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Tonsilitis - HPV? Cancer Possibility?
I recently had oral sex with a woman and six days later I noticed a red bump on my right tonsil that developed into a mild, though "qualitatively different than the norm" sore throat. I also had a low-grade fever, a feeling of achy-ness, and malaise. I went to the doctor, strep tested negative and was prescribed 1.5 g azithromycin. Before taking the medecine my tonsils were covered in white spots, though mostly on the right tonsil and not the left (indicating an asymmetric infection). After taking the medication as a single dose, the white spots had cleared but the tonsils were still swollen days later (only the right one singinificantly though - I've always had big tonsils (but no infections), with the same strange pink flesh pump). I tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea after 3 days of taking the meds; they came back negative (possible negative from meds or is that unlikely?). Around this time, I noticed a dull, inconsistent pain in my testicles (Behind them, possibly at the epidydimis). It seemed sporadic and the pain qualitatively changed to only-urethra inflammation - some pain with peeing but not consistently and very minor at that. Ejaculation has been much thicker than normal - a possible indication of prostatitis. The best way to describe the urethra pain is muscle-like soreness that would be comparable to working out any other muscle too much (and no, this is certainly not the case here). Other times it would just be some vapid tingling sensation and then would go away. There were no visible sores or marks in the genital area. After about two weeks, with sympoms being present on 1 day and absent on another (concerning the urethra feeling), I've gotten tested for HSVI-II (IGg), chlamydia and gonorrhea (again), HIV, syphillis, and hepatitis (along with a complete urinanalysis). I will be getting the results back in about 4 days. It is now about the 3rd week since symptoms began, urethral and testicular pain is mostly gone but still feels "different" inconsistently. Ejaculate is still thicker than normal. My right tonsil is still enlarged with the same pink bump. What is strange too, is that the bump has a very smooth flesh pea-sized portion that juts out (it looks a wart one would find on one's hand, not the small whitish HPV bumps that are normally seen online for HPV) , but also, it has cracks/creases where it seems to 'jut-out' from the normal tonsil tissue. That is, while both tonsils seem enlarged, the right one has a disporporational enlargement (with respect to left tonsil), and the area surrounding the smooth-pea-sized bump is proporational to the cross-sectional area of a nickel and is swollen fairly significantly (making the smaller bump seem all the more scary). Today, the tonsil is still swollen and hurts a bit, but the pain is barely there. It still has this unusual pea-bump (the actual geometry of it is more like football-shaped, but proporational to the size of a pea). My doctor hardly bothered to look at my tonsil, saying it was probably just a build-up of pus. Could this be HPV? If this is HPV, how likely or unlikely would these symptoms indicate a virulent-cancer causing strain compared to the obnoxious-but-relatively-harmless strains? Is there an easy way I could post a picture of my tonsil and link it here? If all of my tests come back negative, should I see a urologist and ENT both? Should I schedule an appointment for an ENT before I get my results back? After three weeks, if this was some type of cancer, would a tonsillectomy (say by fourth/fifth week) have a high probability of successfully eradicating it? I'm very aware of my body and identified it at once as being different than my normal anatomy. Should I absolutely get my tonsils removed if no particular infection is found and the right tonsil remains swollen with that strange bump?
I'm quoting the times recommended by the CDC for good reason - it gets the maximum number of accurate results during those time periods. testing earlier results in a significant number of false negatives hence why we recommend what we do here.
no reason to think your throat issues are std related. No reason to think they are hpv related either. Oral hpv typically presents differently and not on the tonsilar region. throat cancer at your age is also very low risk and not likely. definitely follow up with the ENT specialist if things aren't better by next week.
as for your genital pain, it seems to be more random than constant and odds are it's not a std going on either at this point. should it get worse, see your provider for further testing.
no reason to think your throat issues are std related. No reason to think they are hpv related either. Oral hpv typically presents differently and not on the tonsilar region. throat cancer at your age is also very low risk and not likely. definitely follow up with the ENT specialist if things aren't better by next week.
as for your genital pain, it seems to be more random than constant and odds are it's not a std going on either at this point. should it get worse, see your provider for further testing.
Your quoting maximum times, but the fact is, antibodies can be produced in a significant enough quantity to detect infections after the three week hallmark for many individuals with a strong-to-competent immune system. To say getting tested after the maximum allotted detection window time is to quote from an average of a large statistical pool of data which in no way nullifies the indemnification of getting tested early. That's right, I said indemnification.
your hepatitis and herpes testing were both done more than 2 months too early hence why I said what I said. same as you syphilis testing was also done several weeks too early.
Actually, the HIV test is PCR so it will detect by the 3rd/4th week. It may have been a waste of time to test after the meds, but I was mighty worried. The only test that might give a false negative this soon would be the HSV-II, possibly the hepatitis too but unlikely I think. All lower-extremity symptoms seem to be gone nonetheless, but tonsils still funky. I'll post up my conclusion when I get the results.
it's not likely your throat issues are std related.
almost all your std testing was done far too early. You also wasted your time doing chlamydia and gonorrhea testing after taking azithromycin.
this was a low risk encounter in general. we wouldn't even recommend any testing from it. certainly follow up with the ENT specialist because as I said, this isn't likely to be a std related issue going on. odds are it's viral and just needs to run its course but since it's been over 2 weeks now and oral symptoms are still there, following up is a good idea.
grace
almost all your std testing was done far too early. You also wasted your time doing chlamydia and gonorrhea testing after taking azithromycin.
this was a low risk encounter in general. we wouldn't even recommend any testing from it. certainly follow up with the ENT specialist because as I said, this isn't likely to be a std related issue going on. odds are it's viral and just needs to run its course but since it's been over 2 weeks now and oral symptoms are still there, following up is a good idea.
grace
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Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
