Aa
Worried Sick
Hello Docs, I am a 20 year old male who stupidly 11 weeks ago engaged in unprotected oral sex and protected vaginal sex with a CSW.
Around 4 days after the encounter I had a fever and a mild intermittent testicle ache.
That prompted me to get tested for Gonoreaha and Chlamydia which was 1 week after intercourse, I tested negative for both and the testicular pain went along with the fever. I also decided to test for HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis 1 month after the encounter, the tests were all negative. I got tested for HIV again 2 months after exposure which was negative.
I was starting to live a normal life again until 4 weeks ago I started to get a shooting tingling pain in both arms which would come and go throughout the day. Since then the pains have spread throughout the body to my fingers,legs,knees,feet,toes,chest,head and stomach and even my TESTICLES. All the pains are intermittent and at times I feel fine however when I do feel the pains they never come together, each pain comes on its own except stomach pain usually accompanies chest pain - the pain can be sharp. I also had Diarrhea which lasted for 2 days.
My biggest concern is the testicular pain and it gives me reason to believe I have caught something sexually which has spread to the rest of my body. The pain is like a dull ache which like all the other pains come and go.
I have visited my Doctor who told me I have a virus however I never told her about my sexual exposure because I didn't feel I had too after my negative results.
Up until recently I have always been a healthy guy, I could count my visits to the Doctors surgery throughout my life on one hand.
1) What can cause pains this widespread throughout the body which all come and go?
2) The testicular pains are concerning however there are no lumps nor do I have any discharge does this rule anything out?
3) My pains are generally worse later in the day when I feel more fatigued.
Please Help
Many Thanks Dean
Around 4 days after the encounter I had a fever and a mild intermittent testicle ache.
That prompted me to get tested for Gonoreaha and Chlamydia which was 1 week after intercourse, I tested negative for both and the testicular pain went along with the fever. I also decided to test for HIV, Syphilis and Hepatitis 1 month after the encounter, the tests were all negative. I got tested for HIV again 2 months after exposure which was negative.
I was starting to live a normal life again until 4 weeks ago I started to get a shooting tingling pain in both arms which would come and go throughout the day. Since then the pains have spread throughout the body to my fingers,legs,knees,feet,toes,chest,head and stomach and even my TESTICLES. All the pains are intermittent and at times I feel fine however when I do feel the pains they never come together, each pain comes on its own except stomach pain usually accompanies chest pain - the pain can be sharp. I also had Diarrhea which lasted for 2 days.
My biggest concern is the testicular pain and it gives me reason to believe I have caught something sexually which has spread to the rest of my body. The pain is like a dull ache which like all the other pains come and go.
I have visited my Doctor who told me I have a virus however I never told her about my sexual exposure because I didn't feel I had too after my negative results.
Up until recently I have always been a healthy guy, I could count my visits to the Doctors surgery throughout my life on one hand.
1) What can cause pains this widespread throughout the body which all come and go?
2) The testicular pains are concerning however there are no lumps nor do I have any discharge does this rule anything out?
3) My pains are generally worse later in the day when I feel more fatigued.
Please Help
Many Thanks Dean
Many thanks for your advice, I will take it on board. Happy new year to you too!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
"…so your pretty confident this isn't an STD but another issue likely anxiety": Exactly right.
"What if the CSW had just been with another client before myself?" That would make no difference.
"Can anxiety cause painful symptoms? and if so how?" Yes. I explained it above: tension in pelvic muscles. By chance, there is an article in today's NY Times about treatment of stress-related pelvic pain in men. Your situation isn't exactly the same; the article is about chronic pain, not recent onset or mild pain such as yours, and I'm definitely not recommending you seek the device described in the article. But as you will see, it discusses exactly the pain mechanism exaclty as I described it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/31/health/a-fix-for-stress-related-pelvic-pain.html?ref=health&_r=0
"Also how do you relieve symptoms caused by anxiety?" That's off topic for this forum. As I noted above, the first step is to accept and believe that you don't have anything serious, and no infection from the sexual exposure you are anxious about. Beyond that, this is an issue between you and your doctor.
That will end this thread. Do your best to stop worrying, relax, and enjoy the new year.
"What if the CSW had just been with another client before myself?" That would make no difference.
"Can anxiety cause painful symptoms? and if so how?" Yes. I explained it above: tension in pelvic muscles. By chance, there is an article in today's NY Times about treatment of stress-related pelvic pain in men. Your situation isn't exactly the same; the article is about chronic pain, not recent onset or mild pain such as yours, and I'm definitely not recommending you seek the device described in the article. But as you will see, it discusses exactly the pain mechanism exaclty as I described it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/31/health/a-fix-for-stress-related-pelvic-pain.html?ref=health&_r=0
"Also how do you relieve symptoms caused by anxiety?" That's off topic for this forum. As I noted above, the first step is to accept and believe that you don't have anything serious, and no infection from the sexual exposure you are anxious about. Beyond that, this is an issue between you and your doctor.
That will end this thread. Do your best to stop worrying, relax, and enjoy the new year.
Thank you Doctor, so your pretty confident this isn't an STD but another issue likely anxiety. I am moving abroad soon and have been worrying about STD's since the exposure happened so your diagnosis sounds very accurate. I have listed a few questions below.
What if the CSW had just been with another client before myself?
Can anxiety cause painful symptoms? and if so how?
Also how do you relieve symptoms caused by anxiety?
What if the CSW had just been with another client before myself?
Can anxiety cause painful symptoms? and if so how?
Also how do you relieve symptoms caused by anxiety?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
These symptoms also are classical for genitally focused anxiety, resulting from pelvic muscle tension noted above.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum. I'm happy to confirm the reassuring responses you had to these questions on the STD and HIV community forums.
This was a very low risk exposure for any and all STDs. Condoms work, and oral sex carries little STD risk -- not zero, but low chance for all STDs and zero for some. Also, the lab test results almost always overrule symptoms -- and in any case your symptoms are not suggestive of any STD. There is no STD that would cause the sort of aches and pains you describe, including testicular pain, and that would "spread to the rest of [your] body". Your negative results for STDs and HIV -- which you described in the community forums but don't mention here -- show you definitely do not have any of those infections. To your specific questions:
1) Symptoms like these usually are just the result of anxiety -- making your more aware of normal bodey sensations or magnifying minor symptoms that you otherwise would ignore or maybe not even notice. I can't say for sure you don't have some virus, as your doctor suggests -- but I doubt it.
2,3) No STD causes testicular pain without tenderness and swelling, and without urethritis. Genitally focused anxiety often causes this symptom, however. The mechanisms is the same as for tension headaches: increased pelvic muscle tension.
So you can believe your negative STD tests. Your symptoms are definitely not due to any infection from the sexual exposure you have described. If the symptoms persists, keep working with your doctor. But I'm confident that once you come to believe (emotionally as well as intellectuatlly) that they do not indicate a physical problem, they will fade away.
Best wishes and happy new year -- HHH, MD
This was a very low risk exposure for any and all STDs. Condoms work, and oral sex carries little STD risk -- not zero, but low chance for all STDs and zero for some. Also, the lab test results almost always overrule symptoms -- and in any case your symptoms are not suggestive of any STD. There is no STD that would cause the sort of aches and pains you describe, including testicular pain, and that would "spread to the rest of [your] body". Your negative results for STDs and HIV -- which you described in the community forums but don't mention here -- show you definitely do not have any of those infections. To your specific questions:
1) Symptoms like these usually are just the result of anxiety -- making your more aware of normal bodey sensations or magnifying minor symptoms that you otherwise would ignore or maybe not even notice. I can't say for sure you don't have some virus, as your doctor suggests -- but I doubt it.
2,3) No STD causes testicular pain without tenderness and swelling, and without urethritis. Genitally focused anxiety often causes this symptom, however. The mechanisms is the same as for tension headaches: increased pelvic muscle tension.
So you can believe your negative STD tests. Your symptoms are definitely not due to any infection from the sexual exposure you have described. If the symptoms persists, keep working with your doctor. But I'm confident that once you come to believe (emotionally as well as intellectuatlly) that they do not indicate a physical problem, they will fade away.
Best wishes and happy new year -- HHH, MD
I should also add that the stomach pain is more like bladder pain and I also forgot to add that I get a pain in penis occasionally.
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
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.
