Scared I have herpes

[losingsleep495]

Hello, about 19 days ago, a girl performed oral sex on me. We used a condom, but she spit on my penis a couple of times before she put it on. A few days later, I had a burning sensation before and sometimes during urinating. About 5 days after the contact I was tested for std's. Everything came back normal, except my IgM antibodies, which was .91, which is the lowest part of the range for indeterminate. I've been told that this test is highly inaccurate and that I shouldn't worry about having herpes.  About 8 days after the contact, I noticed a red bump on my penis. My urologist and another doctor both told me it definitely wasn't herpes. But I'm still worried that it is. It's been 19 days now, and I'm still having burning (mild) when I urinate and the red bump is still there but it has not turned into an open sore or anything. I recently masturbated and it burned during ejaculation (not after) and it burned after ejaculation about 10 days ago.  Also, I have a recent history of prostatitis, but my urologist examined me recently and said it doesn't feel inflamed. My doctor told me that I could still have symptoms from prostatitis even though it's not inflamed anymore. But my prostatitis symptoms weren't as persistent in terms of burning during urination, and I never had burning during ejaculation. She also said that my anxiety could be making it worse. I also had the penis swab to check for chlamydia and gonnorhea, and both came back normal. I'm supposed to get tested for herpes again in a couple of weeks (4-5 weeks after contact).

I've been losing a lot of sleep over this, and it's affecting me at work. This is really bad timing for me as I just started at a job I like a lot and I'm about to graduate with a degree in finance. But now, all I can think about is the possibility of having herpes. I'm getting very depressed about it, because I'm not sure how I would explain that to a future love interest

My question to you is, should I be worried that this is herpes? It's really driving me crazy!

P.S. I don't have any other symptoms like flu like symptoms or swollen lymph gland, and there was never any skin to skin contact.

Thank You in advance for your help

Mo

[gracefromHHP]

the igm test for herpes has a very high false positive rate. current cdc recommendations are that it not be used on adults for the purpose of diagnosing herpes.

you need to continue going back to be seen if you are still having symptoms. the urologist is the best one to follow up on. std testing at 5 days post encounter was too early for almost all std's. you should consider repeating them later on.  

grace

[losingsleep495]

I have one other question. I know that everybody says the IgM test is garbage and a waste of time, but I've also read that it does tell you that you have either HSV-1 or HSV-2, but it can't distinguish which one you have.  When I got tested recently (5 days after contact), both IgG numbers were very low, and my IgG number was .91 (which is the low end of indeterminate). Does this mean that I definitely have HSV-1 or HSV-2? Or is it possible that I still don't have either one? I won't be devastated if I have oral HSV-1, but obviously I'd rather not have either one.  By the way, thank you petal130, I did look at many of the expert posts and I feel 100 times better about my situation. Thank you and franklin so much for your feedback. You both seem like very caring people. I appreciate it


P.S. Besides the encounter I described above, I haven't had any sexual contact of any kind in over 6 months.

[petal130]

This was not a risk for herpes. You can find many, many posts just like this on the expert's STDs forum if you want further reassurance.

[losingsleep495]

Thank for your response. I have one other question for you though. My primary care physician said that if the girl had an outbreak (sometimes it's in the mouth or throat and you can't see it), than it's possible to get herpes from just saliva. Do you know if that's true? Because from what I've read, there has to be skin to skin contact.

I appreciate your comments, it rally has put my mind at ease for the most part.

Take care

[franklinandbash]

Your anxiety is definitely getting the better of you. One time Oral sex overall is extremely low risk for  hsv1 genitally. Protected oral sex reduces that risk to nothing. The spit beforehand would not have transferred herpes to you. You did not contract herpes from this encounter. After describing your symptoms my first thought was prostatitis and sure enough you have had recent problems.  Keep following up on that as your symptoms seem related to that. I myself have it and get burning occasionally during urination and ejaculation.  Hope this helps.

[franklinandbash]

Your anxiety is definitely getting the better of you. One time Oral sex overall is extremely low risk for  hsv1 genitally. Protected oral sex reduces that risk to nothing. The spit beforehand would not have transferred herpes to you. You did not contract herpes from this encounter. After describing your symptoms my first thought was prostatitis and sure enough you have had recent problems.  Keep following up on that as your symptoms seem related to that. I myself have it and get burning occasionally during urination and ejaculation.  Hope this helps.