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Is HSV2 causing burning pain in my scrotum for over 8 months or is it epididymitis?
This is a long one; sorry. I contracted HSV2 (genital herpes) in December 2017 from receiving anal sex. I did not have any symptoms down below but had a horrible fever and weird infection in my throat (no blisters, more of a bacterial infection look to it). After 4 months in April 2018, I had what I think was a blister forming on my right side of my pelvis near the crease of my thigh and decided to take Valtrex for the first time. After 5 days of taking the medication (the spot disappeared after 3 days total so I stopped the meds at 5 days), I started getting a burning sensation in my scrotum on day 7, two days after I stopped the meds. I had two days left of the medication and took it for the two days and the pain went away so I correlated the pain with the virus.
The burning pain, however, continued for days with no redness, blisters, or anything visible to the outside. Days grew to weeks and then to months. The pain spread from my scrotum to the base of my penis on the underside, right where the testicles meet the penis. I went to the doctor several times (the one who diagnosed me with HSV2) and told her about my pain and I asked if it was herpes or not. She said it does not sound like herpes and suggested I see a Urologist. Went to see one and he said he doesn't see anything on the outside of my scrotum that looks like an hsv infection or any swelling/redness on my balls to indicate epididymitis, so he sent me on my way.
At this point, I would have ranked the pain a solid 8 or 9 out of 10 (the pain varied day to day between the two). I felt it daily every time I woke up and got worse as the day went on. Feels almost like a stinging sensation sometimes when I tried to massage my balls since they did not dangle as low as they used to and the burning made me want to put ice water in a bathtub to lay down in. It does not hurt when I urinate but I noticed after I ejaculate, it would feel better for a little bit until I got soft and had to stretch my penis out again to clean him up (TMI I know).
Anyway, it got to the point that in December 2018, I had gone to the doctor again (the same one that diagnosed me with HSV2) and told her I am suicidal about this virus and that I could not stand being in pain like this for the rest of my life. She again said it does not sound like herpes and contacted her boss who suggested to give me Cipro, an antibiotic. She is not stupid, but I was upset that she would give me antibiotics for a viral infection.
I decided to take the meds regardless and just see if it helped. After one dose of taking the antibiotics, I could feel a weird cooling sensation in my balls that felt it working and after three days, the pain was greatly subsided! After 14 days, the medication ended and I felt better. Sadly, the pain slowly has come back but is nowhere near what it was before I took the antibiotics.
So, my questions are:
1. Can HSV-2 cause epididymitis, and if so, why is it that antibiotics made it feel better?
2. If not and since I did not have redness, warming, swollen balls, what condition can this be?
3. Will this be for the rest of my life now because I had gone 8 months without proper treatment??
4. Should I take a second round of Cipro in case it did not get rid of all of the bacterial infection?
The burning pain, however, continued for days with no redness, blisters, or anything visible to the outside. Days grew to weeks and then to months. The pain spread from my scrotum to the base of my penis on the underside, right where the testicles meet the penis. I went to the doctor several times (the one who diagnosed me with HSV2) and told her about my pain and I asked if it was herpes or not. She said it does not sound like herpes and suggested I see a Urologist. Went to see one and he said he doesn't see anything on the outside of my scrotum that looks like an hsv infection or any swelling/redness on my balls to indicate epididymitis, so he sent me on my way.
At this point, I would have ranked the pain a solid 8 or 9 out of 10 (the pain varied day to day between the two). I felt it daily every time I woke up and got worse as the day went on. Feels almost like a stinging sensation sometimes when I tried to massage my balls since they did not dangle as low as they used to and the burning made me want to put ice water in a bathtub to lay down in. It does not hurt when I urinate but I noticed after I ejaculate, it would feel better for a little bit until I got soft and had to stretch my penis out again to clean him up (TMI I know).
Anyway, it got to the point that in December 2018, I had gone to the doctor again (the same one that diagnosed me with HSV2) and told her I am suicidal about this virus and that I could not stand being in pain like this for the rest of my life. She again said it does not sound like herpes and contacted her boss who suggested to give me Cipro, an antibiotic. She is not stupid, but I was upset that she would give me antibiotics for a viral infection.
I decided to take the meds regardless and just see if it helped. After one dose of taking the antibiotics, I could feel a weird cooling sensation in my balls that felt it working and after three days, the pain was greatly subsided! After 14 days, the medication ended and I felt better. Sadly, the pain slowly has come back but is nowhere near what it was before I took the antibiotics.
So, my questions are:
1. Can HSV-2 cause epididymitis, and if so, why is it that antibiotics made it feel better?
2. If not and since I did not have redness, warming, swollen balls, what condition can this be?
3. Will this be for the rest of my life now because I had gone 8 months without proper treatment??
4. Should I take a second round of Cipro in case it did not get rid of all of the bacterial infection?
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