Worried about possible STD infection? gonorrea? herpes?

[maxim]

I have a girlfriend who got sick after giving me oral sex. She has done this before for a year and never got sick.  Her glands swole up and she lost her voice also a soar throat.  We got very nervous because of a possible STD. I looked online and checked that this is possible with gonorrhea. The only thing that was interesting to mention is that she works at a job that requires her to run up and down the stairs so she gets very sweaty. She told me when this happens she stands next to the huge airconditiner.  Could our problem just be that she got an uper recpitory infection?  And that its not that seriuos as we think (she just recently got the job and got sick a few days later)?  Also she got what appears to be a pimple on the vigina (inside of the vaginal lips).  Could this be related to the first question?  I know that being sick can lower your immune system and bring such things.  She has no other symptoms of any other stds.  I never had any symptoms of any stds, and always used a condom in previous sexual encounters except once when receiving oral sex 2 years ago. Thank you doctor

PS Doctor is it possible for anitbiotics to interfere with birth control? My girlfriend has taken KETEK to ease her soar throat and swollen glands. She has stoped taking it for there days now.  Can we have unprotected sex?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Thanks for the opporunity to clarify my previous response.  A "pimple" of the moist areas of the genitals ("inside the vaginal lips", in the original question) is very suggestive of herpes.  But garden-variety pimples can occur on dry genital surfaces, including the penis.  If it seemed like a regular pimple and doesn't keep recurring in more or less the same spot, herpes is unlikely.

HHH, MD

[Dave2081]

i recently had a pimple on my shaft. should i be tested for herpes? couldn't it possibly be a pimple or something else?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Your GF got a garden-variety viral respiratory infection.  The association with oral sex probably is coincidental; it is much more likely she just caught a cold from someone in her environment.  Cool air and air conditioning do not cause colds, but conceivably her symptoms reflect allergy to something in her new work environment.

The most common cause of a "pimple" in the genital area is herpes.  It could be linked with her sore throat; if you have genital herpes (which often is unnoticed), she could have been infected both genitally and orally.  But she could have 2 separate but coincidental problems; I simply can't tell.

Antibiotics in theory can interfere with birth control pills, but only when large doses are taken for long periods of time (e.g. a month or more).  A brief course of antbiotic carries essentially no risk.

Your GF and you need to be examined and tested for herpes, the sooner the better--i.e., when she still has the vaginal area lesion.

Good luck--  HHH, MD