Hello,
I had a question concerning strange symptoms I've experienced over the past year and a half. In March of 2011 I had an initial outbreak of some sort in which symptoms included painful urination, enlarged groinal lymph nodes, and lesions of some sort in the penis/testicular area. The lesions were not particularly itchy or painful, but my first worry was herpes, given the symptoms.
At that time I was given a full battery of STD tests, though unfortunately no direct swab of the lesions. These tests included those for HIV, Herpes (Herpeselect IgG type-specific), Gonorrhea, Chlamydia, and Syphilis. At the time, I tested negative for everything, though since my blood test occurred shortly after a potential initial outbreak, I understood that I needed a later blood test.
Similarly, my then-girlfriend was tested for everything and came back positive for HSV-1 via the same blood test. My concern, obviously, was that I had picked up a case of genital HSV-1, though my girlfriend had been lifelong asymptomatic (no cold sores above or below) and did not realize she was carrying this.
Since that time, approximately 15 months, I had no other symptoms. A month ago or so, the above relationship ended, and I knew I should probably be re-tested. Weirdly, a couple of weeks after deciding this, I had another outbreak of some form which involved a raised, reddened area that progressed to include canker-sore looking ulcerations near the underside/base of my penis and enlarged groinal lymph nodes. The irritated area, again, did not really itchy or hurt (unless I mechanically irritated it), but I got another blood test (no swab, again, unfortunately), the same HSV 1/2 IgG Herpeselect test. Note that this would be 15 months since my initial outbreak in March of 2011.
My results came back again negative for both HSV-1 and HSV-2 (< .9 for both). I am somewhat baffled by my symptoms, as I am not really aware of any other condition which presents in this format, i.e. an area of irritated skin + enlarged groinal lymph nodes implying an infection of some sort.
My doctor seems to think that I do not have herpes, but I am not sure I am 100% confident in this, particularly in light of a lack of swab. My understanding is that I should have antibodies 15 months after an initial outbreak, however, and I have had no partners or sexual contact aside from the previous relationship described.
My concern at this point is that if I somehow have HSV-1, I may not present with symptoms for a long period of time (my reading indicates that many people with genital HSV-1 have extremely infrequent outbreaks, in my own case it would have been 15 months between first and second outbreak) and I would be left without a viable, alternate means of testing for herpes. I think my biggest issue is not knowing what to tell any prospective, future girlfriends in terms of my STD status as I keep testing negative (for herpes).
Thank you for listening/reading,
-Mike