Please, PLease give me advice!!

[jk0123]

Hi
I hoping I can get some help and some answers.  In May, because of my tonsils constantly swelling for a few weeks, my Dr. ran a mono (spot?) test..came back showing I have it.  However my numbers appeared to have been dropping and it looked as if I was getting over it at that point.  Around the same time I noticed what looked like 2 pimples in my genital area, right outside my vagina.  I am recently separated and getting divorced and just started having protected sex with 2  different partners so the second I noticed the two pimples I went to my gynecologist.  He ran all sorts of tests to ease my mind, including testing the pimple itself for herpes and blood work of all possible std's that he could.  Everything came back negative.  Over the next month I found more and more of these pimples, figured out for myself that it was Molluscum and went back to the Dr.  He confirmed it, I have molluscum.  Before I saw him I had pretty much popped every pimple looking thing and removed the hard white core on my own.  I was and still am very freaked out by the whole thing. The Dr. put me on Aldara and the pimples that I had popped now look like open lesions from the medicine cream.  I am literally beside myself and I don't know how long this will last!!  It is very upsetting to see what it looks like.  Ive never had an STD before and I was just starting to date after 9 years of marriage.  I'm 32 and I know I'm just getting over mono, now I have molluscum...I eat healthy, I exercise regularly, I'm not sure what else I can do to help my immune system.

In addition to that I was under the impression from my Dr. that once the pimple was popped that one wouldn't cause spreading.  However I think it is still spreading, now to my inner thigh, and I'm pretty sure I am getting one on my finger which I apply the cream with, even though I wash my hands like crazy.  I am a careful person, the few times I have had sex in the past 6 months it was protected.  I'm not sure if I got it from this past partner or if it's something I had that is now coming out because of the mono.  If you can offer any advice I would be grateful.  I am completely distraught over this whole thing.  Some of my main questions are I stopped shaving, when would it be ok to start again.  How can I keep it from spreading further?  Are there any activities other than sex, that I should avoid to keep it from spreading on my body?  What treatments for this are most effective? Will my body recover from this? Considering that I have mono, will that make my recovery time longer?  Is my immune system still compromised by the mono if my numbers appeared low in May?          

Thank you so much for you time! Anything you can offer me is greatly appreicated.

Sincerely,
JK

[gracefromHHP]

Don't even get me started on some of the bad choices I"ve made in the name of sex over the years...lol.  It'll ruin my reputation!!

I'd go ahead and try to pop the last 2 molluscum since you did well before doing that. Just wash your hands and your genital area well with soap and water afterwards.

Hang in there - these suckers will get better!!

grace

[jk0123]

Thank you very much for you reply..and yes, it is totally a sucky experience.  My girlfriends and I were totally planning on making sure I had a fun summer dating and enjoying life...lol, someone else had other plans for me.  It's to the point of having to laugh at my luck or I'd lose my mind.  Your response definitely made me feel better about the situation.  Im using this other cream the dr. gave me to heal the burns and infection the sores developed..and it's clearing up almost over night.  The pain has been reduced by 75% percent and the opening of the bumps seem to be healing over..THANK GOD!!!  I haven't found any new molloscum bumps since the first post.  Probably because I have become even more careful.  For instance I only apply cream with rubber gloves.  I do still have two pimples that weren't effected by the aldara and that I never popped.  Not sure what to do with those.  Should I pop them?  I am completely done with Aldara.  My dr. told me to throw it out and I did gladly! As for getting the two guys checked, the one (who I'm still seeing but stopped having sex with) says he was checked and doesn't have it.  The other guy is and was a complete jerk and I refuse to tell me anything about me or my std.  He'll automatically say I gave it to him even though I was married for 9 years and disease free. Not quite sure how I got involved with a guy like that.  Anyway, thanks again for you time and advice.  It is very much appreciated.  
jk  

[gracefromHHP]

It's not unusual for the aldara to cause so much irritation that it resembles herpes lesions. It can be very irritating for some folks. Covering the bases by testing for herpes is a good thing but it probably isn't. At this point the best thing to do from a herpes standpoint is wait and repeat your herpes igg blood test in 3 or 4 months just to err on the side of caution. Another option is to get the 2 people you are involved with to get tested for herpes with igg blood tests and share their results with you. If neither of them have hsv2, no reason to retest since your initial blood test was negative I believe you had posted.  

At this point since your molluscum is still spreading - I recommend going to a dermatologist to talk about other methods of treating it since you don't seem to be tolerating the aldara. Aldara can take several months to work as it is, if it even works.  I don't think you are going to be tolerating this much pain for that long by continued use of it.

Hang in there - this just all sounds like an overall su cky experience :(  

grace

[jk0123]

I have more questions please...I had been using aldara after my dr. told me I had molloscum.  I completely agreed with him that from what I had read, it's what I had.  Anyway I made my follow up visit with him a week early because the cream aldara was killing me.  The bumps from the molloscum which I had popped (and out came a hard white thing) all opened up as if the cream was pretty much burning them off.  Im in a lot of pain so I stopped using the cream for a 3 or 4 days.  When I first went to the dr. with the first two pimple looking things I found, he lanced one, cultured it and sent it out for testing for herpes, came back negative.  He also took blood tests, all negative.  Today when we looked at me for my follow, he said he needed to do another test for herpes because now it no longer looks like molloscum, it looks like herpes!  This is all so stressful, I should have just stayed married and never got any sex...anyway, my questions are these, could I have negative blood tests and other tests for herpes if I have it?  Does a herpes lesion pop and have a hard white waxy ball come out?  Can molloscum bumps open up from using aldara to a painful open wound?  Any advice or input would help ease my mind in someway...honestly Im going to make myself sick with the stress of it all.  My dr. did another test of the area and sent it out but the results won't be back until friday.  
Thanks again for your time
JK

[jk0123]

Hi thanks I'm not really upset over the Mono...I'm upset about having Molluscum. Although mono is turning out to be a problem too...I really cant believe this could take two years to get rid of.  That is why Im beside myself.  I left a marriage where I was lonily and miserable to find a new relationship and now I cant even think of doing so..and possibly for 2 years.  I can't catch a break. Thank you for your help.
jk

[auntiejessi]

Hi there -

I don't know why you are upset over the mono - that has nothing to do with sex.  If you are upset because it seems like one thing after another, I get that, though.

Molluscum is tricky, because it spreads easily, and though many doctors recommend popping it, I'm not a fan of that.  Unless you are doing it exactly as your doctor instructs, it can cause spreading.

It can take up to 2 years to get rid of it for good, and since you have mono, its not altogether surprising that you are getting more.  

Here is some good info on molluscum - http://www.ashastd.org/learn/learn_mc.cfm

Shaving isn't a good idea at all when you have sores.  Maybe you could trim.

Aj