Does this sound like Herpes??

Hi Dr. H, I posted a question sometime last month about HIV. I told you that I had sex with a few women (two of them being unprotected) back over a 2 1/2 month span earlier this year. Now throughout all this time I thought I had HIV because of the symptoms that I had, but of course your expertise and a final blood test my doctor did after 4 months put that scare to rest, which I am extremely grateful for. However I also had something of concern that I was dealing with, its just that at the time HIV was much more of a worry than herpes was. I noticed a few weeks after my last sexual encounter these small almost non-visible red-pimple like bumps on the head of my penis (they did not itch initally, only until I started thinking about them). I went to a planned parenthood where I was in pennsylvania and the lady looked at it and told me that I had  nothing to worry about that sometimes the glands in the head of the penis can fill up with blood that can make the bumps appear. At the time I did not worry, but about 2 1/2 months later they returned, and they did itch (maybe they started to itch because I was worried and I started thinking about them again).  Not only that but I started to feel pain sometimes in what felt like my urethra, and my entire penis and sometimes my scrotum would itch. So I then went to a clinic (now back in new york) but the doctor said that it looked like I didnt have any bumps at all, and to go get tested only if i have an outbreak. Now I then decided that I wanted to get tested for herpes, but when I called the local clinics they said they only test if it looks like i have an outbreak. So now i'm in a bind because I cant find a place that tests blood outright, and they only do a test if I have an outbreak. The bumps have since gone away again, and so i'm forced to wait until they come back if they ever do again, because I dont have the money to get a blood test done with my doctor since I am not currently insured.

So my questions are...


1) What can I do to effectively get tested for herpes at a low cost?

2) Do the symptoms I have, small red like pimple bumps on the head of my penis, itching over my penis and even some on my scrotum, some pain in my urethra sound like either HSV-1 or HSV-2?

3) How can someone manage living with the virus? Herpes is a virus I know nothing about.

4) can someone still have herpes and still have sex without trasmitting the virus, hense if I ever wanna have kids?

Thank you a second time doctor for your time!!

p.s. I have no blisters or watery like bumps at all on my genitals.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Your description doesn't sound like herpes, and apparently at least 2 different health care providers (including the one you refer to in your follow-up comment below) reassured you it isn't herpes.  Therefore, it isn't herpes, as far as I am concerned.  Indeed, the description sounds like a fungal/yeast infection, which explains the prescription for Lotrimin cream.

1) I really don't think you need testing for herpes.  But if you want it, there are plenty of health care providers who will do the blood test.  The cost typically runs $30-50.  (But many public health and community clinics don't offer it, because they can't afford it and many of their uninsured patients cannot pay for it. Unfortunate, but that's the way it is.)  But based on your symptoms and the diagnosis of yeast, I suggest you just forget herpes testing.

2) Nope, doesn't sound like herpes.  See above.

3,4) Herpes isn't fun, but most infected people have no trouble learning to live with it.  Yes, infected people can have sex and can have kids.  There are plenty of sources of information on herpes.  Start with the article in the link at the top of this forum, "STD Quick Facts and Articles" and/or information provided by CDC (www.cdc.gov/std).  Excellent information also is offered by the American Social Health Association (www.ashastd.org) and the Westover Heights Clinic (www.westoverheights.com).  (But don't spend too much energy on this, since you don't have it!)

HHH, MD

[answers28]

Oh yea one more thing, the doctor i went to see at the one ny clinic said that I have a fungus called tinea on the crown of my penis and to use lotrimin cream for it. Could this tinea be the cause of my symptoms? thanks again, best regards...

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Just to avoid confusion: fungal infection, yeast, and tinea all mean pretty much the same thing.  (Tinea is a different fungus than yeast, but it makes little difference.)

HHH, MD

[gracefromHHP]

www.tstd.org offers the herpes select for just under $100 - you call them , make your appointment and can get tested 1 hour later and results are back in 24 hours ( you can get just the herpes blood test - you don't have to order their full std panel ). It might be the easiest way for you to get a type specific herpes igg blood test. I think getting tested for it periodically is always a good thing if you aren't with the same partner long term. It's far, far better to find out you have it thru a blood test then it is to find out you have it after you've unknowingly transmitted it to a partner.  

grace

[answers28]

Thank you Dr for your input. I will take your advice and try my best not worry about having herpes, but this morning I woke up and had three extremely small pimple like bumps on my foreskin when I pulled it back (uncircumsized). It started to burn real bad when I washed with soap. I'm still getting a kind of numbness, wrinkly skin, and itchy feeling on the head of my penis even after using the lotrimin cream like I was prescribed. I'm still confused as to what this might be with all those symptoms that I have, yet I came back negative with a basic std check for hiv, syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia.

[answers28]

Thank you grace, I think I will get a test for herpes type 2 since I believe I have had type 1 since I was a little kid (have had blisters and cold sores in my mouth from as far back as I can remember). Thank you for your imput as well! I will try not to worry and take the doctors advice as well.