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What to do if I'm unsure if I have herpes or not?
Hello,
A couple weeks ago I received unprotected oral sex from a new partner. She mentioned she has had cold sores ages ago, but nothing recently. I should mention I have generalized anxiety disorder, and I am slightly obsessive compulsive.
A week so later I was with another woman, and we dry humped through our jeans for an extensive period of time before she left. No sex or oral. The next day I noticed two small sore spots on either side of my glans, where I have gotten friction burns before from rubbing or masturbation. I chalked the soreness up to that but then I made the mistake of googling, read about herpes and soon after began to feel a tingling sensation.
It was located in my urethra. The sensation lasted for over a week, and the sore spots on my glans cleared up in a day or two with no open sores, bumps, or anything resembling a herpes outbreak. But the tingling continued.
I went to see a doctor and got a full STD check which came back negative (they didn't test for HSV1 because they said it would come back positive anyways (32 year old made) who believe he's had cold sores as a kid. Also got a UTI check done a week later and it came back clear.
Two separate docs looked at my glans over the course of the week, but they didn't see anything that resembled herpes and didn't bother giving me the swab because they said there's no sores to test and that swabbing my urethra made no sense when there were no visible sores inside either from what they could see. It never burned when I peed, but I did urinate frequently (whether that was stress or not I'm not sure).
A week after this began my finger began tingling in the same fashion as my urethra, and I couldn't stop feeling the sensation. No sores appeared and the sensation went away after a week. And a few days after that my eye became sore and felt like there was something in it as well. Could I have transferred it to my finger and my eye unknowingly while I was looking for sores on my glans during the first few days?
So now I'm freaking out. Do I have herpes, or don't I? I know I need to wait 3 months to accurately test for HSV2 but should I get an HSV1 test now and see if perhaps it's a new infection? Do I need medication just in case I am infected? Without it being confirmed in me, what do I tell potential sex partners in the interim, "That I may have had a very mild herpes outbreak but that it's nothing to worry about"?
I will admit I'm very scared, I'm confused, and I'm really concerned. Any opinion on what to do, or what I can conclusively prove would be helpful.
A couple weeks ago I received unprotected oral sex from a new partner. She mentioned she has had cold sores ages ago, but nothing recently. I should mention I have generalized anxiety disorder, and I am slightly obsessive compulsive.
A week so later I was with another woman, and we dry humped through our jeans for an extensive period of time before she left. No sex or oral. The next day I noticed two small sore spots on either side of my glans, where I have gotten friction burns before from rubbing or masturbation. I chalked the soreness up to that but then I made the mistake of googling, read about herpes and soon after began to feel a tingling sensation.
It was located in my urethra. The sensation lasted for over a week, and the sore spots on my glans cleared up in a day or two with no open sores, bumps, or anything resembling a herpes outbreak. But the tingling continued.
I went to see a doctor and got a full STD check which came back negative (they didn't test for HSV1 because they said it would come back positive anyways (32 year old made) who believe he's had cold sores as a kid. Also got a UTI check done a week later and it came back clear.
Two separate docs looked at my glans over the course of the week, but they didn't see anything that resembled herpes and didn't bother giving me the swab because they said there's no sores to test and that swabbing my urethra made no sense when there were no visible sores inside either from what they could see. It never burned when I peed, but I did urinate frequently (whether that was stress or not I'm not sure).
A week after this began my finger began tingling in the same fashion as my urethra, and I couldn't stop feeling the sensation. No sores appeared and the sensation went away after a week. And a few days after that my eye became sore and felt like there was something in it as well. Could I have transferred it to my finger and my eye unknowingly while I was looking for sores on my glans during the first few days?
So now I'm freaking out. Do I have herpes, or don't I? I know I need to wait 3 months to accurately test for HSV2 but should I get an HSV1 test now and see if perhaps it's a new infection? Do I need medication just in case I am infected? Without it being confirmed in me, what do I tell potential sex partners in the interim, "That I may have had a very mild herpes outbreak but that it's nothing to worry about"?
I will admit I'm very scared, I'm confused, and I'm really concerned. Any opinion on what to do, or what I can conclusively prove would be helpful.
Let me first say that dry humping through clothes is zero risk for anything. Your receptive oral sex was very low risk. Almost zero.
Now on to your symptoms. They are absolutely not herpes related. The tingling you experience is not a symptom of a primary outbreak. Typical of reading the list of herpes symptoms without understanding the context. Tingling or crawling is when the virus is crawling it way back to the surface after it has retreated down the nerve path. Hsv lesions do not go away that fast. If you had a primary outbreak of hsv1 on your genitals you would absolutely know own it. Painful lesions most often a companies by fever, swollen lymph nodes and body aches. Severe!!
One more thing. If you actually had cold sores as a child (very common) you would be immune from getting hsv1 on your genitals.
You can relax. You did not get hsv from your single oral encounter and your symptoms only suggest you are worried and noticing every sensation that would generally go unnoticed. Definitely not herpes.
Hope this helps
Now on to your symptoms. They are absolutely not herpes related. The tingling you experience is not a symptom of a primary outbreak. Typical of reading the list of herpes symptoms without understanding the context. Tingling or crawling is when the virus is crawling it way back to the surface after it has retreated down the nerve path. Hsv lesions do not go away that fast. If you had a primary outbreak of hsv1 on your genitals you would absolutely know own it. Painful lesions most often a companies by fever, swollen lymph nodes and body aches. Severe!!
One more thing. If you actually had cold sores as a child (very common) you would be immune from getting hsv1 on your genitals.
You can relax. You did not get hsv from your single oral encounter and your symptoms only suggest you are worried and noticing every sensation that would generally go unnoticed. Definitely not herpes.
Hope this helps
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You are reading content posted in the Herpes Community
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
