herpes (mis)diagnosis questions

I had unprotected sex with a girl I did not know during the first week of July 2003.  Two weeks after that I got the HerpeSelect test and an HIV test done because I felt stinging pains in my genital area including on my penis, fever, and some pain in my legs.  My results were negative for HIV, negative for HSV-1, and negative for HSV-2 (I was also negative for the whole battery of other STDs).  Since then I have been in a monogomous relationship with one girl with whom I have unprotected sex.  During the first week of January 2004 (6 months after my last suspect exposure) I felt a stinging under the head of my penis (on the top, not near the opening).  It looked like a small cut.  It also appeared to possibly have 3 or 4 extremely small pinhead-sized white bumps on it.  I also felt some pain in my legs and feet, and general tingling in my genital region.  The affected area didn

[Alan Rockoff, MD]

1. Yes.
2.  I don't know, but 6 months should be plenty.
3. I doubt it.  But I think you just had irritation, not infection.  The tingling was probably from worry.
4. No harm, but probably no benefit.
5. No, it could be psychological.
6. Take yes for an answer.  Yes to life, no to doctors (at least for now, with the information provided.)
7. No.
8.  Get counseling.  You need to stop worrying so much.  You may need to modify your sexual behavior, your reaction to it, or both.

Best.

Dr. Rockoff