Scared to death and frantically obsessed

[jjohnson1958]

Hello everyone, I have never been a neurotic person but over the last 5 months, I have become obsessed.  I had unprotected sex with my ex-girlfriend for the first and only time.  The next day she complained of pain when urinating and a rash.  She went to her doctor who diagnosed her with a yeast infection and UTI.  About two weeks later I noticed that I had a black dry ulcer on the bottom of my penis shaft where it lies against my testicles.  I immediately went to a urologist who said he couldn't tell what it was because it was healing (although never noticed anything before so not sure how it was healing) and gave me an Elisa IGG bloodtest which was negative for both HSV1&2. The next day I had some red painless bumps next to the ulcer.  I went to a dermatologist who thought it was a yeast infection and intertrigo.  He put me on diflucan which caused my testicles and penis to become red and inflamed like sunburn.  It hurt badly.  I also started to get shooting pains down my thighs and my skin became very sensitive to the touch.  After a week the redness in the groin went away but the bumps and rash where the ulcer was would not go away.  The dermatologist biopsied one of the bumps and it came back as psoriaform dermatitis which I understand is meaningless.  He ordered an Elisa Herpesselect IGG test at my urging at 11 weeks from exposure.  It came back as Negative (.5) for HSV1 and Negative (<.2) for HSV2.  He told me that it was definitive and to stop obsessing over it.   I then went to my PCP as a follow up who said that two IGG blood tests in 3 months, plus the biopsy was enough and definitive.  I was ready to put this all behind me until I woke up to lower back pain (which I've never had before) and pins and needles from my buttocks to my feet especially in the thighs and calves.  Everywhere I read on the internet says this is a symptom of genital herpes and I have never experienced any of those sensations before.   I am scared out of my mind and don't know what to think.  I want to rely on the blood test, but my body is saying otherwise and I don't believe that 3 weeks and 11 weeks from exposure was long enough.  I have never seen any blisters.  I just don't understand all of the things that have been going on with my body and I'm scared to death that it all seems to add up to only herpes.  Thank you for your time.

[gracefromHHP]

not likely an ob would come and go that quickly.

don't spend time on sites that tell everyone everything could be herpes and insist you have to keep testing over and over again and encourage you to mistrust negative results.  Really not worth that kind of mind messing :(

continue to do as you've been doing -  be seen when you have new symptoms.  If the sciatica continues, see a neurologist.

[jjohnson1958]

Grace, just one more question. The back pain and leg pain continued for a day or two and then I started to feel burning on a spot on my penis but didn't see anything. I woke up the next day and it was slightly red and I rubbed it while examining. A couple of hours later I saw two very red spots in that same area that were burning. I ran to my dermatologist who I got in to see about three hours later. It was completely gone. He examined my skin under a microscope and saw nothing.  He also looked at my blood test at 11 weeks and said I didn't have herpes. I woke up the next day and the pain in my back and legs was gone although I had a headache. Also no rash or burning. Is it possible that I had a 1 or 2 day OB with the redness showing for a couple of hours before leaving?  I was shocked when it was gone when I got into the dermatologist. He thinks I'm being a crazy hypochondriac however I know my body and what I saw. Thank you again.

[jjohnson1958]

Exactly.  It seems like most people including health providers turn a blind eye to hsv unless it classically presents itself.  It's a mentality of most people have it in some form so what you don't know won't hurt you. I'm more annoyed with the variability of the blood tests. They get your hopes up even in the face of symptoms but you always have to worry about seroconversion times, test accuracy, and igg deficiency. I wish I didn't know as much as I do.

[cal86]

Hi I have the same problem, lots of weird tingling down my legs to my calves, feet, buttocks, extreme fatigue and muscle aches, painful stinging tip of penis, a couple of odd pimples on my penis that took a couple of weeks to go but no classic blisters. Nothing like this before a risky encounter, I was negative for HSV 1&2 at four and eight weeks, going back for retest in a couple of weeks. The fatigue is the hardest to deal with. I'm convinced I've contracted it and am waiting for blood test.

[jjohnson1958]

Grace, thank you so much for your response.  I agree that I've been my own worst enemy.  I just know that I am dealing with different physical issues since this entire issue and it all just seems so coincidental.  The real problem is that there doesn't seem to be any end to this.  Based on research on the internet, the tests don't ever seem to be conclusive and I just don't understand that.  Everyone is different and I'm confident that I didn't have hsv prior to this encounter based on the results but I'm not confident that I don't have it now.  The lab states that the test is 99% accurate for specificity and sensitivity for both types but what about time to seroconvert?  What is the percentage of individuals who seroconvert by 11 weeks?  I just don't know how I'll ever have piece of mind as long as I deal with the skin issues and I have these weird nerve issues and back pain.  Thank you.

[gracefromHHP]

you are your own enemy from the sounds of things and I'd chalk a lot of this up to anxiety at this point.

no more herpes igg blood testing - you would've been likely to have had a very  obvious  and painful initial infection since you are testing negative. your symptoms have been seen multiple times and no one feels that they are herpes related. time to move forward from this, accept that you have a few skin issues and go from there.

grace