Worried about herpes

Hi,

I went to my local GUM clinic on Friday, and the doctor said I had herpes from a visual diognosis . Sad He also did a blood test and urine test.  

The symptons were little yellow spots on the rim of my penis, which have now disappeared. I contracted them after receiving oral sex from a girl.  Spoken to the girl in question, and she had unprotected sex (oral and vaginal) with a man 3 weeks ago, and is still showing no symptons.  She also has also said she has never had cold sores of any sort.   Surely she should be signing symtoms (symptoms) by now if she had been infected by the lad she was previously with?

Could the doctor have made a misdiagnosis? Will the blood tests be tested for Herpes or do I have to take the doctor's word on it?

I feel very cheated and frustrated at what is going on.  The flare up although happened after I was masturbating quite hard on the Sunday night. Could this have caused the spots / pimples in any way? (Yes, I realise I am clutching at straws!)

Thanks in advance people.

P.s. Apologies if I have posted this in the wrong forum.  Please move / delete as appropriate.

[Worriedlad90]

Just to add.

If I do have it (as 99.9 certain), will be type 1 or type 2 as I only received oral from the lady in question? At first I thought it'd be type 1 as it was oral, but she's never had any sign or mouth cold sores ever, so now thinking it is prob type 2.

Any help would be much appreciated.

Cheers.

[daisy315]

If indeed you do return a positive result from your blood test it will most likely be HSV1 unless you have at any time indulged in unprotected sex with anyone else in the past,just because something showed up after your time with this particular girl doesn't mean she is the the person who transmitted it, you see not everyone get symptoms so you may have been asymptomatic for either HSV1 or HSV2 until now ..... the good news is that HSV1 genitally is usually less severe than HSV2 genitally but the bad news is you have to protect others in the same way you would if you had HSV2 as it can be transmitted via both oral and vaginal sex  ......
The fact that someone doesn't show symptoms and never has is no definate indication that they are not infected,many people don't get tested for that reason alone and assume that not symptoms means no infection unfortunately with Herpes nothing could be further from the truth .....
You will find out soon from your test and can think about how to manage it after that,there is still the possibility that it's nothing to do with Herpes because visual diagnosis can often be wrong .......  

Daisy

[Worriedlad90]

Just spoke to the girl who I suspected I contracted the virus from, and she is negative.

This has confused me, and got me thinking that the doc may have mistaken herpes for something else?

Help?!

[daisy315]

Like I said visual examination is often wrong,it may be something totally unrelated to Herpes .....  either way it's best to get yourself tested :)

Daisy

[Worriedlad90]

Cheers for the reply.

Got tested last Friday, so just waiting on results!

[worriedperson1196]

She got tested for what? HSV1 and HSV2? Was it a blood test? The thing is even if she tested negative it is still a possibility she has it if she contracted the virus 3 weeks ago. It takes like 3 months for the body to develop enough antibodies to test positive. Thats what the blood tests check for..antibodies. Therefore, unless you or her had a swab test from visual sores you had then blood tests will do nothing. You will probably test negative because your body has not had the chance to develop antibodies for ur virus.

[Worriedlad90]

She has had no symptoms at all (ever), and was told by the doc it is unlikely she has it.

I had a swab at the clinic (last Friday) whilst I had visual spots.  Just waiting on the results! As it takes 3 months to show up, will I need to go for more tests in 3 months?

[worriedperson1196]

If you had a swab done on visible sores then the test should come back accurate. It is just blood tests that take like 3 months to be accurate. If your girlfriend didn't have a swab done on a visibile sore then she still might have something.

[gracefromHHP]

Visual diagnosis of herpes is often wrong which is why follow up is recommended. It's unfortunate that your provider did a blood test and an urine test instead of culturing the actual symptoms.

At this point wait until your results are back and then we can better help you.  As daisy already said, just a + hsv1 igg result isn't going to help you figure out if this is hsv1 genitally or not.  Odds are that if you test + for hsv1 within a week or two of the encounter on the blood test that it's a previously acquired oral hsv1 infection and not that what's going on is a genital infection.

should your symptoms reoccur, see your provider again for further evaluation.

grace

[Worriedlad90]

Update for everybody.

Got my results from the clinic today - negative for all the STI's I tested for (HIV / herpes etc).

Wondering what my next step is? They did a swab on the lesions, so not sure what to do! Do I have it or not?

P.s. I am in the UK.

[Worriedlad90]

Had no reappearance of blisters / sores, but penis has had a dull ache for the last week or so.  Also looks quite red (like a rash, although this could be in my mind as I constantly checking!)

Made an appointment to see my doc next week, but it is driving me mad.

Any help anybody?

(P.s Sorry for bump)

[gracefromHHP]

why the paranoia about all of this?

grace

[Worriedlad90]

Feeling paranoid because everything I've read and pictures I've seen point to Herpes.

Currently experiencing a dull ache in my penis (had it at least a week), had a slight discoloration on the tip of my penis, and woke up this morning sweating heavily.  

Got an appointment at my doctors on Wednesday, which is about 1 month after possible exposure.   What should I ask my doctor to do?   Had the blood tests, urine tests, swab done at the GUM clinic at the hospital and these have all come back negative.   Normally, I would accept this, but read about false negative, and like I said, still getting symptoms.

Perhaps it is all in my head and psychosomatic?

[gracefromHHP]

I think you definitely have a genitally focused anxiety as HHH likes to call it.

grace

[Worriedlad90]

Thanks for the reply Grace, but got to ask what a 'genitally focused anxiety' is?

[gracefromHHP]

anxiety about your genitals  that occurs after a sexual encounter.

grace

[Worriedlad90]

Thanks again Grace.

Like I have read, the internet can often give conflicting views / info on what I may or may not have.

What would you reccommend asking my doctor when I see them? Do I request a blood test in 2 months (3 months from exposure) ?

[gracefromHHP]

First go and be seen again. describe your symptoms and let them take a look at things. they'll decide what testing needs done next.

grace

[Worriedlad90]

Just been back to my doctor, and he was not sure about anything.  Being retested (by an urine sample) for chlamydia, and got prescribed some drugs (Trimethoprim) which I had pretty much had to plead for!  

Hopefully, this will clear it up.

[Worriedlad90]

Evening people,

Have been experiencing a dull ache on one side of my penis for the last 3 weeks or so now so headed back to the consultant at the clinic.  He was the one was visually diagnosed me as having herpes.  I asked him about the negative result from the swab, and said not to read too much into it (i.e. a false negative).  

Anyway, when I asked him if I had it or not, he was non-commital.  Got to go back for a blood test in 6 weeks (13 weeks since exposure).  Not had any sores / lesions since my initial 'outbreak' .

My question is, does anyone have any ideas of what the dull ache in penis could be?  Is this a herpes symptom or prodrome?

Thanks.

[Worriedlad90]

Anyone?

[gracefromHHP]

A dull ache in the penis can be from many things. Just aching at this point would be unusual from herpes.

grace

[Worriedlad90]

Just another question for Grace or anyone else knowledgeable!

I've been refrered to a urologist as still got this dull ache in my penis.

On another note, I've had red rash on the shaft of my penis which you can see you pull the foreskin back (uncircumsized by the way).  Also got what can only be described as 'wrinkles' on my penis.  I know you don't look at personal pictures so put a link I found on the internet which looks similar.   Get these symptoms for a few days, then they disappear and then come back.  Is this too frequent recurrences for herpes?

Link - http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/59/Picture_of_human_male_penis.jpg

Thanks in advance.

[gracefromHHP]

You need to keep following up on all of this with your provider. Not much else we can do here on a free online forum at this point for you.  We can not diagnose - you need proper medical attention for that.

grace

[Worriedlad90]

Evening people,

Went to an urologist yesterday about the pain in my shaft and he said I was physically fine.  Said the pain will eventually go.  As he is a specialist, I accept his diagnosis on that particular matter.

However, I keep getting what I can only describe as 'wrinkles' and odd 'blemishes' on the penis glans (glands).  I also have quite getting a large (painless and non itchy) red rash on the penis glans (glands) and shaft, but have had no recurrence of the 'lesions' I initially had.  

Any ideas?  If I were to be having herpes recurrent outbreaks would I get 'lesions' outbreaks where I initally had the 'outbreak'.  Driving me mad!

(Currently waiting on a blood test at UK GUM clinic in 2 weeks).

Thanks in advance.

[petal130]

I would second grace's post. Not much more anyone can do here, and you've seen a specialist. Perhaps consider keeping your face out of your lap as well. I'm sure if any of us continually studied our penises or vaginas, we'd be convinced there was something awry.

[Worriedlad90]

Evening everyone.

First of all, thanks for the support and advice on here. Really top notch! :)

Anyway, had a blood test at a UK GUM clinic about 5 weeks ago, and got results back - negative!  Understandly pleased, but was wondering if anyone could answer the follow:

1. Will the blood test have tested for HSV1 and 2?
2. Is it worth trying to get another test later down the line? (still getting dull ache in penis, but must be something else?)  I got blood tested at about 14 weeks post exposure.

[gracefromHHP]

I have no idea what test you had done. you need to call the clinic and ask for your herpes igg blood test results.

grace