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Genital Herpes Scare
Hey Everybody,
Let me start by thanking you for your time. For the past four weeks I have been overwhelmingly concerned about my sexual health, since I've been experiencing a number of odd symptoms.
First off, I am a 19 year old male and have only been sexually active for the past month (nothing of concern prior to that). In the past 4 weeks I have had two partners. The first partner performed unprotected oral sex on me (she had been tested 2 months before and was negative for HSV-1 and HSV-2, and has never had a cold sore even until now). She has been tested recently and came back negative for all STD's as well. I also experienced no symptoms until a week and a half later, after I had two hours of protected sex with another partner (whom I had only met that night). The symptoms included a small red patch of skin and a small pimple (with a white head) on the top side of my penis immediately after sex. These symptoms faded over the next week. 9 days later I had sex with girl #2 for another 2 hours, which was protected except for the fact that mid-sex the condom fell off. I noticed this after about 1-3 minutes, and immediately pulled out before ejaculating. I asked this girl if she had any STD's, and she claimed she was clean. Immediately after sex I noticed red irritation on and below the urethra, and a pain during urination, but this faded after a few hours (the red irritation stayed, and is still with me 10 days later, but the pain during urination disappeared and never came back).
Exactly two days later, while in the bathroom I discovered a strange rash on the underside of my penis, on the shaft, about an inch below the glans. The rash wasn't large, only about the size of a quarter and located only the underside of my penis. The skin was slightly red, scaly and shiny. The skin seemed to bunch up, but never hurt or itched (i wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't chanced upon it). The skin felt raw and a bit more sensitive than the other surrounding parts of skin, but no pain or itching. Oddly, there were no visible blisters, but a number of what looked like cuts, which didn't hurt to the touch whatsoever. I also noticed tingling in the genital region after discovering this, but not before (I think in my overly anxious state I was imagining symptoms, but I can't be sure). I immediately made an appointment with my doctor the next day, who inspected the rash and said it did not resemble genital herpes (she also called in a colleague who confirmed this). The doctor advised that I treat it with vaseline, which seemed to help, with the rash disappearing for the most part 4 days after appearing.
However, 4-5 days after the appearance of the symptoms on the penis, I began to feel relatively intense tingling on my testicles, which was shortly followed by a red rash. This red rash worsened the day after the tingling first started, changing from simply red skin to raised red skin with slightly visible red bumps. The rash itself was well-defined, split into two seperate regions, both covering most of both the right and left testicles, with patches of un-irritated skin located between the two spots of irritation. These red bumps never blistered or turned into ulcers, nor hurt. But I experienced a rather irritating amount of burning and itching on the testicles. I once again had my doctor check this rash, and he claimed it did not present as genital herpes. I've been treating the rash with hydrocortisone 1% cream for the past 4 days, and it has decreased in redness and there are no longer any visible red bumps, while the itching has decreased for the most part. What concerns me the most is that yesterday and today the original site of irritation (on the underside of the penis) has returned. The site has reddened, and small cuts have appeared, which again do not hurt or itch. I have seen no blisters forming, so I have no idea where the cuts are originating from.
Also concerning is the fact that two days ago I developed flu-like symptoms. I have a slight sore-throat, muscle aches, a dry cough, and a general out-of-it feeling. I have experienced no fever (temp around 97.0-99.0), and only the lymph nodes in my neck are enlarged. The rash on scrotum presented itself 4 days ago, so there were two days in between the rash appearing and the flu-like symptoms occurring. The flu symptoms came on suddenly, having felt perfectly fine one night, and awful the next morning. The doctor took a throat swab to test for strep, and I had blood taken to test for mono. Overall the doctor said the symptoms weren't alarming, and not related to herpes.
However, since I have never had a blister from which a culture could be taken, I have no idea what I am experiencing. I trust my doctors, but they provide me with no other sensible alternative (the doctor said it could be irritation, but I had sex over 10 days ago, I doubt i'd have recurrent bouts of rash brought on by irritation, especially since I have not had sex nor masturbated since the rash appeared. It all seems too coincidental: 2 days after accidental unprotected sex, I developed a rash and cut symptoms, followed by a rash on the testicles and flu-like symptoms. I'm wondering if i'm experiencing atypical symptoms of genital herpes. I've read that if one does have a first/initial breakout, its the most painful, and symptoms last up to 3-6 weeks (I have no blisters and my rashes seem to heal with 4 or so days). I've also read that genital herpes in some people skips the blister stage and goes to the ulcers. However, the cuts I have had so far have healed without scabbing and/or crusting, the cuts themselves looking like small indentations in the penile skin, no bleeding, pussing, or pain. I realize that one must wait 3 months before getting a reliable test for genital herpes, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me if these are in fact symptoms, or if they match some other skin disorder, such as eczema.
If other symptoms come up or the symptoms I've had worsen, I will see the doctor again. Thanks for your input!
Let me start by thanking you for your time. For the past four weeks I have been overwhelmingly concerned about my sexual health, since I've been experiencing a number of odd symptoms.
First off, I am a 19 year old male and have only been sexually active for the past month (nothing of concern prior to that). In the past 4 weeks I have had two partners. The first partner performed unprotected oral sex on me (she had been tested 2 months before and was negative for HSV-1 and HSV-2, and has never had a cold sore even until now). She has been tested recently and came back negative for all STD's as well. I also experienced no symptoms until a week and a half later, after I had two hours of protected sex with another partner (whom I had only met that night). The symptoms included a small red patch of skin and a small pimple (with a white head) on the top side of my penis immediately after sex. These symptoms faded over the next week. 9 days later I had sex with girl #2 for another 2 hours, which was protected except for the fact that mid-sex the condom fell off. I noticed this after about 1-3 minutes, and immediately pulled out before ejaculating. I asked this girl if she had any STD's, and she claimed she was clean. Immediately after sex I noticed red irritation on and below the urethra, and a pain during urination, but this faded after a few hours (the red irritation stayed, and is still with me 10 days later, but the pain during urination disappeared and never came back).
Exactly two days later, while in the bathroom I discovered a strange rash on the underside of my penis, on the shaft, about an inch below the glans. The rash wasn't large, only about the size of a quarter and located only the underside of my penis. The skin was slightly red, scaly and shiny. The skin seemed to bunch up, but never hurt or itched (i wouldn't have noticed it if I hadn't chanced upon it). The skin felt raw and a bit more sensitive than the other surrounding parts of skin, but no pain or itching. Oddly, there were no visible blisters, but a number of what looked like cuts, which didn't hurt to the touch whatsoever. I also noticed tingling in the genital region after discovering this, but not before (I think in my overly anxious state I was imagining symptoms, but I can't be sure). I immediately made an appointment with my doctor the next day, who inspected the rash and said it did not resemble genital herpes (she also called in a colleague who confirmed this). The doctor advised that I treat it with vaseline, which seemed to help, with the rash disappearing for the most part 4 days after appearing.
However, 4-5 days after the appearance of the symptoms on the penis, I began to feel relatively intense tingling on my testicles, which was shortly followed by a red rash. This red rash worsened the day after the tingling first started, changing from simply red skin to raised red skin with slightly visible red bumps. The rash itself was well-defined, split into two seperate regions, both covering most of both the right and left testicles, with patches of un-irritated skin located between the two spots of irritation. These red bumps never blistered or turned into ulcers, nor hurt. But I experienced a rather irritating amount of burning and itching on the testicles. I once again had my doctor check this rash, and he claimed it did not present as genital herpes. I've been treating the rash with hydrocortisone 1% cream for the past 4 days, and it has decreased in redness and there are no longer any visible red bumps, while the itching has decreased for the most part. What concerns me the most is that yesterday and today the original site of irritation (on the underside of the penis) has returned. The site has reddened, and small cuts have appeared, which again do not hurt or itch. I have seen no blisters forming, so I have no idea where the cuts are originating from.
Also concerning is the fact that two days ago I developed flu-like symptoms. I have a slight sore-throat, muscle aches, a dry cough, and a general out-of-it feeling. I have experienced no fever (temp around 97.0-99.0), and only the lymph nodes in my neck are enlarged. The rash on scrotum presented itself 4 days ago, so there were two days in between the rash appearing and the flu-like symptoms occurring. The flu symptoms came on suddenly, having felt perfectly fine one night, and awful the next morning. The doctor took a throat swab to test for strep, and I had blood taken to test for mono. Overall the doctor said the symptoms weren't alarming, and not related to herpes.
However, since I have never had a blister from which a culture could be taken, I have no idea what I am experiencing. I trust my doctors, but they provide me with no other sensible alternative (the doctor said it could be irritation, but I had sex over 10 days ago, I doubt i'd have recurrent bouts of rash brought on by irritation, especially since I have not had sex nor masturbated since the rash appeared. It all seems too coincidental: 2 days after accidental unprotected sex, I developed a rash and cut symptoms, followed by a rash on the testicles and flu-like symptoms. I'm wondering if i'm experiencing atypical symptoms of genital herpes. I've read that if one does have a first/initial breakout, its the most painful, and symptoms last up to 3-6 weeks (I have no blisters and my rashes seem to heal with 4 or so days). I've also read that genital herpes in some people skips the blister stage and goes to the ulcers. However, the cuts I have had so far have healed without scabbing and/or crusting, the cuts themselves looking like small indentations in the penile skin, no bleeding, pussing, or pain. I realize that one must wait 3 months before getting a reliable test for genital herpes, but I was wondering if anyone could tell me if these are in fact symptoms, or if they match some other skin disorder, such as eczema.
If other symptoms come up or the symptoms I've had worsen, I will see the doctor again. Thanks for your input!
Thanks Grace! I was wondering if genital herpes symptoms came and went within a 4 day span, especially if this was hypothetically the first outbreak, and that it could still be genital herpes without a blister stage
This sounds more like a fungal infection than it does herpes. continue to follow up on it with your provider. topical steroids won't help get rid of a fungal infection.
grace
grace
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You are reading content posted in the Herpes Community
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
