Herpes or Penile Yeast?

[flyin]

About a day and a half after having unprotected vaginal sex my penis began to itch slightly (bad call, I know, but this chick could have been Scarlett Johansson's twin.)  Nothing violent, just minor itchiness.  It just appeared dry, so I applied some gentle lotion (I attributed it to Scarlett's vigorous style.)  The skin got a little flaky, but it still looked pretty normal.  The next morning, it was more agitated.  The head was a different color.  The skin just below the head (I am circumcised, but there is still enough skin to cover this area) was very red.  I freaked out about possible herpes, but there were no "lesions" to be found.  Just very irritated skin.  The agitated skin appeared "shiny", red, and somewhat wrinkly and weakened -- not its normal stretchy self.  The only area majorly affected seemed to be the head and this area just below the head, but my entire penis seemed a bit grayer than normal.  It did not look good, but again, no cuts, no sores.  It stayed like this for 3-4 more days -- there was a dull pain in the tip and the affected area right on the end, but it never actually "stung" and never was what I would consider very painful.  I felt odd.. not exactly nauseous, but a little tired and funky during the worst parts of this.  My balls seemed slightly swollen, and I had to pee like 10 times one day, but no pain.  I figured I probably had herpes with lesser symptoms than normal.  My immune system has proven itself to be extremely tough in the past.  So just as I was writing a eulogy for my penis and scheduling a urologist visit, I read a figure on this site that said a HSV- guy who has unprotected vaginal sex with a HSV+ female is very unlikely to catch it IF she is not having an outbreak at the time.  I got a good look at Scarlett, and she definitely wasn't having an outbreak.  That doesn't mean much to me, because a sexually transmitted yeast infection isn't exactly an everyday occurrence, and I definitely caught something.  Lotion seemed to help it, but I found some HC pramoxine cream and put that on it.  The next day, it looked MUCH better.  The normal color was back, but the skin was still red and irritated just below the head.  Another day of cream, and it looked completely normal, and felt a helluva lot better.  Now its been several days after that and there is still a barely-noticible dull pain right in the tip, but that's it.  Everything checks out.  Based on what I've read, I'm thinking an initial herpes outbreak simply isn't going to be over that fast... and there were NO sores.  So was my Johnson trying to turn into a bread stick??  I'm getting tested for everything in a few months regardless, since I will be dating someone new.  Opinions?

[flyin]

Here's the follow-up.  First of all, if your symptoms are truly EXACTLY like mine, you don't have an STD.  You have a penile yeast infection.  Additionally, I don't claim to be an expert, so take everything I say with a grain of salt, and I'll tell you what worked
for me.  So I said my symptoms had started to disappear.  It was ALMOST normal looking, and the day before I was scheduled to go to a urologist, I fractured my ankle and my 5th metatarsal about one second after going over the handlebars of my mountain bike (this is not my best month.)  I couldn't move, so I had to cancel my appt.  A few days later, it started to get worse again.  Then better.  Then worse.  It
had been 3 weeks by this time, and it never got very red again, just puffy in places and sort of whitish and shiny.  No UTI does this.  It was a skin condition, so I called a dermatologist.  In the meantime, I had to keep it from getting out of control.  I now knew to keep regular neosporin and all antibiotic soap away from it -- antibiotics
kill good bacteria, and I think that is what got me into this mess to begin with.  Sugar and alcohol also feed it.  I haven't had sex or a drop of alcohol in a month, which is pretty hilarious if you knew me. Clotrimazole is standard jock itch cream.  4 days of 3x per day application of that helped a little, but not much.  Miconazole nitrate
is the active ingredient in women's Monostat packages.  Online sources say that rubbing this stuff on it works for some people, so I decided to try it.  (If the cashier asks you if you have a vagina, pretend you're buying it for your girlfriend!)  Unfortunately, all the miconazole nitrate did to my yeast was **** it off.  If the "azole" creams don't work, don't assume that you don't have yeast. You might just have some kind of indestructible teenage mutant super-yeast. One thing that gave me much relief was baby powder.  Put baby powder all over it and keep it dry.  Yeast hates dry, cool environments.  My dermatologist agreed with me when pointed out that I have had these symptoms nonstop for a solid month with various states of improvement -- I'm now educated enough to know that herpes just doesn't DO that.  She said it didn't look like an STD, and it definitely wasn't a UTI.  That left yeast as pretty much the only remaining sexually transmittable problem. She gave me a prescription for fluconazole, and that EVER SO SLOWLY got rid of it.  It's finally gone.  The bottom line is, you may have no choice but to see a doctor.  Or at least a clown who can write prescriptions.  I probably would have had this until the day I died without the help of internal prescription drugs.  Why this isn't considered an STD is utterly baffling to me -- most guys would trade this in an instant for any real STD except for HSV2 or HIV.  The medical personnel I came across seemed clueless about it.  Also amazing is that I quizzed Scarlett, who is now a friend, and she swears she has never had HSV2 and also has no recollection of having a yeast infection herself at that time.  So your girl doesn't even need to have symptoms.  I doubt most cases are this bad, but anyone having unprotected sex with their wife could potentially get infected with yeast at any time.  I don't see how it can be as rare as the numbers indicate.

[auntiejessi]

Regardless of her results, you need to see a doctor.

Aj

[auntiejessi]

Well, you won't be dead by Thursday, and just be grateful you aren't in a situation that you need medicaid.  You never know what could happen, especially in an economy like we have now.  (Sorry for the preachiness - you just sounded judgmental there, and we do have lots of people who read these that are on assistance.  Nothing shameful in it, ok?  Feel fortunate, not superior.)

Maybe you are taking in too much cranberry juice and not enough water.

Aj

[flyin]

I did not feel anything really feverish like chills or anything... I just felt a little tired and out of it.  It seems to have gotten better on its own.  I'm still lined up with my urologist anyway, and the doc can't see me until this Thurs...  (All the friggin medicaid people are clogging the office.)  :)  I could be dead by then!  You could be right on that UTI theory, but I didn't think that could cause any sort of skin condition?  I don't claim to know.  I drank a quart of cranberry juice for the hell of it anyway.

[auntiejessi]

I think that no matter how hot or vigorous your encounter with Scarlett was, you need to be seen, and stop using home treatments.  You might just be making it worse.

And it might be a really good idea for you to get some condoms, and take one or two with you when you go out.  That way you aren't ever unprepared.  Don't carry them longer than a few hours in your wallet or pocket though.  If you don't use it that night, take it out and put it in a cool safe place where it won't tear, etc.

Aj

[mxsoccer]

Dang bro i have the exact same symptoms!
not even gonna lie, ive had it for about a week now, and im supposed to get my results next saturday, but in my opinion its just an urinary infection or something because ive been doing research and those symptoms match the ones for the urinary infection.
Have you had fever like symptoms?