STD Symptoms and Time Frame

[BC777]

Hello,  Last Sunday, I had a total lapse in my judgment and received oral sex from a partner I had only known for hours.   To complicate things, I attempted anal sex with her but did not penetrate her rectum.  I did however briefly insert the tip of my penis in her vagina for a brief second.
Once the alcohol wore off and reality returned to me, I realized what I had done and..... as so many other poster to your site, the anxiety and worry sat in.  The next day I began to feel odd (best I can describe it) and by the second day I began to feel as if someone had pinched the tip of my penis.  The pain at the tip was very slight and caused me to wonder if it was being generated from the tube or from the outside of my penis.  Occasionally, my left testicle ached as well.  I have had NO mucus discharge from my penis as far as I can tell and urinating did not seem to increase the pain in my penis tip.  As of last night, (the fifth day afterward) I began showing other signs such as a low grade fever (99.8 to 100.1) that I have now had for 14 hours.  In addition to this my body feels achy, I'm light headed, dizzy and difficulty concentrating and my hands feel tight or swollen.  I have not had any vomiting, lymph node swelling, or rashes.  In addition to this, the pinching in my penis tip seems to have subsided and the aching my left testical has decreased as well.

Of course, like 100% of all the other people posting to this site, my imagination, paranoia and guilt are wracking my mind.  I'm not sure if my symptoms of difficulty concentrating are a result of what I contracted or from my own mind going crazy. I've gone and had all tests ran at the health clinic but they wont be back for days and weeks.

Any advice you can give me would be GREATLY appreciated!   Based on the symptoms and time frame could this be the early on set of ARS? Or is Chlamydia a more likely suspect?  Thank you in advance for your help!

[Edward W Hook, MD]

First, no risk for HIV.  The symptoms of early HIV are totally non-specific.  Thus, while some of the symptoms (muscle aches, fever, not itchy eyes) do overlap with those of acute HIV, the odds that this is acute HIV remain extraordinarily low.

As for your symptoms and the decision in the ER to treat, in my clinic we do not treat people without positive tests.  On the other hand, in the ER, the doctors would rather over-treat than undertreat.  They try to carry out "one stop shopping" (or provision of care).  I suspect your tests will be negative, please let us know.

I'm please to hear that your symptoms are better.  Whether or not your improvement is due to the treatment you received is unclear - I have my doubts.  EWH

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Forget ARS.  Neither the exposures you describe, the partner, nor the time line fit.  As for other STDs, the only thing you mention that is in anyway suggestive of STD is the abnormal sensation at the tip of the penis and the fact that this too has subsides makes it also unlikely that yo have STD. Either way, you have done the right thing to get tested.  Your bacterial STD tests (and these are the important ones, your risk of HIV is close to non-existent) should be back in just a few days  At that time, armed with negative tests (and they will be) you need to forget your misstep and move forward.

Hope this helps.  EWH

[BC777]

And also... the ER is the one who said I had an STD.  You mentioned that the ER said I didn't... read the thread if your going to comment.

[BC777]

Thanks for the comment.  Dr. Hook was correct, I do not have an STD.  While it may have seemed that my pain was imagined, it was very real.  My family doctor determined that I had an infection in my urinary tract that had also crept into my prostate.  So... sorry to disappoint you.  But I'm not crazy.  

[slacker101]

This is all 100% psychological!!!! You mention that when you take the Cipro the pain goes away!! Your brain is producing all of these symptoms and the fact that the cipro clears it up then the pain comes back suggests it is all psychological. I know this from experience, TRUST ME!! Does this pain wake you up in the middle of the night? I bet the pain isn't even there when you wake up and during the day as you focus more and more on this, the pain returns and down goes a pill and it goes away. Dr. Hook and your ER are 100% correct when they say you DO NOT have an STD so accept this or see if you can talk to a counselor about this... Your risk of catching anything as these guys have been saying is next to zero....

[Edward W Hook, MD]

This is my last answer to this thread.  You asked if you were infected before your tests, I said no.  You then went on to get tested, again, no evidence of infection (no, there chances of a false negative are miniscule).  Yet you choose not to believe the test results.  You also received treatment, no change.  There is clearly a problem here and it is not with the tests or the result of infection with an STD or HIV.  Your exposure was close to no risk.  You have negative tests.  You do not have STD or (in anticipation of your test result) HIV.

As for what the diagnosis is, I cannot say. you have a health care provider that you have seen.  Continue to work with him/her.  My concern however is when they try to tell you you are OK, your will not believe then.   I hope you prove me wrong and can put this behind you.  I say this out of concern.  EWH

[BC777]

Good Evening Doctor,

I have some news to share with you.  I called the lab a day early to get my results and as you predicted they were negative for STD's.  You sir were absolutely correct. My HIV results wont be back for two more weeks.  So now the question remains.... what is going on with my body.  Why do I have an aching in my penis that seems to go away (or at least disapate) after I take a 500 mg of Cipro.  In addition to this, I noticed today that the right side of my penis head (where the aching seems to stem from) is darker than the rest of it.  My fever still comes and goes but not as much as it did three days ago. Muscle aches, tightness in my head, and blurred vision arent as prevelent either.  I could handle any of these symptoms but its the aching down below that comes on after the Cipro wears off thats got me.

When the nurse swabed my uretha, she said that it was dry and that she couldnt get much on the swab.  Is there a possibility of false negative?

I'm totally confused and baffled as to what is going on with my body.  The Cipro is not the easiest thing to handle in the dosage I'm on.  It makes me EXTREMELY jittery and causes me further anxiety.  I'm honestly not sure if I should be happy that the test were negative or to be worried more not knowing what the diagnosis is.  I'm traveling this week but plan to cut my week short to return to see my family doctor while he is open.  

You have been great in helping me and I very much appreciate your time and patience with me.  From your vast experience, can you think of anything else this sounds like?  Thank you again for your time and help.

[BC777]

Hello Dr.

I wanted to update you on what has happened to me.  Last night I was only feeling worse with more intense penis pain.  I tried to get into see my regular doctor, however his office was closed.  I went to the ER at my local hospital and they gave me a complete examination.  They did a urine test and blood test.  The urine test came back normal and the blood test had normal white and red blood cells.  With this said, they were still convinced that I had contracted an STD  based on my symptoms.  They gave me an IV with two medications.  One was a push (cant remember what it was) and the other was a drip IV of Ciprofloxacin.  Additionally they gave me a 14 day prescription of Ciprofloxacin (500mg twice a day).  My Penis pain has decreased significantly but not gone away completely. (12 hours after the IV)  I trust your advice and wanted to know your thoughts?  You had mentioned earlier that you felt that my risk for HIV was nearly non existent.  Could ANY of these symptoms (fever, itchy eyes, muscle aches) be related to HIV within the five to seven days from contact? Thank you so much for your help.  Oh... and I promise not to ask any additional questions until my results are back.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Her cough- irrelevant in terms of STD risk. Perhaps you caught her cold.

Fever is not part of gonorrhea or chlamydia.  Again, it sounds likel yoy may have caught a cold or some other viral illness but not an STD.  EWH

[BC777]

Thank you very much for your quick and reassuring response.  Since my posting this morning my fever, has continued (24 hours now) and my penis pain has returned with a vengence.  Everything I'm reading about STD's such as Chlamydia  point to the penis pain but have no  mention of the fever in their symptoms.  Just worried....  Additionally, I failed to mention earlier that the female I was with  had a chronic couch.