Is this Herpes?

[worried_girl_ks]

    I recv'd oral sex abt 5x over the course of 3 wks from someone I thought I knew well.  4th wk, Jan 9, I started getting itchy-figured it was hormones.  Period started but the itchiness didn't stop.  12th, bought a 3-day Monistat pack to resolve the issue but it didn't work & cream started to burn BADLY.  15th, dr sees nothing (still have some of the 'old blood' from the end of period) & gave me 2 Diflucan.  
    Take 1st pill & by day 3, I feel a some relief.  18th, 2nd pill & I feel a bump on my min labia. It didn't hurt & didn't itch.  22nd, dr said it was a pimple.  I still felt itchy/irritated primarily on vulva & perinum, not min labia.  
    29th, free clinic for 2nd opinion.  Dr. said it was really small, white (wasn't white the day before) & probably a clogged gland & they saw "Some" yeast (odd w/ a 3-pack & 2 Diflucan) & gave me a 7-day gen. pack.  Symptoms subsided but by day 4, the pack was irritating me bad & I stopped it.
    30th, I still wasn't sure about the bump & I decided to order an IGG test.  The guy didn't have lesions & swears he never had cold sores, but I'm not sure 'cause of all this.  The results are neg for type-1/2 but my IgM came back at 1.53 & I've been exposed to herpes in the last 6 weeks & I have herpes.  
    The bump goes away by Feb 4 & no open sore,blister,scab.  YI comes back & I buy diff 3-day pack & everything "seems" normal.  I'm on high alert & can't relax & will retest.

[beautifulsadness]

just wanted to write to say that herpes outbreaks do not have to be typical text book classical appearing symptoms. I have had HSV2 diagnosed almost 2 years ago and i have NEVER had a blister/sore ever. I have had slight redness and a light rash similar to razor burn in the top part of my pubic region almost every day for months (flares up for weeks, a day or two it goes away, and then its back again for weeks) It is consistently very itchy and against what a few doctors thought, it is indeed herpes. So, dont be too careful. Its easy to just hear the answer we all want to hear. I am so thankful that while my rash did not present as a typical herpes oubreak, that my OBGYN was smart enough to test me anyway and thankgod she did because it was indeed herpes. I would have not known and spread it to others had she not been so on top of things. just want to spread awareness, as so many people dont understand the many ways herpes can present itself...even many doctors I have went to....  3 docs. to be exact said they would not even give me a herpes test because "herpes does not look like that, nor do outbreaks last that long"  ....they were all wrong!

[monkeyflower]

Ever look at a word for a long time, and start to think it looks funny/misspelled? Because you're on "high alert & can't relax", you're no doubt hyper-aware of every single little sensation, every twinge, every itch. But I bet those are perfectly normal sensations you have all the time. You never noticed them before because you weren't LOOKING for them before.

My suggestion would be to get off the internet and get out of your house. Go to school, work, out with friends. Do something you like doing. Get your mind off your genitals, and I bet you'll find your symptoms completely disappear (until you start looking for them again, lol). You may also want to consider seeing your doctor again. It would probably help you relax to have an official all-clear.

[worried_girl_ks]

I went back to the doctor today because I still felt itchy.  I thought it might be a recurrent yeast infection.

The doctor said she didn't see anything and now I'm to the point where I'm scared.  I'm starting to feel pin-***** like pains, the next I feel irritated/itchy and I don't know what to do.  Please give me advice.

[Imdumb]

You are certainly correct.  I few times I have looked on-line at symptons and convinced myself I had some grave illness.  I think it is common for a lot of people to do and it can can an obsession that has people spending hours on the internet.

Thanks so much for the clarification and the input.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

No STD normally causes itching as the primary or only symptom.  But you raise important issues about how health education websites work, with cautions about how viewers shoud use them.  There are several reasons why total clarity cannot be expected from websites or other education materials.

First, all the terms are somewhat vague and depend in part on one person's vocabulary versus someone else's. An "itch" to one person might be "burning" to another and "pain" to a third.  Therefore, health education materials tend to use multiple terms.

Second, health education sites typically list all possible symptoms, without clearly saying which ones are most common, or which ones might occur alone or typically in combination with others.  While all this nuance might be desirable, people tend to not read long paragraphs; they are drawn to lists of symptoms.  Typicall someone sees a symptom they have, go "Aha!", and stop reading.

Third, disease-specific sites typically don't tell you the other things that can cause the same symptoms.  For example, a herpes page might list itching, but doesn't say that most itching is caused by other things, like yeast.

All this is an important limitation to web-based self-assessment.  There is never a complete substitute to seeing a health care provider in person to put symptoms into context along with overall clinical evaluation.

HHH, MD

[Imdumb]

Dr. - in the situation above, does any STD have the symtopms she describes?  For example, is there an STD that causes itching on the outside of the vagina that is not accompanied by foul or colored dishcharge?  

I have read on other sites where feminine itching is an STD symptom, while on here and teh King County site it isn't listed as a symptom of anything except for maybe trich.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

This doesn't sound like herpes in any way; had you been my patient, I would not have recommended testing for it.  Sounds like yeast or some other irritative problem.  As I have pointed out innumerable times on this forum, the HSV IgM antibody test is totally useless; it very commonly gives false positive results, as it did in you.  The type-specific IgG tests are the only herpes blood tests that should be done or that patients and providers should pay attention to.  (In adults, I mean.  IgM is often useful in diagnosing neonatal herpes in newborns.)  In other words, your blood test results show that the symptoms you describe are not due to herpes.

Good luck--  HHH, MD