Is this a sign of Herpes?

[Xstrandman]

   On February 27th I had unprotected sex with a woman. Roughly two weeks after the encounter, and 3 days after freshly trimming my pubic region, I started to feel irritated. This irritation felt better when I was naked or when I spread my legs apart which allowed for minimal contact with clothing. The feeling would come and go and was more annoying than an intensive burn. So far I have no other obvious symptoms. It would be relieved with lotion, antihistamines, benadryl gel and caladryl oil. It also felt better when I was naked or if it was bothering me while standing at work I could simply sit down, remove my pants and then the feeling would go away. It started in the genital region before I noticed the feeling in my forearms and on my inner quad above the knee.On a few occasions I feel the irritation in all of those areas at once.I did notice that my mother changed laundry detergents so I thought maybe I was having a reaction to the fresh shave and laundry detergent. I noticed that jeans, boxers and black sweater usually provoked the irritating feeling in all listed spots. Upon washing my clothes in hot/cold water, w/o detergent, I was irritation free for 4 days. But then it started again while working. It seems friction, pressure and moisture play a vital role in the length and degree of irritation.
   I am very conflicted. Some experts, like Dr. HHH on this forum, say that "No STDs alone cause skin irritation and burning and that sores and ulcers only cause irritation and burning." But I also read people's testimonies that they have tested positive for HSV2 and have never had sores but do get the burning/irritation feeling in the genital region.
   Should I get tested at 6 or 7 weeks to get an idea if I'm positive and then again at 12 weeks? I don't have a GP but I am going to make an appointment with one just to cover all of my options. I know my story is long with a lot of details, but what is an expert opinion on the likelihood of me contracting HSV2?

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

They are all about the same.  You need to use them twice a day for about two weeks for best results.
This will be my last post on this thread.

Terri

[Xstrandman]

I tried Lotrimin AF for a while. It helped with the burning at first, but I tried it a few weeks ago and it didn't help. What kind of antifungals do you recommend?

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

I'm so glad your testing went well.  Now your task will be to try even harder to let these issues pass from your mind.  Also, you might try some antifungal powder that you can get over the counter for the irritation of the groin area, particularly useful in the summer.

Terri

[Xstrandman]

Tested negative for HIV and HSV at 12 weeks! I consider myself very lucky. To this day I still have this odd redness on my scrotum and glans. My derm and doctor aren't quite sure why either are red, but both don't think it's due to an infection of any kind. Also, it feels chaffed and irritated between my legs which is probably due to my skin rubbing throughout the day, but I'm not sure. I started taking an anti-depressant and anxiety med to help calm my nerves and to help with the fact that I did become consumed with getting an STD and all the other little non-specific symptoms I've dealt with. At random times throughout the day I have these weird feelings/sensations that are like a combination of itch,burn, fiberglass that both my derm and doctor believe are my nerves. I'll also feel tingling/numbness at specific spots on my body like below my knee or on my calf. No idea why or what it is, but I just ignore it and assume it's normal. Hopefully with the help of my meds, warm weather, less stress and anxiety I'll be back to normal soon. Otherwise, they told me to check back in a month unless something obvious happens before. Fingers crossed...

[tikiii]

Sorry for that and nice y ou share with us. So what are the symtoms thanks

[tikiii]

Good you are ok. Wow sounds like u were making youself sick. Please don't have unprotected sex we don't want to see you like this again. Reminds me of the twilight zone.

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

That sounds reasonable to me.  I hope the further testing goes well, too.

Terri

[Xstrandman]

So I went back to the dermatologist on monday, 5-9, and he said that despite redness on my scrotum and glans that they are both healthy and there is no sign of infection of any kind. Was tough to hear that. Ever since my encounter I've gone through numerous ailments, which I've listed before, but all test results have come back negative. I still get the itch on parts of my body, but my derm believes it is dry skin and my nerves are overly stimulated both from the cold weather and my obsessive mentality with what's been going on. I've been on a hydration regimen and have been trying to be more active in hopes of keeping my mind off of things. It's tough though, to go through all of this and to not understand why. I'm getting HSV and HIV re-tested at 12 weeks just to further ease my mind and I hope that with time, hydration and less stress/anxiety, whatever it is my body is going through will finally come to pass. I should consider myself lucky though and I need to take this as a lesson as to not be so careless in the future.

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

I don't want what that means, "exposed".  Please get your test numbers and make a new post to this board and if you like, I will help you sort this out.

Terri

[formation]

I was just told today that i was exposed to herpes. i can't remember what the numbers were, but I really want to know is that should get a second test done? I will be honest
is that i have had unprotected sex with a female for 17 years, but my girlfriend of almost five years test results were negative. I have had some itching on my genital area. Scared to death, don't know what to do.

by Falling apart.

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

OK

Terri

[Xstrandman]

While the itching is very real, I am starting to believe that it is more of a psycho-somatic ailment than anything else. It's not so much that I'm thinking it's HSV or HIV or anything, it's more of the "I know what it's not, but I don't know what it is" type mentality. But, anxiety can do that to a person. There are a lot of things I can do on my end to help me through all of this and I plan on sticking to them. Negative results are a great start and that's what I need to focus on. Thank you for listening and I will be sure to let you know how I'm progressing.

Chris

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

I would agree that stress and anxiety are making you very aware of every little sensation in your body, and you are interpreting these are herpetic!
I so hope that soon you will be able to believe your negative results and move on.

Terri

[Xstrandman]

The scrotum is definitely better, but still isn't back to normal. My cream treatment ends on Thursday. But lately I've been having itch attacks on random parts of my body, but still no rash. Just saw a Dr. this morning and he really believes it's anxiety and stress. He told me to take Claritin during the day and Benadryl at night to see if it helps, but he also recommended I see my counselor again and engage in activities because I haven't been doing much lately but wondering what's wrong with me. It's frustrating to think I've been going through all of this and that it's my own fault but the Dr. said "if it was an infection or bacteria you would show other signs, and right now, red scrotum aside, you don't have anything else going on with you." And he's right - I wasn't even happy when my negative test results came back.

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

Well, good, then you have some answers that feel reasonable to you.  I'm glad you feel resolution.

Terri

[Xstrandman]

Had my apt with the dermatologist today. Once I showed him my scrotum he immediately knew what it was. Basically I managed to irritate the skin down there to the point where my body's natural defense system caused the skin to get red and hard and leathery to protect itself. The burning of my inner thigh is probably from rubbing the skin and causing chaffing. He prescribed me a steroid cream in hopes of relaxing the nerves in my groin area and scrotum. When I asked him why sometimes it feels like someone is rubbing fiberglass insulation on my forearms and legs he said, "Not really sure but it's probably sympathetic nerves. I've had people with redness on their feet but complain of irritation in their hands. Let's treat the immediate source and call me on Tuesday to let me know how things are going."

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

Good plan, strandman.

Terri

[Xstrandman]

All test results came back negative and I'll be back at 12-16 weeks for a final HSV test. As of right now, my scrotum is still very red, dry and scaly but the irritation between my legs is pretty much gone. Overall I feel a lot better but have noticed itching on my forearms and quads above the knee. Going to see my dermatologist on Friday to see if I am allergic to anything (creams included).

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

OK

[Xstrandman]

Yeah, that is good. I guess I'm just tired of having these weird feelings on my skin without really knowing what's going on. It's been bothering me for 3 weeks now and I'm ready for it to go away. I hope the cream treatment works. So far the irritation has decreased a lot but I itch on my forearms and above my knees more frequent - thank god for cortisone! Scrotum still looks irritated and pissed off. I'm throwing out all my boxers and buying new ones and I'm also going to re-wash all my dark clothes a few times in hot/cold water and with dye/perfume free detergent in case it is in fact an allergy to something in my mom's detergent. Will keep you posted...

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

Well, he certainly did cover all the bases, and I think that's fine.  You may not have liked him, but he addressed possible fungal infection, skin dryness as a source of irritation and inflammation with cortisone.  At least he tested for HSV, that's good, right?

Terri

[Xstrandman]

Well, the GP I saw today barely addressed anything. He told me to take a few creams: Cetaphil for dryness, Cortizone for itching and Lotrimin AF for the burning. He basically said "it could be a number of things so lets cover all the bases." He said the majority of the other things I was experiencing were due to anxiety and that we "will cover the physical stuff first before addressing anything else." I didn't like him. Tested for HSV and HIV and will get results back in a few days, but after a visual inspection he didn't give any indication of HSV or anything too obvious. I really hope this cream-attack works because this irritation is getting old.

[Terri Warren, RN, Adult Nurse Practitioner]

These sensations are very non-specific, and I don't think we can make anything of them in particular.  Testing will hopefully provide the information you need because based on your symptoms, I don't think we can determine anything.

Terri

[Xstrandman]

   I left out a few things due to character limit. Roughly 3-4 days after the incident I noticed weird sensations in my penis/urethra. That same weekend I had a weird pressure on my bladder that came when I was driving or when there was pressure applied. This last 2 days. It went away before coming back the next weekend when I was driving for over 3 hours. Again, it lasted 2 days. I got tested for chlamydia and gonorrhea and also received a urethral swab. All results were negative. Saw an urologist the following week and he said I was having spasms caused by anxiety/stress and that's why the bladder feeling only happened when I was sitting and why my urethra was tingling. I haven't had bladder issues or tingling since. Around the same time of my urology apt. (as well as with the feeling in my genital area described above) I would get quick, short chills that would happen randomly for about 4 days, but I haven't had any since. The week after that I would get weird feelings in my stomach that weren't really nausea, but felt like tickling and I would also get clammy hands at random times. I've also experienced a sharp pain in my abdomen on the left side and right above my bladder and right above my bellybutton. The pain was brief and hasn't happened again. Please note I had a major GI surgery over a year ago. The next weird thing I noticed was a feeling in my left butt cheek that felt like a nerve flare. I would feel something before it abruptly became more intense, for a split second, and then would go away. As of Thursday last week I have noticed a change in my lymph node on the right side below my jawline and this was accompanied by a stuffy/runny nose. The tenderness of the node is gone but it still feels larger than normal.
   As you can see, it seems as if there is one little thing after the other and I can't help but correlate these things with my encounter. I am having a hard time because I keep searching for answers. Part of me thinks it's herpes, but my symptoms are not consistent in occurrence.Thoughts about these weird feelings that I've noticed?