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Avatar universal

unprotected oral - so afraid

For the past two years I have been with my girlfriend and only her, then, a little over a week ago, I cheated for the first time with someone I don’t really know so well, not a prostitute, but I don’t know her behavior.  the timeline:
Day 1 – unprotected oral sex (i received, did not give) / kissing.
Day 2, 3, 4, no symptoms, started feeling really tired evening of day 4, feel like Im getting a cold.
Day 5 – fever, chills, leg aches, headache, sore throat
Day 6 –fever, chills, aches, headache, sore throat.   Notice a very small pimple-like thing underneath the head of my penis, on skin where head meets shaft.  Looks like it can be popped so I pop it, what comes out is clear liquid like what comes out of a pimple), put anti-bacterial cream on it.  Since then hasn’t gotten any worse, hasn’t gotten a ton better but doesn’t seem to be oozing anything now. scabbed up a little day 7.
Day 7 – fever, headache, sore throat
Day 8 – sore throat the only cold symptom left (it is really persistent, not really helped by Choraseptic or gargling with salt water).  Today I notice that the hole of my urethra is definitely red (this also happened about 3-4 months ago, they put me on some sort of anti-fungal oral medication and it went away).  Today also started slight pain at beginning of urinating. but no discharge from penis.

What have I done to myself?  I know that the doctors I will go see won’t be as wise as you two.  When I go to a clinic tomorrow, what sort of tests and/or medication should I make sure to ask for/expect?    
My girlfriend has recurrent oral herpes, about once every two months is comes back.  Is there any risk to her now with what I have done?
Thanks for your sage advice,
13 Responses
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300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Just rub the swab firmly over the lesion. there is no need to break the skin or scrape material off.  EWH
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
i continue to be amazed at the different information out there about all of this. today i saw a urologist and he told me "why do you want to get it typed? it doesnt make a difference if it is type 1 or 2, you dont need to know.".
thank you so much for the help regarding Quest.  tomorrow morning i will have the test done.  the doctor is unsure exactly how to properly swab the remnants of the lesion to be submitted to the lab, so if you have any advice... otherwise i will just try an make sure there is SOMeTHing in the cup for them to pcr test.  i am forever grateful fo all the help of this wonderful website.
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300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Blood PCR tests for HSV are of no use to you.  You need to have your lesion evaluated.  EWH
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Avatar universal
am at a lab right now that doesnt need a script, they an offer a PCR test, but of the blood only, not the swab or scrape of the lesion.
i have a doctor appt in an hour, i will try and have him write me a script for Quest which is nearby, to try and get a PCR test of the lesion.  if this blood-PCR test is myonly PCR test option, should i do it?  the test center said the blood PCR test results will take 2-3 weeks. exposure was now 11 days ago.
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300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
In the U.S, the large commercial laboratories such as Lab Corp and Quest which provide services for many offices, clinics and hospitals are likely to provide both PCR and culture testing. The doctors may not know this and should disuss things with their labs.  EWH
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Avatar universal
palm beach gardens, fl.  any help would be so appreciated
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300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I have no idea where you are located, making it difficult to know how to advise you.  A culture might be helpful if that is all you can find.  It certainly is better than nothing

The person who told you that you woul have a positve blood test at 10 days is incorrect  EWH
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Avatar universal
Right now I'm trying to get an appointment with the nearest urologist or infectious disease specialist who hopefully can set me up with a lab that does that test...
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Avatar universal
thank you Dr. Hook.  I am running into roadblocks trying to find a place that will do a PCR test on the lesion.  One place said they could try a culture that would take a couple of weeks and two others said they have only heard of the blood test.  Any advice finding a source that can tell me where I can find a lab/doctor that will do a PCR test on the lesion?  (one place even told me "even if the exposure was 10 days ago, if you have a lesion you will have antibodies in the blood so no need for anything but a blood test")  It has stopped oozing liquid but is still very present so I imagine it is still PCR test-able.
Helpful - 0
300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The lesion you describe could conceivably be herpes.  It sounds as though a blood test was already done- if it is positive, it is unlikely that it reflects herpes acquired within the week preceding your test.  The proper test to request when you are seen i s a PCR test of the lesion for herpes- this is the preferred and most sensitive test and the sore does not need to be fluid filled or recent to provide useful information (many doctors mistakenly believe this is the case).   Visual diagnosis of HSV is unreliable, both in terms of “yes it is” and in terms of “no, it’s not”.  I would wait for further blood tests until you find out the results of initial testing.  .

Let's deal with the results when available rather than play the very non-productive "what if" game.  It really does not help.  If you do turn out to have HSV, this is not the end of the world b any means but, as I said, let's wait for your test results and go from there.  EWH
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Avatar universal
Thanks very much for your response, and I will be the first to admit that because of a drunken incident a couple years ago, I have become a worrywart  in all parts of my life, so over-worry could definitely play a part in this.

That said, the small ‘pimple’ I had on my penis when I first wrote on 12/27 (day 6) now looks like a canker sore, ‘weeps’ liquid, is red and sore.  My meatus is still definitively red.   I am going out of my mind that it is herpes, can’t sleep, hysterical.    I had blood submitted on 12/30 (day 9) at a clinic for some rapid spectrum of gonorrhea, chlamydia, herpes (they didn’t say for 1 or 2 or both), hiv, syphilis.  I’ll know the results of those in a few days. (but some of these could be in incubation, so maybe some are a waste of money?)  I was tested before my girlfriend and I started going out 1 1/2 years ago for all of these and was clean.  This one straying has been my only mistake.

Ive been scouring the forums and websites like CDC about herpes.  I feel I have learned a lot about herpes, and I feel I need to get an answer to possible positives for HSV-1 or HSV-2 in the proper fashion, as there seems to be lots of talk of swab of an active lesion for a quick diagnosis, while blood tests (also blood tests this soon) seem to be somewhat unreliable (?), and for this particular incident of mine, too soon.

I feel an urgency to get the lesion swabbed because if it closes up I might be waiting 3 months to know if I have herpes.  So when I go to a clinic tomorrow (everything closed today), I understand the most important method of knowing is I should 1) ask for a swab of the lesion (and then ask them to do *what test* with it?). This could give me an answer for HSV-1 and HSV-2 before waiting 3 months, is what I have understood.  I should also ask them 2) to do a very specific herpes blood test(gram stain?), if my first test wasn’t the right one – which is the best test to request?

Of course, after everything i have read, it seems that if my 12/30 blood test is positive for genital HSV-1, there is certainly a possibility that my girlfriend (who has oral HSV-1, and I have received unprotected oral sex from her frequently) gave it to me at some point in the past 18 months, even if she didn’t have visible sores (she gets sores about 1x/month), as the virus seems to “shed” sometimes even when there are not sores.  I was so stressed about my illness that I couldn’t feel my hands or feet on 12/27 and so went to the hospital (THEN the sore appeared on my penis) perhaps this sore could be a sign of  a long latent HSV-1 or HSV-2 emerging because of the intense stress.  

I appreciate all your advice, I promise I will follow-up only with the results of the tests when they come back.  I have not seen my girlfriend since this incident and won’t see her again for another few weeks, thus I would really like to know if my suspicions are correct about herpes before seeing her again.
Helpful - 0
300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome back to the Forum.  I'm beginning to wonder if there is a pattern becoming apparent here.  As in the past, after an exposure that, in retrospect you wish you did not have, you start to examine yourself repeatedly, to reflect back on what happened and to look hard for any possible indication of an STD- this in turn leads you to over react.  Would you agree?

The risk for STD from any single exposure is low- most people do not have STDs and most exposures to infected partners do not lead to infection.

The "pimple" you noticed was most likely a normal structure- there are a number of glands and "bumps" called pearly penile papules which can occur on the penis and be more or less apparent on a day to day basis.

Your flu-like illness was most likely just that, nothing more.  We all get colds from time to time.

Your mild discomfort on voiding may well be a manifestation of your increased attention or perhaps but probably not, an STD such as chlamydia, NGU or even gonorrhea.  Of course this cannot be detrmined over the internet The way to find out is to go and see a knowledgeable clinician who can test you for these infections (including NGU which requires looking for white blood cells on a smear of secretions taken from the penis or in urine collected just as you start to urinate).  Between now and then, I suggest you stop repeatedly examining yourself, squeezing anything you see on your genitals (the doctor can take a look at the spot that you squeezed) and do your best to relax.  I predict that testing will show that you did not get an STD.  I would also warn against accepting treatment "just in case" unless you are also willing to tell your GF of your encounter so that she toocan get checked.

I hope this helps. EWH
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Avatar universal
ok the past three times i have peed (night of day 8 / beginning of day 9) there has been no pain, i guess it was just once or twice there was mild discomfort at the start of urination on day 8...
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