Herpes?

[gazvov]

Hi everyone,

Really hope someone can help with this.

About 5 months ago i started noticing a burning when i urinated. Over the next following few days it became worse, and was compounded by more issues. The head of my penis became sore and very red, large red sores formed, the pain was constant and extremely sharp when urinating. I went to a GUM clinic and after a whole bunch of tests the doctors there said i had Herpes Simplex. They gave me some anti-biotics and after a week or so it was all cleared up nicely.

Since then i've had no problems, though they warned me that it could come back.

About a week ago i noticed that the head of my penis was starting to get red again, and for a few days it was quite sore when rubbing against my underwear, or during urination. Not as sore as it was the first time, but enough to worry me!  The tip of the urethra became slightly swollen, and a small white spot has formed on one side of it, but other than that i've had no issues. No further spots, no real pain, just a slightly swollen and slightly red urethra tip, with one very small white spot. Oh, and it's making aiming when urinating very difficult indeed. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be getting any worse. If anything, it's getting slightly better.

Could this be herpes again? I'm loathe to go back to the GUM clinic at the moment as it's not a real problem just yet. I'm unsure myself, definitely not convinced that herpes would come back quite this mildly. Can anyone confirm this for me?

And if it's not herpes, has anyone got any ideas what it could be?

Thanks, any help would be greatly appreciated!

[gracefromHHP]

hsv means herpes simplex virus

Definitely you need to give them a call and see what came back positive. I'm going to assume it was your lesion culture so find out if it was typed to know if it's hsv1 or hsv2.

Also I really recommend reading the free herpes handbook at www.westoverheights.com.

They gave you the famvir for the herpes. Why did they give you the doxy ( which is an antibiotic )? did you also have an urinary tract infection or did they suspect another std was present?

I definitely recommend follow up on this - either a visit to the clinic again or a phone call to them. You need to find out if you have hsv1 or hsv2 genitally so that you can decide what precautions to take with future partners as well as how to treat your herpes ( the handbook link will help you with a lot of those questions too ).  You also need to make sure that you have a prescription, with refills for a herpes medication - either acyclovir, famvir or valtrex. You need to have it on hand to start at the first sign of a recurrence of your genital herpes.

keep asking questions!

grace

[gazvov]

I had both a lesion culture and a blood test done. All they said is that the tests came back positive.

And unfortunately i'd never even heard the term HSV before i came on this site, so i can't say if it was 1 or 2. All they said was herpes simplex. Does it make much difference?

If it helps at all, the anti-virals (thanks for the correction!) they gave me were famciclovir and doxycycline. I received no refills, more's the pity.

You'd recommend going back to the GUM clinic then? Or would a standard GP be able to tell me if this is a reoccurrence? And furthermore, about the lasting effects of having herpes, is unprotected sex with my partner completely out of the question, even when the symptoms aren't showing?

Thanks Grace. I really appreciate your time!

[gracefromHHP]

When they tested you at the gum clinic, was it a lesion culture or a blood test that came back as hsv+?  Do you know if it's hsv1 or hsv2?

This very well could be herpes reoccurring.  Did they give you refills on your antivirals ( not antibiotics btw ) to take when you got a recurrence?

grace