Herpes on Fingers and Penis

[vincent334]

I had a back outbreak of blisters on my thumbs and index fingers (left and right hand) 5 weeks ago.  Prior to that I had a sexual encounter with another for quite an extended period of time (say 4 hours) I was giving him quite a lot of handjobs during that period.  My question is, is it possible for me to get herpes on my fingers during that encounter?

Also recently 4 days ago i started noticing small white bumps on the mid section on my penis on the underside under the foreskin.  the bumps are itchy and painful sometimes but manageable.  Also, the tip of my penis is red towards the base (I believe they call it the Tyson glands).  It itches and hurt sometimes too.

I went to see a doctor concerning my symptoms and she said it is unlikely those are herpes because herpes symptoms are pretty classic with obvious sores and ulcerations.  I have been reading the posts online and realise that herpes symptoms can be very hard to diagnose but I have been HSV-2 negative 4 weeks ago when i did a IgG Antibody Test.  HSV Type 1 came back at 16 (IgG as well).  She did however prescribe me Acyclovir Cream to apply on my penis saying that it doesn't affect my condition and also anti-fungal cream as well.  

For the past 4 days, my penis shaft has continued to itch and hurt.  Question is: am I having herpes even though my doctor says it's not? I have been experiencing malaise and stiff necks for the past 6 weeks (it could be anxiety as well I know) and I have no way of differentiating if it is herpes-related.  Would applying the Acyclovir cream prevented my penis from itching and hurting for the past 4 days IF it was herpes I have?

Sorry for the long post but I am really hoping for some guidance and advice here to deal with my fears... thank you very much.

[gracefromHHP]

If you read our read before posting post on this forum you'll see that we don't look at pictures and don't encourage folks to post them.

You need to go and be seen if you have new symptoms.

grace

[vincent334]

hi Grace...

Am sorry to bother you again but just today I've got bumps on my inner thigh (the picture is in my photo album) and I was wondering if the are related to herpes?

Thank you for your time.

[gracefromHHP]

It's not likely that any of this is caused by herpes - most certainly not the upper respiratory issues.  follow up with your provider as needed.

grace

[vincent334]

Thank you very much Grace,

I am more concern about other things that herpes might cause.  For 8 weeks I have been feeling a sense of general discomfort and fatigue.  Losing appetite and a feeling of a tight throat (does swollen lymph node cause you to feel that?).  

Also, just yesterday I had a very bad sore throat with yellow phlegm this morning.  It seems to be getting better though so I'm not too worried about it.

Are all these caused by herpes?

Thank you very much.

Vincent

[gracefromHHP]

Since you didn't use the antifungal, why not switch and just use that for a few days and see if that helps. If it doesn't, then return to your provider.

So many things can cause malaise and stiff neck - it's the time of the year when there are many respiratory germs being passed around a lot as well as all that checking out your genital area and tensing up about it all can also cause the neck issues too.

Depending on what test you use depends if you can test at 3 months or 4 months most accurately.  Should you get a return of your finger symptoms, go and have them checked out too.

grace

[vincent334]

Thank you for the reply... Just something to add. I did not use the antifungal at all. Just thought that using only acyclovir cream and seeing whether it work would be indicative of herpes or not.  But you said acyclovir cream is rather useless on herpes symptoms prevention so I cannot be sure now.

Does general sense of malaise and stiff necks constitute part of herpes symptoms? or just bad sleep cos of anxiety? I am at week 8 post exposure.  Should I go to test on week 12 for hsv 2 IgG? I heard that 3 months is an accurate window for the test...

[gracefromHHP]

Yes you could get herpes on the fingers - it's called herpes whitlow. Unless you got the lesions cultured and typed at that time, no way to know if that was herpes or not or what type it is.

Acyclovir cream applied to the penis was just a waste of time and money :( It really doesn't do much at all and it's still way too pricey to make it worth prescribing.  Since you are applying acyclovir as well as an antifungal no way to know which was working if either of them had been ( which you say you still have symptoms anyways).  

At this point since you still have penis itching and pain, if you've been applying the antifungal for at least 3 or 4 days with no relief, return to a medical provider for further exam and testing.  You'll need to wait 4 months after your encounter that you think you contracted herpes from to repeat your herpes igg blood test.  If your last encounter was unprotected, be sure to cover the other std bases too.

grace