Possible exposure with very few symptoms

[cdnmaple]

I may be a hypocondriac, but given the impact on my personal life I want to get as much information about possible herpes exposure.

I had intimate contact, but not intercourse, with a sex worker. My penis rubbed against her buttocks, thighs, and chest, but never touched her vagina. Her vagina looked healthy and pink, and did not have any lesions. I can’t remember what her buttocks looked like.

I am irrationally terrified I might have herpes, but my symptoms were very minimal, if they existed at all:

– roughly 72 hours after the encounter I felt some flu-like symptoms, but they were pretty mild, only for a few hours, and I was finishing a day of cross country air travel.
– 1-4 weeks after the encounter I noticed that after masterbating my penis was a little tender. The tenderness would last a day or so, and was clearly caused by the rubbing during masterbation.

My main worry is that tenderness after masterbation. That seemed to be new, and now I’m 16 weeks after the encounter and I don’t experience it anymore.

Aside from very light pink areas caused by rubbing during masterbation, there were no other lesions.

I had the following clinic analysis done:

– 8 days after encounter I saw an urgent care doctor who did a physical exam, and who did an HSV Culture and Typing via a swab. The result was negative (there wasn’t really a lesion to swab).
– 4 weeks after encounter I had a HSV-2 Type Spec Ab, IgG w/Rflx. The results were negative.
– 15 weeks after encounter I had a HSV 1 and 2-Spec Ab, IgG w/Rfx. Both were negative.

So my questions are: Is there anything I need to worry about based on what I’ve said, and should I get further diagnostics (Western Blot?).

The real issue for me is that I’m married, and while I betrayed her with this action, not telling her and infecting her would be a unforgivable transgression. If I was single and could just wait and see I wouldn’t be such a wreck worrying.

[Terri Warren]

– roughly 72 hours after the encounter I felt some flu-like symptoms, but they were pretty mild, only for a few hours, and I was finishing a day of cross country air travel.
– 1-4 weeks after the encounter I noticed that after masterbating my penis was a little tender. The tenderness would last a day or so, and was clearly caused by the rubbing during masterbation.

My main worry is that tenderness after masterbation. That seemed to be new, and now I’m 16 weeks after the encounter and I don’t experience it anymore.

Aside from very light pink areas caused by rubbing during masterbation, there were no other lesions.

I had the following clinic analysis done:

– 8 days after encounter I saw an urgent care doctor who did a physical exam, and who did an HSV Culture and Typing via a swab. The result was negative (there wasn’t really a lesion to swab).
– 4 weeks after encounter I had a HSV-2 Type Spec Ab, IgG w/Rflx. The results were negative.
– 15 weeks after encounter I had a HSV 1 and 2-Spec Ab, IgG w/Rfx. Both were negative.

So my questions are: Is there anything I need to worry about based on what I’ve said, and should I get further diagnostics (Western Blot?).

This is nothing that you need to worry about. Your contact with the sex worker was completely safe – good job with that. I wouldn’t have even suggested that you should do any testing at all. But since you did, the negative results are consistent with a no-risk event.

Terri

[cdnmaple]

Thanks for the clear reply. Please bear with me, but I’m going to ask the question again in a slightly different way: You are saying that mild tenderness during masterbation after the contact is not a symptom that I should be worried about. Correct?

Sorry for repeating myself, but your answers will really put me at ease. Thanks!

[Terri Warren]

Yup, that’s what I’m saying

Terri

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