Please help...

[worriedherpes2013]

17.5 weeks ago I had a one time unprotected encounter.  3 Days later I got a sore throat and a yellow tongue.  The next night I woke up in night sweats and had one night of chills.  Night sweats lasted for 3-4 days.  6 days after the encounter I felt pressure on my left side of my groin and lower abdomen.  For the NEXT 1.5 weeks my lymph nodes deep in my groin felt sore, I could not lay on my stomach or move in certain directions without a feeling of discomfort.  Extreme fatigue lasted a week or so.  I started to walk and run a lot and felt like my muscles in my legs (inner thighs) were becoming very tight for a few days.  There was an entire week where I felt like my neck nerve was hurting and into the back of my head.  After that, I began having neuralgia in my lower body and lots of muscle twitching in my lower body  as well as nerve pain for about a week.  I also experienced stinging pains in my groin, crawling sensation once.  These symptoms subsided for a week and then have flared up again, muscle twitches, dull ache in groin and sometimes in my butt cheeks.  I tested negative LabCorp Captia at 8.5 weeks for 1 & 2.  I have felt a few deep itches in my penis.  My anxiety, stress and depression levels have been astronomical for the past 17.5 weeks. 4 days of intermittent groin aches with muscle pulling in my inner thighs.  At 11.2 weeks I tested negative LabCorp Captia IGG for both 1 & 2.  At 11.5 weeks I tested negative for 1 & 2 via Quest Herpeselect IGG.  At 16 weeks one day, negative for via Quest Herpeselect.  When can I put this to rest CONCLUSIVELY?  I am reading on other websites that I may need to wait 6 months?  Any help is greatly appreciated.  Thank you.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Repetive, anxiety driven question.  Please re-read my earlier comments. EWH

[worriedherpes2013]

Ok, thanks very much Dr.

Would you say with 100% certainty that I do not have herpes?  

[Edward W Hook, MD]

My advice is based on your question, your test results and my understanding of this disease and how it is spread gained thorugh over 30 years of research and patient care.  

The idea of a "very high risk" individual is misplaced- 1 in 8 persons who have had sex with only one partner in their life have HSV but only 60% of those with more than 50 liftime partners have the infection- other than based on direct, KNOWN lesion exposure, trying to determine risk based on partner characteristics is a foolish thing to do.  Believe your tests and lack of meaningful symptoms.

I will have nothing more to say. EWH

[worriedherpes2013]

Hey Dr., thank you for your comments and time.  I need to add that this incidence was with a very high risk individual.  Do you base your advice on symptoms or clinical evidence (ie. visual symptoms and or tests)?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Yes. EWH

[worriedherpes2013]

Do you think I am safe to have unprotected sex with my partner?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Your question is repetitive.  As I said, NONE of the symptoms you describe suggest HSV.  In my opinion, further testing is a waste of time.  

There are NO STIs, including herpes, which cause electric shock sensations I the penis.  EWH

[worriedherpes2013]

Thanks very much for your comments.  I have a partner that I want to be 150% certain I do not infect.  At what point in time can I be 150% certain that I do not have this disease?  I would like to test one more time.

Also, I have had some electric shocks in my penis.  I do not know how all of these symptoms could be occurring and it NOT be herpes.  Do you think anxiety can manifest these symptoms?

Thanks very much for your help.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the Forum.  In reading your question, my sense is that you are over reacting to the encounter you describe and need to take a deep breath, relax and put your fears behind you. You do not know that your partner had herpes.  Further, while herpes infections are common, they are not easily transmitted and in general only a small fraction of 1% of recent encounters lead to infection.  Further, when persons get herpes, the majority of them develop sores and lesions at the site of infection.  his apparently did not occur to you and you now have negative tests for HSV at a time when well over 90% of recent infections would be detectable with the tests you have had.  

As for your symptoms you describe, in the absence of genital lesions NONE of them suggest herpes.  Rather they suggest the sort of symptoms that accompany the flu and other community acquired non-STI genital infections, mononucleosis, and anxiety.

My strong advice is to stop worrying yourself and move forward without concern for herpes. We do not recommend testing for herpes using blood tests in situations such as yours and in my opinion, you have wasted your own or someone else's money on the testing you have had.  if your symptoms are troubling you other than your concerns about HSV, my advice is to work with your own doctor to evaluate them but not to worry about herpes.  I hope these comments are helpful. EWH