Worried!

[joseph007]

33 year black male.I had unprotected sex with a woman that has genital herpes.  It was on one occasion back in 6/2007. I did not see any sores or signs of irration on her skin at the time.  At the time she assured me that I could not be infected with herpes because she was not having a current outbreak and that she has other partners in the past and they were not infected. (I now know that you can be infected between outbreaks). About 2-3 days after our encounter she told me that she felt like an outbreak was beginning. That made me start worrying. About a week after this I began itching on my body. (feet, legs, genital area, stomach, back, face). I also noticed irritation around the base of my penis and aching feelings in the groin area. I also noticed that some of the skin at the base of the penis looked dry. Especially around the hair follicles which made me think I might have also had crabs.  In late 11/2007 I noticed a blister on the bottom on of my buttocks in a fold of skin where the butt and leg meet.  It is to the left of my testicles.  I hope the description of the location is clear.  Anyway, this blister busted about 3-4 days after I discovered it.  It was a painful sore.  I did not notice any blood.It healed. On 1/19/2008 I noticed another blister in what appears to be the exact same location.  This time I noticed it grow larger and bust on the same day.  This time I did notice a good amount of blood on the tissue as I cleaned it.  The flow of blood eventually stopped. It was a more painful sore.  It just started healing on 1/23/2008. I have also noticed other small bumps on my groin that ache but are not blisters and have not bled or became sores. Lastly, on 1/15/2008 along the shaft on the top part of my penis just before reaching the bottom of the head I noticed what appears to be 2 very very small bumps. No bleeding, irration, puss, pain, sore or blistering associated with that.10/2007 I had negatives results for gonorrhea clamidia syphilis hiv

[Edward W Hook, MD]

1.  It is very unusual for herpes lesions to be bloody
2.  Symptoms of that sort are very difficult to get a handle on.  It is possible but would be quite unusual.  the symptoms are usually very close to the lesions
3.  No- you are right, anxiety is the issue
4.  Not on the belt line-unrelated
5.  Typically clusters

All of which reinforces he import of getting it seen by a health care professional.  Sorry it is taking so long to accomplish that although, as you point out, that's for another site.  EWH

[joseph007]

I have an appointment with a Family Practice doctor on Thursday.  Hopefully he can diagnosis it or give me a refferral.  It is so hard to get a quick appointment with a doctor!! That's for another discussion board.

Yes, I am in the US.

I have a few  questions.

1)  The lesion began healing and was closed.  But I noticed that their was fluid in the blister.  The skin was/is tender and thin and it busted again today.  Again blood escaped out.  Is that normal for a herpes lesion?

2)  Also my inner thighs have been very tender and tingle/itching.  Is that a symptom?

3)  I seem to have anxiety itching.  For example if I have anxious feelings I seem to be more conscious of the itching.  Could all this body itching be a symptom?

4)  I have a light complexion and I havent noticed any red bumps.  Just some redness about my belt line.  But I think I might be just over-reacting to that.  Do bumps accompany the lesions?

5)  Do the lesions usually appear as a single blister or in clusters ?  Mine appears to be a single lesion.


Thanks for the information.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

I thin your question is basically, do you have herpes.  The answer, unfortunately, is it is hard to say.  Not all of what you describe sounds like genital herpes.  Herpes lesions do not tend to move from place to place but to recur in the same area.  In addition they just about never have bleeding associated with them and are most often either small, fluid filled "water blisters" or shallow ulcerations..  On the other hand, painful sores which recur in the same area are worrisome for HSV.  The best advice I can offer is two-fold:

1.  Next time you have these sorts of lesions, be seen by a person who has seen a fair amount of herpes before and has the ability of doing a herpes culture test.  This is the best way to sort out what the lesions you describe may be (your descriptions are excellent but its still very difficult to ascertain what's going on without direct inspection and testing).
2.  You could have a herpes blood test.  Two problems with this strategy.  First, as an African American male living in the US (I presume) the odds of you having HSV-2 infection are about 50%, with or without a history of typical lesions.  Secondly, if you get the blood test and its positive, that still does not answer the question of what the lesions you've noted on your buttock and genital area are.  

Hope this helps.  Feel free to follow-up if I have misconstrued your question.  EWH