Can 3 Doctors Be Wrong?

So here's my story.  December was a dark month.  In December I had 3 sexual encounters.  In order they were:
1 unprotected intercourse (Dec 21st)
1 unprotected oral (Dec 23rd)
1 genital-to-genital contact without penetration (New girl, Dec 31st)

Like I said, December was a dark month.

The morning after the final bout of stupidity (New Years Day) I noticed about a dozen red dots mostly on the left side but all around of the head of my penis.  I would describe it as if someone had taken a red sharpie and dotted it.  They didn't hurt, itch or burn and I wouldn't have even noticed them if I hadn't looked down to pee.  They weren't raised or otherwise problematic.  I went straight to an urgent care doctor the next day who looked very closely at the dots (including using a head mounted pair of magnifying glasses) and said he wasn't sure what they were but that they didn't look like herpes.  He swabbed the rash for herpes and performed a series of other STD tests including one that involved putting a swab down my Urethra that all came up negative.

The next day, in my Urethra, all hell broke loose.  The tip burned continuously and occasionally the whole thing was stinging.  The rash seemed to come and go based on how warm things were down there but the burning and occasional stinging in my Urethra kept coming.  The only relief I was able to find was urinating.  This seem to calm the burn for a time.  I had already scheduled an appointment with a dermatologist based on my ambiguous Urgent Care diagnosis so I decided to gut it out for another day and see what he thought.  

Upon showing the rash to the dermatologist and describing my problems he told me the rash looked like a yeast infection and that I might have a UTI.  He prescribed Flucosinol and a 7 day course of Cipro.  I was able to see my Primary Care doctor on day 7 after the rash appeared still having the Ureathra problems.  The rash was still present but fading.  The doctor said it didn't look and sound like herpes but that he would give me a prescription for blood work that I could use in a couple weeks.  I made it through about 10 more days of Urethral distress and went for the blood test (on day 17 after the rash appeared).  I requested they do an IgG and IgM at the lab even though I know the IgM is pretty useless.  It sounded like it could detect acute infection.  Both came back Negative

HSV-1 IgG 0.07
HSV-2 IgG 0.15

HSV 1/2 IgM < 1:20 (not reactive)

I've had a bunch of other issues during all this as well.  My back and legs constantly feel like I've just run a marathon and my penis starts feeling brush burned and getting inflamed in any spot that rubs against my underwear for more than a few minutes, especially the tip.  There is a mucous discharge occasionally after urinating.  I went back to the primary care doctor to discuss these new symptoms and showed him one of the areas of inflammation.  No blisters, sores or lesions other than that primary rash but a fair amount of burning and pain especially at the tip of my urethra relieved only by urinating frequently.  

The doctor recommended I see a Urologist and didn't recommend any additional herpes testing.  It seems like after reading this forum I should do at least one more blood test at the 12 week mark?

I should mention the only girl I actually had unprotected vaginal intercourse with went straight to her OB/GYN and tested negative for everything including herpes.  To me it implies 3 herpes scenarios:
  1. I picked it up from momentary genital interaction (and had a rash 12 hours later)
  2. The OB/GYN didn't perform the correct test or tested too soon (the girl claims she had an IgG test)
  3. I caught it from an old girlfriend (last protected encounter on 11/23)

1 and 3 seem nearly impossible but I don't know how else this could have happened.  I'm really stressing out  since the more I read this forum the more I'm convinced I caught it given the non-rash symptoms and friction inflammation that is going on.

[bobrope45]

your blood work for herpes was done way too early - it takes 3-4 months for the test to pick up antibodies properly. the igm should be ignored as it's not useful for herpes diagnosis.

nothing you mentioned sounds like herpes. and apparently it's no STD, since your examination covered stds. maybe going to the urologist as recommended is the best thing to do since you seem to have some "internal"  issues going on (burning, etc)

[VeryConfused2]

So here I am at week 5 symptoms (mostly) resolved last week except for the leg and back muscle aches with this weird quivering sensation that comes and goes in my calfs. My primary care doc performed a full STD panel at 4 weeks. All negative including:

HSV 1/2 IgG Ab Screen
Result: 0.38 combined
(apparently lab corp only does type specific if the combined screening is positive)

  On the recommendation of my doctor and Bobrope45. I scheduled an appointment with a urologist which was today. I'm very happy my problems have subsided but it meant we basically just talked. He seemed to think my issues were a combo of stress and mechanical damage.

I know he wasn't the right type of doctor but I asked him about this sore in the crease between my nostril and my face that started as an itchy bump 3 days ago, became an ulcer last night and hurts. He didn't think it looked bad enough to culture. I am hoping that I am imagining things because it seems odd to auto-inoculate a month in, I'm trying not to be crazy and it seems like a odd place.

Here's staying hopeful with a 4 week clear and trying not to stress about random symptoms. I'll admit the nose sore is still freaking me out.

[gracefromHHP]

lab corp does what your provider orders. You were ordered the non-type specific test so that was what was done. Your provider should learn the proper tests to order to better serve their patients!

indeed the urethral swabs can cause issues which is why we don't do those any more. Urine testing is a fine substitute.

at this point, no real reason to think herpes at all. Your rash didn't sound like herpes at all and your symptoms really didn't either. If you get a return of symptoms, return to the urologist to be seen for further evaluation.

grace

[VeryConfused2]

Grace,
  Thank you for responding. I was starting to happily accept my diagnosis when this weekend everything seemed to fall apart. Friday morning I woke up with terrible soreness in my legs and lower back. I was a little upset by this given everything that happened previously but I shook it off as paranoia. After about 48 hours of this the soreness suddenly went away. About 2 hours later the tip of my urethra started burning again and the area just around it became inflamed. This lasted for about 8 hours.  Afterwards the tip felt raw, almost like a brush burn. No blisters or sores to speak of just raw. Later that night the entire cap became wildly inflamed and burned like nothing I have ever experienced. I would describe it as what it would feel like if someone had set my penis on fire and it was literally hot to the touch. This lasted for about 5 hours and then settled down. Today things feel basically okay. I scheduled a appointment with my urologist first thing tomorrow but what is going on? This has to be herpes. Are the blisters coming? Was this my outbreak? I've heard people talk about a burning prior to an outbreak but it sounds mild from what I've read. I've never had anything like this before and I've had jock itch, athletes foot and molliscum as a kid. This defies any compare to that.

[VeryConfused2]

So I went in today for my 8 week blood test results and am even more scared.

HSV I/II Combined Ab Screen, IgG

Result: 0.58

Does this mean I'm building antibodies and will likely be positive by the 12 week mark?

So far my results have been:
17 days
  Type specific IgG:
   HSV1: 0.07
   HSV2: 0.15

  Combined IgM:
    Negative

4 weeks
   HSV I/II Combined IgG:
      0.38

8 weeks
   HSV I/II Combined IgG:
       0.58

What are my chances here given my symptoms and results? Is this test more sensitive to a particular type of HSV or cross reactive to something?

Thanks :(

[VeryConfused2]

I wanted to let anyone who's reading this thread know that it's continued here:

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Herpes/Confirmation-testing/show/1691823#post_7730298

[VeryConfused2]

At the 18 week mark I returned to my dermatologist with the usual raw soreness at the tip of my penis just outside the ureathral opening.  It followed exactly the same course as the previous bouts.  He said that the only skin condition he knew of that came with a podrome is HSV and tried to prescribe me Valtrex (generic). I requested a Herpes western blot to be sure before I started the medication.  

The WB results came back negative today.  

Is this finally conclusive?  The dermatologist still thinks I should start the Valtrex to see if it has an effect though that doesn't seem wise.  

I continue to worry about this being herpes (especially after the dermatologist conversation).  I intend to test at the year mark, return to my provider if something that can be swabbed appears and otherwise do my best to ignore the generalized symptoms.  I've also resolved, if I ever do end up in a relationship again, to discuss these events with my partner before any intimacy happens.  I don't know what else to do.  

Here's hoping to never seeing anything again.  Ironically the right side of my bottom lip has been totally numb all day (I was actually unknowingly drooling on myself at one point).  Obviously HSV podrome crossed my mind but that has to be astronomically low odds.

[gracefromHHP]

no reason for more blood testing for herpes from the encounter in question.

if your provider suspects herpes, they should be doing a lesion culture, not guessing or more herpes blood work.