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Herpes zoster or herpes simplex 2

I was home sick from work for a week with terrible pain in my rectum. Went to doctor twice.  On first visit they said all I had was a small hemmoroid and gave me hydrocortisone creat.  Week later I am in agony and only with a slightly larger hemmoroid for any symptom.  After two full weeks of various doctor trips and confusion a rash breaks out with blisters up the left side of my buttock. I went to a dermatologist and with one glance tells me I have herpes zoster.  He did take some fluid from a blister as well as culture to get tested.  The nerve pain on my butt and feet made sense with this diagnosis along with the headache, fever, depression that went along with it.  My rash has been gone for at least a week now but I still have persistent nerve issues in butt and feet.  So far I've been experiencing pain of various sorts for over a month.  

My question is - when I went back to the dermatologist for check in his lab result showed herpes simplex 2.  This doesn't seem to fit my symptoms and am wondering if it is possible to get a herpes simplex 2 result from a lab if I indeed have herpes zoster?
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101028 tn?1419603004
I trust no one unless they hand me a copy of their test results. If you are still with either of these 2 partners, ask them to please give you a copy of their test results so that you can confirm that indeed they were tested and properly tested. If you aren't with either of them, nothing you can do and so be it.  The only thing that is important to know is what you have and what any current partner has so that you can make educated decisions about what precautions to take together.

Are you on any herpes antivirals at this point?

diarrhea for this long ( not sure if you are having it frequently or if just your bowel movements are regular in numbers, just looser than normal and more urgent? ) can also irritate the skin and aggravate things. Hard to tell at this point if what your providers originally thought was a hemorrhoid really was and/or still is or if it was herpes, a fissure or something else. following up at this point with the gi doc/proctologist is the best course of action.  

grace

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Avatar universal
Hi Grace,  I hope this continues on existing thread if not, apologies I could not figure how to add on.  I have been with two partners in past year and both were tested and clean (or so they told me).  My pain started in my rectum, doctor told me infected hemorroid until rash finally came out on left side of buttocks and was told shingles...though lab test result said herpes simplex 2.  The dermatologist didn't even tell me the result I had to ask or how certain he was of diagnosis...but that perhaps is another discussion.  All of my symptoms did fit perfectly with herpes zoster and being told otherwise has put me in a tail spin.

Anyway, pain started early July, rash came out and lasted about two week in August.  I still have pain on my rectum (there is an ulcer that I can see), and suffer from nerve issues sacral area and feet. I am starting to get very concerned about this ulcer in my rectum.  The area feels swollen, I have little warning/time to go to the bathroom when I have to go and it is often diarhea when I do.  Does this make any sense for herpes simplex 2?  It has easily been two months that I've had this ulcer(s), with no relief.  It is often very uncomfortable for me just to sit down. I am going to my GP this week for full blood testing for all STD's and plan to go to proctologist too, but I am working myself up into a panic.  What is this that is wrong with me?  Worried about colitis, cancer, crohns etc.  But find the timing just to coincidental with everything else that has happened to me over past few months.  Any insights?  Thanks.
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101028 tn?1419603004
Actually it fits your symptoms pretty well.  It's not likely that the lesion culture showed hsv2 when it was really hzv.


Do you have a regular partner? Have they been tested yet?

grace
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