immunocompromised exposure to Herpes.

[Brandon52]

Hello,

I am 34 year old male, recently had unprotected sex with a girl 5 weeks ago. I found out after that she had HSV2 but had not experienced symptoms in close to 4 years.

Since the encounter I have experienced no lesions, but during the first 2 weeks there was a very slight discomfort I would feel more so after urinating- this would come and go but I never experienced anything I would refer to as pain, just slight discomfort in my urethra.
I am also uncircumcised and have had an off and on experience of a yeast infection since the encounter -(However I should note that I was/am on a heavy dose of amoxicilan, which has given me yeast infections in the past).
as of last week the lower part of my back has been achey on and off. Nothing extreme, but enough for me to notice.. mostly when I am laying down or sitting in a chair.
Lastly a couple of days ago my right knee has begun to ache, so much that it has made me limp, however it has begun to feel much better and I am no longer limping. It did not come as a result of exercise but did happen as I was going up a couple flight of stairs.

I have also noticed a very very small red shiny spot close to the shaft of my penis. (I’ve included a picture). It does not hurt at all, I’ve touched and irritated it enough to make sure but.. no pain.

I have been tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea twice, both came back negative. I have not tested for Herpes yet because I am a patient with XLA *a primary immune deficiency*and I receive bi-weekly treatment of IVIG. I was told that testing for me might result in a most certain positive because of the IVIG I receive if it is searching for anti-bodies for HSV as the chances for those antibodies to be present in the IVIG I receive are likely.

My questions are… How likely is it I would be experiencing an atypical herpes reaction without sores present given my compromised immune system AND is there a test I could take that could find the virus without having to look for antibodies to suggest the virus is present? I would just like to calm my fears and know for sure. I’ve heard of a spinal fluid test that can be done, have you heard of such a thing? is i reliable?

I keep reading all these sites that tell me back pain and knee pain are signs of a herpes infection but not much detail on if they would show up with or without lesions accompanying them.

Thank you for any advice you could give, I’m growing weary with paranoia. 🙁

[Terri Warren]

I think I would advise you to go and have this little lesion swab tested, please. It’s hard to tell too much from photos but there is something different there than the surrounding skin. Is there someone you can see today? The sooner you are seen the more accurate the test results.

As for the medicine interfering with an accurate diagnosis by antibody test. I don’t really know how your medicine would interact with your immune response to herpes. Can you tell me more about the medicine?

Terri

[Brandon52]

***IVIG —>Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) is a blood product administered intravenously. It contains the pooled, polyvalent, IgG antibodies extracted from the plasma of over one thousand blood donors. IVIG’s effects last between 2 weeks and 3 months. It is mainly used as treatment in four major disease categories:***

I will have the tiny lesion swabbed tomorrow morning for sure… I uploaded a couple more pictures, I’m partly not even sure if that spot has always been there and I am just noticing it now. Everything else looks normal except for that one tiny spot and only because its a little shiny at certain angles but it is not raised.

Would I likely be experiencing more extreme of an OB because of my compromised immune system? Do my symptoms seem herpes related and
do you know much about that spinal fluid test in regards to finding herpes DNA in a person and how reliable that test would be?

Thank you Terri!

[Brandon52]

I should also add that I’ve experienced no fevers or feelings of malaise… Just overly stressed out and paranoid.

[Brandon52]

No itching, burning or tingling either.

[Terri Warren]

This picture concerns me less. I don’t know what your immunosuppressed condition is about only that you’re taking this medicine so I guess I can’t say for sure if I think you would have a more severe outbreak if you had acquired herpes or not. It is good that you have had none of the typical herpes symptoms with the exception of this little red area. It is possible that you’ve had this for years and it just had no meaning for you before until you had a sexual experience that you were concerned about. The likelihood that you would acquire herpes at a single encounter is statistically low.
How did you discover that this woman had HSV 2infection? Is it a rumor or did she tell you herself?

By six weeks from infection, 50% of people that are going to make antibody will have done so. An antibody test done now would be about 70% accurate since you are about six weeks out from the encounter. Buy 70% accurate I mean that there’s a 70% chance if you’re test is negative now that it will remain that way if you tested again at 16 weeks.

You can ask me one more question and then your subscription will have been completed.

Terri

[Brandon52]

Thanks again for the responses Terri 🙂 I went ahead to my dr as well as a local clinic to have the red spot swabbed. Both my dr and the nurse at the std clinic were adamant that I had no signs of herpetic lesions and that I should not be concerned that my recent lower back pain is related to herpes. My dr swabbed me anyway but u think she only did so to put my fears at rest expectinh me to get a negative result.

My immune deficiency is a rare disorder known as Brutons disease, basically I was born with a defunct immune system, I can not produce antibodies of my own, hence the treatment of IVIG.

My question: I’ve read on many dr and proffesional forums that herpes does not cause lower back pain, especially if no lesions are present…. But why is it that so many sites like webmd state lower back pain and knee pain as symptoms? What is the truth behind that or is it mostly an inflated misdiagnosis of symptoms on these sites?

[Brandon52]

I*

[Terri Warren]

I consulted with another herpes expert about your question and they agree that we just don’t know if people with immune problems are more likely to acquire herpes or not.

I don’t know why WebMD would say that people with herpes have back pain or any other site. As I mentioned, sometimes people who have herpes do have neuralgia down the back of the leg prior to, during or after an outbreak but generalize low back pain does not fit with a herpes diagnosis that I am aware of.

Terri

[Author]

Posts