Fungal infection

[mil1209]

First of all, I am a male, in his mid-40s, who is relatively healthy except for a positive diagnosis of Hepatitis B (but that is not what this post is about). I have been dealing with what I believe is a fungal infection since beginning of August. I had a sexual encounter a week before that. It was with a woman I did not know very well. We had sexual intercourse with a condom, and there was no oral sex. I asked her to penetrate anally, to try something new, and she did that, while wearing some kind of latex glove. We were in her bathroom which was wet from a shower.

Anyway, about a week later, I experienced a redness and itching at my penis head and anus, which also affected my left leg and foot. The left leg and foot also itched, burned, and tingled, although there were no outward signs of any lesions. I immediately went to the doctor and had a full STD panel of tests done - Chlamydia, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Herpes, Trichomoniasis - all came back negative.

The pain in my left foot got so bad I could barely walk or stand. I bought Clotrimazole cream from the pharmacy and applied on my penis and anus, and suddenly the left foot no longer tingled or had pain. I followed the directions for a few weeks applying the cream twice a day morning and night. I also used Apple Cider Vinegar as an anti-fungal wash. By the time October came, I was symptom-free in my foot and my groin, so I put it all down to a fungal infection of some kind.

October was great, I was back to normal. Then November came, and the leg/foot pain came back with a vengeance. I had slacked off on using the Clotrimazole because of the lack of symptoms, although I was still wiping my skin with the Apple Cider Vinegar.

Now it is Nov 23, and I have been plagued with left leg and foot pain. It is not as bad as before when I could barely stand, but it is still there, and the fact that the pain is still there means I still have a fungal infection.

Recently, my doctor said I have a candida infection, and gave me Diflucan (flucanozole) to take for 10 days. I just finished it and there was no apparent effect. Now, I'm not so sure it is a fungal infection. Urine and blood analyses done back in August showed no bacteria in the blood or urine. Could it still be a bacterial infection?

I am still going through various anti-fungal topicals - Clotrimazole, Miconzole, Tonaflate, etc. and they work to some extent, but the pain doesn't completely go away like it did before. I even started taking Caprylic acid supplements.

Any ideas on what else this could be besides a fungal infection? If it is a fungal infection, what other treatments are there? Enemas? Nystatin?

Thank you.

[mkh9]

I would wait for a diagnosis. Don't medicate any more that has gotten you into more trouble than it has helped you. That is my opinion. If you are still putting vinegar on the scrotum I would stop that as well. It is an irritant.
mkh9

[mil1209]

Part of the problem is the doctors don't think I have anything. The dermatologist won't do a skin biopsy, and she is all upset that I'm not taking HER seriously. Meanwhile, I am in great pain and discomfort. Other doctors think it's a fungal infection and with the ineffectiveness of all the prescription drugs, they are drawing a blank. I do not want to take Permethrin yet for scabies until I know for sure that is my problem.

[mkh9]

Well, I am talking about in the laboratory it is easy to diagnose. I understand it could be harder for the doctor to see what the skin problem is. But for Clinical Laboratory Scientists like me it is fairly easy to see once they have the Scabies skin scrapings. Hope the visit to the doctor helps.
mkh9

[mil1209]

I heard the opposite about scabies - that they are often misdiagnosed because they do resemble a number of other skin conditions. Usually adults only have 10-15 scabies so a skin scraping could miss one. And if you are looking for burrows they can be very small and itching would eradicate the burrows so they could be missed as well.

I also don't have a lot of confidence in the last dermatologist I saw. She already made up her mind that I don't have anything, including fungus. Even the urgent care doctor that I saw said he disagrees with her diagnosis about the erythrasma. I may need to see another dermatologist, but in the meantime I have an appointment with an infectious disease specialist on Monday.

[mkh9]

Hi mil1209
well scabies is easy to diagnose. Either they see the scabies under the microscope or not. They have a particular look. But your description sounds like eczema. I have it on my legs and hands sometimes and it itches so badly I want to tear my skin off. But I don't even touch it because the more that you touch it the more it itches. Allergies are one reason for eczema. And, not drying yourself well enough is another. Then after drying yourself after a shower putting on a fragrance free lotion right away helps seal in moisture.  I use Cetaphil restoraderm.  But that is for my legs, arms face and hands. In addition, I use another cream for my hands and I wear gloves any time I need to wash dishes or get my hands wet. I try not to wash my hands as much as possible. So I use a lot of nitrile gloves. It is costly for us.  I only got this a couple of years ago along with an allergy to many topicals. I never had all these allergies until the last few years. So maybe that is what is going on.
mkh9

[mil1209]

Thanks, mkh9 for all your input.

My scrotum itched insanely bad last night. Nothing helped - Clotrimazole, Nystatin, etc. I slathered a ton of Vaseline on the groin area and it helped a little. My skin at the groin is very red, looks like rash or eczema. My left thigh also got red and itchy, as well as the skin of my lower belly right at the belt line. I could feel a small bump at the belt line, and small bumps on the scrotal skin - these bumps itched like crazy when I touched them.

So, I believe what I really have is - scabies!