This is herpes isn't it?

[sureido]

Hi Terri,
I need clarification badly on my condition.
Here are the facts so far.Two years ago my 20 year marriage ended.One year ago I had my first sexual encounter since the marriage ended.The woman gave me oral sex and also there was genital rubbing but no intercourse.Three weeks later I developed the following symptoms.
1.A red slightly inflamed area on the shaft of my penis.This was mildly irratated and lasted about 2 weeks.Since this initial occurrence I have had similar episodes three other times usually with a month or more between episodes. They have been less pronounced and only last about one week.
2.On and off for the last several months I get tingly and itchy thighs and sometimes buttocks.Also this is frequently but not always accompanied by tiny red slightly raised dots like pimples or ingrown hairs. There has never been any pus or fluid.
3.Once I had very sharp stabbing pain in the buttocks.The next day a rash developed on both of my thighs. It was itchy and lasted for one week.

4.The single most persistent symptom has been sciatic like pain down the back of my legs especially the left leg.

None of these symptoms started until that first ocurrance of red skin on my penis,it has been a year now since this started and not two weeks has gone by without at least one of the listed symptoms appearing.

I have visited two doctors and they both said they don’t think it’s herpes.My first question to you is do these sound like herpes symptoms to you?If not can you please tell me even one or two conditions that would cause ALL these symptoms but not be herpes.The doctors couldn’t!! I have been blood tested several times and will tell you about those results in my next follow up question, for now I would just like you to answer the questions I have posed.Thank you Terri.
2.

[sureido]

Sorry, I can’t believe I forgot to mention that I have also had painful lymph nodes in the groin on one occasion which lasted 5 or 6 days. Also, I get recurring bouts of painful urination.Again these symptoms as well as the others all started after the initial episode of red skin on my penis.

[Terri Warren]

So let me ask you : have you ever had a cold sore on your lip or in your nose? If the answer is yes, then you already have HSV 1 which is what you would get from receiving oral sex from this person. So you wouldn’t get it genitally, in all likelihood

1. Without any sores, I am less likely to think that this is herpes, by itself. Most people with genital herpes do get sores. The red areas turn into blisters, then open, then scab.
2. Itchy thighs and buttocks, especially in the winter, do not concern me at all. the little red bumps are something most everyone, particularly men get, on their skin in these areas.
3. This doesn’t sound like herpes to me either
4. Sciatica pain is common in the US, but mostly from back issues as people age. This, even in combination with your other vague symptoms, does not sound like herpes.

There are certainly bacterial and fungal issues that can cause redness of the genital skin. Weather can cause itching skin in the winter, back issues can cause sciatica. The chance that you would acquire herpes at a single encounter statistically is low. You symptom timing is way off for herpes as well – the majority of people who get herpes do so within 2-10 days with the average days to symptoms from infection is 5.5 days. You are well out of that.

So my answer would be probably not herpes, but I can’t be certain.

Terri

[sureido]

Hello again, I have more info. and more questions I need answered thankyou. In your first reply to my post there were a couple of issues that you did not address. You stated that I could contract hsv1 from oral sex but you didnt say anything about the genital to genital rubbing which I had mentioned. I should have clarified that it wasnt manual to genital rubbing so I apologize for not being more specific.

Also you didnt say anything about the episode of painful groin lymph nodes, or my recurring bouts of painful urination. You seem to have assumed that my itchy tingly thighs and buttocks were mainly in the winter but this symptom started way back in May of 2014, about 5 months after my sexual encounter.You said that most people get actual sores but this seem to contradict so much of what I have read that most peoples symptoms are so mild they go unrecognized. I would think sores arent considered mild.I want to again list the symptoms I have experienced on and off starting 3 weeks after my sex with this woman.

Mildly irritated red patch on penis, painful urination, itchy tingly thighs and buttock sometimes with small bumps,sciatic like pain especially in left leg, painful groin lymph nodes, sharp shooting pain in butt followed the next day by a rash on my thighs that lasted about a week. These things have come and gone recurringly with different frequencies starting 3 weeks after that sex and still going on today, over 1 year later.

I am 53 and have had cold sores since I was a teenager.This sex took place early January of 2014.

I had type spec. igg test done 3months, 6 months, and 9months after my first symptom(penis red irritated) and all three times the test came back positive for hsv1(of course i get coldsores) and very low neg. for hsv2.

I had westernblot done in January 2015, a full year after exposure and again results were pos. for hsv1 and neg. for hsv2.

I know the experts like to say the odds are incredibly low that I would have picked up hsv1 genital after so many years of oral hsv1. Also they say incredible low that hsv2 not detected by western blot, and type specific igg.

Well, i think the odds are even lower that I would come down with virtually ALL symptoms of genital hsv except open sores simultaneously and it not be atrributed to hsv! I think I am ONE MORE example of how it can and does go undetected and I suspect there are more like me than the statistics point to.

I completely understand that in the abscence of a swab test you cant say to me YES, you do have genital herpes but I need to hear what your gut is telling you about my case.Are you very suspicious that this could be herpes and perhaps I am another anomaly?

Thank you Terri, I know my frustration is showing in this but I am frustrated seeking answers.

[Terri Warren]

The genital to genital rubbing present some small risk – certainly not a significant risk as along as there was no penetration. Painful lymph nodes usually doesn’t happen with herpes though enlarged lymph nodes can be an issue with new herpes, yes.

Most people do get symptoms or herpes, but you are correct that they are so minimal that most people don’t recognize them as herpes related so we are on the same page about that. I see people as patients ALL THE TIME that have herpes symptoms but while interviewing them before the exam, they say they have no bumps, lesions, sores, etc. Then when I do the exam and find something suggestive of herpes, they say they didn’t notice that. That’s what I am referring to.

Your big risk in the encounter that you describe is HSV 1 which you already have so that is not a concern.

So glad that you obtained a western blot to clarify your situation but it doesn’t sound like you believe what the “experts” have to say about diagnosis. That’s OK, you are certainly entitled to your opinion. You believe that you have herpes despite all sorts of evidence to the contrary. The main problem I address on this board is people who believe they have herpes despite evidence to the contrary so I’m used to this issue. I just don’t know what else to say. Do I think you have HSV 2? No.

Terri

[sureido]

Please answer the following questions directly
Question 1: According to your own herpes handbook ( pg 3 I think)The following are all possible herpes symptoms. Tender lymph nodes,painful urination,pain in the legs, itching and of course sores.I told you I have ALL these symptoms except for the classic sores(I get red irritated area on penis).This all started after the sex I mentioned. Why do you then dismiss my symptoms?
Question 2: If you know of 1 thing other than herpes which causes ALL these symptoms on a recurring basis please name it now.
Question 3: I was recently on a forum where a man was having the same symptoms as me and he described his saga of trying to get accurately diagnosed.For 18 months he had the symptoms I describe including red penis area but no lesions or blisters.He had multiple igg tests spaced over the course of a year, all negative.He had western blot done several months after his initial symptoms and it to was negative.Finally he developed an actual swabbable sore after 18 months and pcr swab came back positive for hsv.He had no other secual exposure after his first symptom so this wasn’t a newer infection that the swap detected. Something failed here, either the blood test including westerblot or the pcr swab was incorrect.So my question Terri is which one do you believe?

And finally if all I get is red irritated penis area can this be accurately pcr swabbed or do I need open sore?

[Terri Warren]

I view tender and painful as different from each other. The painful urination come from urine passing over open lesions. Yes, people who have recurrent disease sometimes have a couple of days of pain down the back of the leg as a prodromal symptom but the pain is not normally long lasting. That pain is not long lasting. Sores do itch. Itching by itself could be many many things.

Any inflammation of any body part below the waist can cause in increase is the size of lymph nodes, as can cancer and other autoimmune disorders. Painful urination can be caused by many things as well including bacterial and fungal infections (ones that are not routinely picked up on STD screening tests like mycoplasma and ureaplasma. These can also causes itching and enlarged lymph nodes.

I have no idea if that comment is valid or is not valid. I have been told that there are people out there who make up test results to scare partners they were angry at or for the drama of the responses. If you want to base your medical life on people who report who knows what on the internet, you choice. I don’t. In 32 years of practice I have had nine people who tested positive by PCR and negative by western blot. That isn’t very many considering the number of western blots that we have done. But you’re right, it’s possible. I try not to live my life or direct my patients to live their lives based on the tiny percentages of what could happen or we would never live to our fullest possibilities. Honestly the odds of you getting herpes from one episode of genital rubbing are statistically extremely low. But I am finished trying to explain this to you.

I find your attitude on this board to be quite offensive. If you read back over your responses to me, I hope you are aware of this. For this reason, I am asking that your money be refunded ASAP and that you do not post here any longer. I’ve lived my entire professional life trying to help people who have herpes. I see hundreds and hundreds of people who have herpes in my clinic every year. One would hope I’ve learned just a little over this time. I’ve published in the most prestigious medical journals both here and abroad – New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of Infectious Disease and others. And believe me, as a nurse practitioner, this was not an easy task. By default, my practice includes many many many people who believe they have herpes in spite of overwhelming evidence that they do not. I don’t recall anyone quite as unpleasant, strident and demanding as you.

Terri

[Terri Warren]

Your money has already been returned.

Terri

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