Afraid of symptoms

[dorky]

I had protected intercourse on two occasions in April of this year. On both occasions, I received unprotected handjob and protected oral and then protected intercourse. About 2 days after the first incident, I felt a tingling, itchy and burning sensation on my scrotum and shaft of the penis was red as well as the head of the penis. I went to an STD clinic and the counsellor there asked if I masturbated as it was red and I said yes. I could see a few small tiny raised bumps pinhead size around the head of the shaft. It took about 3-4 weeks to go away and have returned twice. When they came again, it seemed that there was a funny smell. The bumps did not get filled with any pus and did not break open. They just decreased in size and I am not sure if this was aggravated by any masturbation because it seems to get works when I masturbate. They don't disappear all together but are sometimes more pronounced at different times. Also it is a little painful when I urinate at these times and the area around my anus is red too and get's itchy.

I had an HIV test at 8 weeks and it was negative. Can I rely on this? I am also very petrified whether this is in fact genital herpes. Does this sound like herpes or any other std?

Please help

[davo123456]

Please can you help...I am going out of my mind with worry...
Around 6 seeks ago I had unprotected sex with a girl. Around a week after I started to develop around 3 to 4 red pin sized spots on the head of my penis. These were not painful and were not like thrush as they didn

[dorky]

Does anyone know if the if herpes sres tend to be pus filled or can they be small minor cuts that reappear from time to time? Also what would a poor smell every now and again from the genital areas indicate? I always keep good hygiene but not sure what this indicates?

[Alias Lola]

Hey, here's some info I found:


<<"The OraSure system draws HIV antibodies out of the tissues of the cheek and gum. The virus itself is rarely ever found in oral fluid.  
This sample, called mucosal transudate,contains far fewer contaminants than typically found in saliva.  

What is the difference between saliva
and mucosal transudate?

Oral mucosal transudate has high oncentrations of IgG; saliva has practically none. Oral mucosal transudate comes from the tissues of the cheek and gum; saliva comes from the salivary glands.">>

So, contrary to what you read, there's a very high concentration of antibodies in oral mucosal transudate and an oral test would not be substandard.

[Alias Lola]

Ebro, you pose an interesting question.  I don't think the doctor will respond to the thread jump, but I'd be curious to know the answer myself.

I did read somewhere that "oral fluid is almost identical to the white part of blood."  I'm not too sure what that means myself.  But I don't think they'd market an oral fluid testing product if it's substandard to blood testing.

My two cents..

[dorky]

Doctor I don't think I was clear in my first posting. When the skin gets red twice now since April, the bumps become more pronounced and those are the spots where it tingles like pins and needles. They do not look they have any puss or open up and look like tiny tiny pimples. The scrotum and anus also get red andsore. Does this change anything? I had never seen these before these encounters.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

The additional information doesn't change my response.  Doesn't sound like herpes.  See a health care provider to figure out what it is.  I cannot help further.

HHH, MD

[ebro]

does anyone know if the oral fluid rapid tests take longer to become positive? my rationale stems from the fact that antibdoies are present in oral fluid at a concentration of 1/400 of that of blood. i had a negative six week oral swab test but i am starting to doubt the results based on this fact.

[dorky]

Thank you doctor. Does this sound like any std that I should be tested for? I was concerned about herpes because the bumps become extremely itchy and that is where the tingling sensation is as well as at the base of the shaft but I cannot see anything at the base, just red at times. Thank you for your time and consideration.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

You can be 100% certain you didn't acquire HIV during the events you describe; the negative test result at 8 weeks is completely reliable.  Anyway the chance of getting infected during condom-protected vaginal sex is zero, for practical purposes.

Your symptoms do not sound sound like genital herpes.  But if you are concerned about that infection, you can be tested for it; 6 months since exposure is plenty of time to develop a positive test if you are infected.  See numerous other threads about the kind of blood test you need (many labs still routinely do older, unreliable tests).  For more information, search the threads for "herpes diagnosis" and "HerpeSelect test".

Good luck-- HHH, MD