Herpes Symptoms?

[ashpot]

Hi, I recently had protected sex with a girl that I am seeing. She has told me that she has never had an STD, nor has she had any symptoms of one, however she has said that she has bouts of Vaginitis, which she has had since she was a teenager and she has gotten from sex a few times.

Less than a week after I had sex with her (approximately 5 days) I began to feel itching/burning/pain in my pubic area under my pubic hair. I have been feeling this for approximately 8 days now. It is very mild, there isn't that much pain. Its generally just a feeling  of discomfort in that area. I also have pain on either side of my legs right near the pelvis. Just today I started feeling pain in my lower legs, buttocks and a bit in my lower back. I have the same kind of feeling that I have in my pubic region on the bottom of my testicles, kind of a skin irritation feeling, and discomfort

I don't have any other symptoms, no lesions nor sores nor redness, nor burning during urination.

I went to see a Doctor who prescribed me cream for yeast infection, but he only just glanced at my groin and made this diagnosis because he did not see any rash or anything. I did not tell him about the pain in my legs and buttocks because I didn't have those symptom at that time.

Could this be anything other than Genital Herpes? Is there any testing I should get done?

I have not used the cream he prescribed me yet, I just got it today.


Thank you for your help

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Now this IS belaboring a point.  This information also makes no difference in my opinion or advice.  You are grasping at straws in an apparent attempt to convince me, and perhaps yourself, that you have genital herpes.  You do not.

I won't have any further advice, unless you choose to return to post your HSV blood test results, if you go ahead with testing.  Until then I will delete any further comments or questions on this thread.  Try to accept the reassurance I am trying to give you and move on.

[ashpot]

Thank you Doctor, unfortunately however I have had some developments since yesterday and I'm thinking now that it makes sense with some information that left out yesterday.

Firstly, I had oral sex without a condom with this same girl, but she didn't put her mouth on anything other than my penis, where I had none of the itching and burning, I only had these symptoms in my pubic area and testicles. I guess I jumped to conclusions then when I figured my symptoms must have been from sex, because I thought the symptoms only came from the point of contact.

I noticed yesterday night, but thought nothing of it, that my lips were very dry. Today when I woke up I had a sore on the side of my tongue. Its a very slight, bump and very hadr to see, but I can feel that there is a sore there. My lips are still very dry and I can see on very very close inspection slight redness, maybe red craters that look like chapped lips, but I guess could be something else.

Please let me know what you think of these developments.

Thank you.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

It isn't "belaboring the point" -- but the additional information does not change my opinionn or advice.  Whatever the cause of your symptoms, for sure it isn't herpes or any other STD.  Believe it.  As I said, you could be tested for HSV infection.  But be clear:  if you were to test positive, it would not explain your symptoms.  It would show that you have asymptomatic herpes plus still something else that explains these symptoms.

Please look at this as good news, i.e. you don't have herpes.  Most people can learn to live with unexplained symptoms once they become convinced they don't mean any serious health problem.  I truly believe this is not anything at all, certainly no STD, and entirely unrelated to your new sexual partnership -- except possibly through the psychological link to those sexual exposures, as I noted above.

[ashpot]

Thank you for your reply, I really appreciate it.

I just want to clarify a few things that may not change your answer, but I think are at least worth stating.

The initial pain in my legs was probably due to some exercise that I did over the weekend. I stated this in an earlier post in the herpes community forum.

However, I generally only have pain in my right leg,  right buttocks and lower back. Right now it is a sustained ache/stiffness in the back of my thigh. I don't ever have pain in both legs at the same time and its pretty much never the left side. It is also too generalized to be associated with the exercise I was doing. All other symptoms came before the exercise.

Also, this isn't actually the first time I had sex with her. It is the 4th I believe. This was just the last time I had sex with her and she was just about to have her period (I heard that this might be a time where the disease is more infectious)

Lastly, she and I are actually in our late 20's, not sure if this increases the risk.

One last question. What should I do if these symptoms go away after 2 weeks, or during the usual time frame of a herpes outbreak and I don't find out what the cause was ?

Should I just assume that it was probably nothing to worry about, or make sure I get tested just in case because I don't know what I had?

I apologize if I am belaboring the point, but I felt I should at least give you a clear picture and ask the all the questions that concern me.

Thank you so much for your time

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Welcome to the STD forum.  Gong straight to the main question at the end:  "Could this be anything other than Genital Herpes?"  Absolutely yes; herpes is a very UNlikely cause.

Herpes indeed can cause lots of different symptoms; some websites or other information sources might list as many as a hundred of them.  However, virtually no single symptom is ever be caused by herpes.  Herpes sores lay burn, tingle, or ache, or may be accompanied by pain down a leg or in a buttock (always only one leg or buttock, however, rarely both sides at once).  But none of those symptoms by itself -- i.e. without herpes blisters sores -- suggests herpes.  In other words, the pattern of symptoms you describe does not suggest herpes.

On top of that you describe an extremely low risk exposure with respect to herpes:  I have the feeling your partner is young; herpes is not common in teens or young twenties, for example.  So probalby she doesn't have it.  And if she does, you were highly protected by using a condom.   Heck, even without a condom, and IF she had herpes, the chance you would catch it during a single episode of vaginal sex is under 1 in 1,000.

Your symptoms are most suggestive of what I call genitally focused anxiety.  Stress and anxiety don't necessarily cause physical symptoms, but they certainly can magnify normal or trivial body sensations to a point that seems abnormal or painful.  

If you remain concerned, you could have a herpes blood test. But I recommend against it.  The odds are just too small.  But if you simply can't get beyond your fear of the disease, testing might be the only solution.  Or discuss your fears with your partner.  Maybe you'll find she is just as freaked about the possibility of an STD from you as you are from her.  You could discuss going and getting tested together.

But in the meantime, try not to worry about it.  Herpes simply is not a realistic possibility here.

Regards--  HHH, MD