Recurrent ulcers

Dear Dr,

Back on May 6 I had protected sexual entercoarse with and escort. During the encounter I gave and rec'd unprotected oral sex. Since that time I have had many symptoms of what I thought was ARS. I tested at 10, 13, 15 and 18 weeks, all negative. I also had a syphillis (syphilis) and herpes test at 18 weeks, negative also. At this point I have accepted that i am HIV negative. What concerns me is I have been having aching pains in my neck lymph nodes. The pains are not constent, just come and go thru out the day. I also started getting ulcers on my tonge starting on August 5(3 months after encounter). In the begining the ulcers would be on the tip of my tongue and the left side. They always occur in groups(3 to 7 at a time). I went to the doctor and had them looked at. All the doctor could tell me is that they are usually caused by a viral infection. He prescribed me a steroid paste and told me it would speed up the healing process. When I apply the steroid paste the ulcer ussually heal with 2-3 days, but as soon as they heal new ones begin forming . 4 days ago my tongue finally healed, I thought it was finally over. Well this morning I woke up and now have a row of ulcer on the inside of my lower lip. They extend from one side of the gum to the other side. At this point I reached my wits end.  I have 2 questions
1. If these are caused from a viral infection would'nt my body be able to mount some sort of defense to it by now?
2. Are there any other STD's or Non-STD's that could cause these.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the forum.  the problem you describe is not an STD. there are no STDs which follow the pattern you describe.  At this time you can have faith that each of the negative tests for HIV and STD that you have had is an accurate reflection of the fact that this is not an STD.

As to what this might be, I cannot say.  I would ask either a dermatologist or an ENT physician what this might be.

Sorry I'm not  more help. this is not related to your past oral sex however so I hope that removing that element form your worries is some help.  EWH