wasn't scabies bc I would have had lots of red marks in other places like my elbows/wrists/anus.  But it scared me so I went home and did the overnight head to toe Elimite treatment, since before I just treated my genital area.


Test for herpes came back negative, but symptoms didn't improve (though they haven't really worsened) AT ALL with bacitracin ointment she gave me.  Went online & read that tests for herpes in the blood are sometimes faulty because it can take 3 weeks to 3 months for antibodies to appear in the blood.  It was three weeks or so after I began experiencing symptoms that the blood test for HERPES was taken.  Is this herpes? Read primary herpes infections can last up to 4 weeks.  Approached that boy I was with-  said he was tested in late January on his birthday for everything, but he denied that he had crabs so he's no angel either.

Did more online research & seems like it could also be a yeast infection, even though there is no discharge.  I have been craving chocolate & sweets a lot,  and I never really had a sweet tooth before.  I read more on penile yeast infections online, & i took the much publicized spit test first thing this morning.  (Found here & other sites: http://www.stopyeast.net/saliva.html)  The reaction of my spit in the glass was out of a sci-fi movie... it did that exactly what the site said it might if i had high levels of yeast in my body.  It webbed out in jellyfishlike strings and clumped together in cloudy particles that fell slowly to the bottom.  This happened within the first three minutes but I observed it for 15.  So this may offer some explanation/confirmation that it is yeast related Balanitis?  The dry pinkish marks most resemble pictures I have seen of BALANITIS, although I am circumcised so maybe this is unlikely.  Still, I am a dancer, so I am often in tight sweaty clothes for long periods of time.  I began applying monostat to the head of my penis two days ago and the marks seem to have lightened in color and become softer to the touch, but they are still there.

What are the odds of the blood test being wrong for herpes?  Would herpes symptoms last this long?  What is the likelihood of this being a yeast related infection that was heightened by a response to the elimite?  Or should I worry about greater things like cancer?  I have pictures of my current condition but I have no way of attaching them.  If you email me, or provide me with an email, I would happily supply them.  Please help.  I almost feel that the people at the clinic are aloof and I feel very alone in my quest for answers.

THANK YOU!