WORRIED SICK! HELP!

[Guest Anonymous]

i'm a young male who did something stupid. I had sex with a girl that I met at a club ALTHOUGH it was protected I am still worried sick because it was dark, I was drunk and I THOUGHT i might have saw some small dark marks on her upper thigh above her pubic hair. That was 8 weeks ago and I have not developed any typical syptoms BUT i did notice a small red patch on my scrotum about 4 days after that night. I noticed it because i freaked out and started checking my self about once and hour, at work, at school, EVERYWHERE I went. It didn't hurt (burning, tingling) but then I noticed MORE redness above that and that freaked me out even more. I also had an aching pain in my hip at the same time on the same side. I went to the DR. for the pain and he said that I had a sports injury and that after he took x-rays and gave me some anti-inflamitories and the pain subsided although it is still present. The redness never went away and I decided to get to a clinic. I went to a herpes clinic and saw the DR. He said the redness was a yeast infection and that it wasn't herpes. He did tell me that I had warts for a few years though (hopefully that's all i have). The redness got worse the next week so I asked him again on my next visit and he said it wasn't herpes and gave me some yeast cream. I used it and the redness went away and then I stopped using it. then the reddness came back after I put lotion on my scrotum because it looked dry after the cream. Most of my scorum then turned beat red and sweaty. I FREAKED AGAIN and went back the DR and he said that I had made the yeast infection worse with the lotion and to keep with the cream and some talc powder. I have been doing that for a week or so and the redness is going away but I notice a small buring vary RARELY and the scotum seems sensitive but not icthy in a few certain spots. That has been like that for a few weeks now here and there and usually is only really brief like maybe a minute to 30 off and on. There is no real redness noticable bumps where i feel those mild things. I still check my self about 20 times a day because i'm freaked out and I inspect every little bump (thankfully everyone has had a hair growing out of it so far). I have gotten a few little bumps on my thigh pubic hair region with no pain but I popped them and they they went away with-in a day (I pray pimples)

I know that this is long and I'm sorry but i am worried out of my mind with this. This whole thing ruined my college graduation last month and is really bringing me down. I trust the doctor because he is a sexual health DR and deals with only STD's all day but I know DR's are far from perfect. Do these sound like symptoms, could it go on for about 2 months or am I being hit with all this at once (the hip injury, yeast, my fear) and freaking out over nothing and I just irratate the hell of my scrotum by strecthing it, pulling it all d*mned day?? I always feel the small irrations in the same spots and have like I said for about 6 weeks but no red bumps, blisters or intense pain.

My story isn't simliar to anyone else's that's why I put it up here. Can anyone give advice or their opinion? I saw Faith and that Helicopter pilot responded to alot of people and helped them, and you two are angels for doing that. I feel so alone in my worries because I have no one to talk to so pease let me know what you think... anyone.

[Lasmom]

I am no expert on male rashes, etc... but it sounds like you should trust your doc and stop obsessing. If you are anything like me you are making the rash/pimples worse by constantly touching/pulling on the skin. Leave it alone, let it heal, live your life, abstain from sex for a little while and see how everything looks after you settle down... If you have any kind of a sore, then go to the doc and have them do a swab test, or you can have them do a blood test to check for exposure. That girl may have had pimples or birthmarks....

Don't let this worry ruin your life.

Good luck.

[MC37 Pilot]

I read your post entirely...

You are just freakin out over nothing....

I recommend you have a cold beer, and smile!

[Guest Anonymous]

i hope

Thanks for the advice and thougts in the posts. I'm really freaked out about this and my mind as made every little itch, pain, bump, numbness, tingle anywhere below my waste a herpes sympton. I'm really bad about abcessing over things like this, always have and always will. I still had some minor "tickling" today in the normal spot and I freaked out about it. It only lasted about 45 mins. I always get it in that spot and sometimes a small burn but it goes away within half an hour. Even now my hip feels "funny" and i'm thinking it's a symptom. If I had known the statistics and that a condom does not fully protect against herpes I would have never EVER done it. Schools should give better statistics in sex ed and have better research available for students. Now I go to clubs and think to my self, 1 out of 4-5 girls OR even guys here MAY have herpes or other things and it freaks me out. I just pray that I'm not one of those guys that is a statistic. Anyone care to repsond with a post please do so or with any other thoughts about my first post.

[Guest Anonymous]

Man I feel for ya, I have been imagining symptoms for weeks now. I keep telling myself that it's all in your head, but yet the pain is there. I gave myself a bruise I think from grabbing my inner thigh so much. I can't count how many times I have gone into the back room at work to inspect whether or not today is the day I find sometihing. Just waiting my time until 3 months have passed to get a bloodtest. If negative, I can honestly say to myself that I did everything I could to make sure I was clean. But this scare was enough to scare me straight. No more casual sex, I want a bloodtest and references! LOL

Hang in there, if you do have it, it isn't the end of the world. But I am sure you are going to want to hang on to the next person that cares enough about you that they are willing to risk exposure to the virus, just to be with you.

[MC37 Pilot]

I can honestly say to myself that I did everything I could to make sure I was clean.

Clean? RIIIIIIIGHT... as opposed to what you would be if you do have herpes?

No more casual sex, I want a bloodtest and references! LOL

Oh don't be a snob.

Herpes is not that big of a deal... Yeah, everyone should be as careful as possible, but if you love someone, do you REALLY need a 'bloodtest and references'??? I'm sure that is partially said in jest, but still..

I should hope that your experience would, in addition to making you a more informed and more careful person, also make you a more COMPASSIONATE person...

[Guest Anonymous]

Clean? RIIIIIIIGHT... as opposed to what you would be if you do have herpes?

I didn't mean that like that. I meant just free of any STD's. Believe me, I still think I have this, and I am waiting it out until I can either get a bloodtest or get an OB.

I didn't mean to come off as a snob. This board has helped me more than you could imagine and I am glad I found it. I wouldn't do anything to disrespect anyone on it. I hope you can understand that.

I know it's not the end of the world and people who have it are no different from those who don't. Had I gotten an OB a month ago, it might have been. The social stigma of it is terrible, and the general public isn't very educated on the subject. And the bloodtest was a joke . But I really don't think I'll be the same person after all this whether I have it or not.

[MC37 Pilot]

I was half-teasing you. hence the

I know you didn't mean anything offensive.

I think sometimes 'we' still think negatively as in the 'clean/dirty' concept etc. Just wanted to point that out. Words are just words, but sometimes when you change them you can think more positively... anyway...

[Jerry]

I am sure you meant well, and I'll be more careful in the future when choosing my words.

~Jerry~

(formerly Worried Sick)

[Lasmom]

But I really don't think I'll be the same person after all this whether I have it or not.

AH, we turned another one! Ya Jerry, we wish you the best for a negative! This certainly effects you huh? And if you're positive, well, we will welcome you back to help you through.

That waiting for an OB really sucked - I think I caused one with worry - I think I actually TRIED to cause one on purpose.... crazy

Good Luck. Let us know.

p.s. - Pilot is so sensitive isn't he? Be careful with the words man!!! (I love Pilot)

[Jerry]

I am like 75% sure I don't have it now. I actually have a pimple on my lip and I am not freaking out, so that would have to be a good sign.

I have been reading more posts, and some people say the virus will infect the area where it entered the body and others say no, it will just go straight to the genitals no matter what (talking about HSV2). This thing is tricky to say the least. Seems the more I read about herpes, the more confused I get.

[Lasmom]

Yeah,,

Be careful what you read. I can only tell you my experiences and what the doc told me - I try not to do th "I heard....someone told me...."

You have to stop reading everything after a while. Find your own facts.

It does suck.

I am a firm beiever that where it enters is wwhere the outbreaks occur. For me that has been true for about 5 years. My doc said "it won't get any worse if you are careful" (ie., not touching to spread) I also believe it is possible to get infected in a new site by a partner, or touching a sore....touching elsewhere - in fact I think my second site is from my hand holding "stuff" back to investigate the original site before I knew what it was.

But - that is my case and opinion. Sucks that we don't know everything. Is there a doctor in the house????

[MC37 Pilot]

and some people say the virus will infect the area where it entered the body and others say no, it will just go straight to the genitals no matter what (talking about HSV2

no no no...

It doesn't just 'go straight to the genitals'....

If it did, why would people who have cold sores, not get outbreaks on the the genitals????

Hsv has an infection site (ie, where it made it THRU the skin into your body) NOTE: The skin IS your first layer of your immune system.

From the infection site, HSV propogates itself in your nerve tissue FROM the infection site into the base nerves close to your spine.

HOWEVER, the way your nerve clusters are 'laid-out' the virus can go NO further in your body then to the other nerves that connect to THAT particular nerve cluster.... So while your infection site, AND site of your first outbreak COULD be, for example, on lets say the right side of your dick.... The nevers that go to the right side of your dick join up with the nerves that go to the right side of your dick... Thus as the virus makes its way to where all those nerves come together, it can propogate itself across to those nerves and you could then get a second outbreak in a different location than your infection site, or your first outbreak etc.... BUT the second outbreak would STILL have to be in the same general area as your first outbreak.

This is over-simplified, but think of it this way... Look at the above picture... You can see how some nerve branches come together BEFORE they hit your spinal cord...

(again, this is oversimplified) but HSV can propogate itself through-out the never clusters that come together in those spots, BUT IT DOES NOT travel into/thru your spinal cord to reach other clusters...

So an HSV infection that occurs in the genital area will only re-cur in the same general area UNLESS you re-infect yourself OUTSIDE of your body by touching an outbreak and spreading it to a different part of your body.

I'm not sure of the exact physiological/biological reasons why HSV cannot get into your spine and travel thru that nervous tissue to get to other parts of your body.

Nervous tissue is HIGHLY specialized tissue... the HSV virus only affects nerve tissue. That's why typically (but not always) it only shows up near the genitals and the mouth (very sensitive areas with LOTS of nerve endings) (however keep in mind that you have nerves all over almost every part of your body.... just not as many or as many close to the surface of your skin as in the gentital/lips but anyway)

I suspect that due to the critically important nature of our spinal cord, and spinal tissue to our life-condition, there is an extremely strong immune response ANY time a virus gets close to our spine, and thru immune system function, our body prevents the virus from ever getting into our spine (which is the ONLY way that THIS virus could move thru the body on the inside) (rememeber, the HSV virus ONLY affects NERVE tissue.) The HSV virus IS NOT found in ANY OTHER TISSUE ON YOUR BODY BUT NERVE TISSUE. It is not found in your blood, your bones, or your muscle tissue. ONLY IN YOUR NERVE TISSUE...

(note: YES, they can find the ANTI-BODIES for the virus in your blood, but the anti-bodies are what your immune system sends out to fight the virus... NOT the virus itself)

Therefore, the virus can ONLY propogate itself in a pattern consistent with how your nerve tissue is laid out in your body...

Think of your nervous system in your body like the circuits in your house... You can have several appliances running off the same outlet... or even several outlets running off the same circuit... But if you blow that circuit, it ONLY affects things plugged into THAT circuit. The rest of your house is fine...

Your Spinal cord is kinda like that... Your spinal cord is the main circuit panel, and the nerves going to different parts of your body all connect to the spinal cord like circuit breakers.... If something gets f'd up at some remote location of your house, it triggers a particular circuit to break, and thus prevents the rest of the power grid in your house from being affected.

Your body has immune mechanisms in place that unfortunately did not prevent hsv from infecting a nerve cluster... BUT it does have immune responses that will prevent HSV from getting into your spine and traveling to other completely different parts of your body.

It helps alot to understanding how HSV works by understanding how virus's work...

Here is a link I found that does a pretty good job of explaining virusus...

http://www.path.ox.ac.uk/dg/newindex.html

Especially, you should read the "what are viruses" "how do viruses work" and "our defences against viruses"

They are very simple explanations... If you were curious in more detail I would be happy to discuss the specifics.

If you might have taken some higher level biology courses in H.S. or college, the explanations on the website I listed might refresh your memory of topics that are covered in Advanced biology classes. Sometimes the first time around, it isn't as applicable, but when you have a peaked interest (because of something like HSV) you have a better aptitude to understand it all.

That's how I was in H.S. and college... I took the classes just because that's what you did, and covering some of the topics was like "yeah, Ok, I'm NEVER going to use this info" Getting HSV and starting to research it more, its way more applicable to me now then the first time I learned it.

Its pretty cool stuff, and you can understand how it all 'fits' together... viruses, your bodies immune response... medication... how medication works.. The side effects of medication... etc

[Jerry]

If it did, why would people who have cold sores, not get outbreaks on the the genitals????

The way I have understood it so far, is that HSV1 generally stays around the lips while HSV2 stays near the genitals, but you can get both in either area, but it just isn't very common. The phrase "HSV2 doesn?t like to stay near the lips" or something along those lines has been used on this board. And I think I may have misunderstood some things then. Because at first I was worried about HSV2 on my lips, but after hearing that, I started to worry about my genitals, even though they never touched her. I have been imagining every symptom possible around my genitals without having a freakin? outbreak. I am starting to wonder if its something else not HSV related. Today my inner-thigh was agitated, that area where your legs meet your crotch have been itching on and off for weeks, back pain (but I have had that for a long time) and today slight nausea. Hopefully they are all in my head. Damn doctor is taking his time getting back to me on my blood tests. I think I'll stop by tomorrow and drop him a visit. I'll have to show him the pimple on my lip, I am pretty sure that is what it is, and I get them all the time. I am sure it isn't Herpes because it doesn't hurt. Just feels like a pimple and that's it.

If it weren't for every website saying that symptoms range from a lot of pain to hardly none at all, I wouldn't even be worried. But the news that the virus will generally stay around the point of infection is good news, because my imaginary symptoms have all been below the waist so far. But we?ll see what tomorrow holds in store for me. I am sure I?ll be imagining stuff on my lips after this pimple goes away.

That stripper had to have been free of STD's, because she rubbed her vagina all over me and went out of her way to rub it on my skin. So either she was ok or pissed off at the world and decided to mess with people's lives. She seemed like a really nice person, but what goes on in that upstairs room is borderline prostitution. The only difference is that you leave your pants on. T.M.I. I am sure, but had to share.

Thanks for explaining that to me Pilot. I checked out that website. Yeah it explains everything in a pretty simple and easy to understand format. I didn?t know you had to wait 6 months for AIDS antibodies. I guess the AIDS test I had will be useless, but I get a test every year and I am due in June, so I?ll get tested again anyway.

Thanks again,

~Jerry~