Symptoms question

[blues365]

Hello
I am mid 50's hetero male.  Recent sex history:
#1 - 9 weeks ago, uncovered oral (mutual), uncovered vaginal
#2 - 5 weeks ago, uncovered oral (mutual), covered vaginal

4 weeks after #1, but before #2 (maybe the morning after #2), I found the side of my left buttock very itchy.  Actually scratching it did not relieve that, seemed to make it itchier.  Thought it was weird at the time.  The next few days, the itch persisted. I looked but could not see anything - no rash, etc.  The 2nd day or so I looked closer and saw a very small red bump (less than an 1/8 inch) about 2 inches above the itchy area.  Could have been there from the start and I did not think much about it at the time - thought it might be a zit.  The bump itself did not itch.
Starting 4 days after the itch, I've had all kinds of strange physical effects.  The itching subsided but then I started to feel a lot of skin sensitivity on the left buttock.  Also, like a dull internal ache in the general area of the bump, particularly in the morning and when I sit.  For the first weeks, I had weird hip joint pain, weird pin poke feelings in areas of my back – all were come and go things.

About a week after #2, then I also started to feel penile discomfort, nothing severe.   Then I noticed a discharge - a translucent whitish one.  So I went in for STD tests.  A swab check showed white blood cells so they gave me a 1G dose of Azith.  However, the Chlam, Gon, and Trych tests done that day came back neg.  Since the dose my discomfort and discharge stopped.  I am not sure if this was/is prostatitis, or NSU from #2, or related to this other stuff.

All this 5 weeks now, the red bump has stayed and I still have the weird aches within the buttock, and off/on low back aches. No blister, or open sore.  Occasionally my right buttock will hurt for a while.

Does this seem like Herpes?  I last tested and was neg. for both types (Western Blot) a year ½ ago – no other symptoms besides these, since then.

[MarkFromOhio]

I've had the EXACT same sciatica symptoms from my recent scare. Negative at 3 weeks and 6 weeks, testing tomorrow for 9 weeks.

No blisters, just strange pain in the buttocks, lower back and general tingling. This never happend prior to the protected exposure.

There must be something more to this?

Chronic prostatitis/chronic pelvic pain syndrome? A non HSV virus? Anxiety?

So many others report the same symptoms yet test negative...

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

If you think a PCR that is negative would help set your mind at rest, then yes, you could do it.  However, I'm telling you really clearly that herpes lesions to do not stay around for 6 weeks!

Terri

[blues365]

Hi again,

The itching thing was only early on and below the bump by about 2 inches.  It's the persistent irritations in the buttock that are are "throwing" me.  Now six weeks in, the tiny red "bump" on the upper side of my butt is still there.  I've tried to look more closely at it.  It's not a zit, it feels slightly raised/hard and it's pinkish red.  Putting direct pressure on it brings a mild pain/irritation.

Particularly sitting (which seemingly is putting pressure pushing the buttock up) creates a fairly constant generalized ache/pain in that area.  Standing up, I get all kinds of other strange feelings in the skin on that buttock as well - feels kind of numb sometimes, feels oddly "moist" or cold, even a weird numbness feeling in my lower back muscles sometimes.  After not sitting for a while it backs off, for the most part.

Is there any value in having a PCR done on this tiny bump or am I simply way off base with this?  I've never had anything close to something like this before and every time I sit I am constantly annoyed and reminded "it" is there.

Thanks

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

I would agree that having symptoms as you described in the times that you describe would be extremely unlikely to be herpes.  If you ask a group of 100 people if they have ever had an itchy place on their butt, far more than half would say yes, they've had that.

Terri

[blues365]

Hi again,

Thanks for your feedback, it is appreciated.

Towards your question -
I'll preface all this with: I have battled a sexual behavior/addiction issue for some time now, partnered with a tendency towards hypochondria regarding STDs.  I did not make this preface in the other post as I was running out of typing space...  Until the NSU, I've never actually tested pos for anything before.  Anyway, I was doing well behavior wise for the past year or so but the two events I indicated in the initial post were me falling off the wagon, so to speak...

At the time of my last test, I had a weird irritation and inflammation in the cleft of my butt, with no good explanation for it from my primary doctor.    I went to Infectious Disease and that doctor told me he did not think it was herpetic but the best answer was the Western Blot (was 3 1/2 months past any sexual activity).

To this situation now -  the whole thing is just really odd.  From what I've read, getting initial symptoms 4 weeks past a possible exposure (event 1) is not normal and within 24 hours (event 2) is not normal.   I also know from the past, my brain's ability to somehow create physically "real" symptoms.  So, I with that said I am concerned but at a loss, per say.

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

No, these symptoms by themselves do not sound like herpes to me.  The fact that the antibiotic cleared up the discharge suggests that it was bacterial (and there are many bacteria that can cause discharge other than the ones we can easily test for these days).  

Also, if the bumps was herpes, it would not stay the same for 5 weeks, it would change and resolve during that time period.

Also, since you know that you were negative for both HSV 1 and 2 previously, I think that you would have noticed more significant symptoms should you have acquired HSV 1 or 2 during this time period, and those first symptoms would likely be on the penis skin rather than the buttocks.

May I ask why you had a western blot drawn?

Terri