First let me say that this board is great and exactly what people need to turn to for support. This is long so I apologize in advance. I have nobody to turn to. I’m sure I will be here a lot helping others for years to come. I need any help people can give. This will be long so please forgive me. I

I’m a male that had protected sex with a questionable individual. Used condoms, but not for oral sex. Obviously no visual problems to get me concerned with the female face. 7 days later I’m sitting at my desk and feel and awful pain on the left side of my shaft near the head of my penis. I close my door, pop out the willy and my life just stopped. I had a bright red area that felt like it was on fire and some sort of fluid under the head of the penis. That is it. I take out a napkin and wipe it off. I get home that night and take a shower. The pain is less and it only feels “sore”. No other symptoms. This is Thursday morning. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday I just feel bad, flu-like. And wait, I remember a bad headache from Wednesday (prodrome?). I got a swab on Sunday from a clinic but there was not much there. Swab was negative after they called and said they used the wrong type. Dr. said it sounded like Herpes so gave me Valtrex. I took it for 3-4 days. I saw my Dr. and he looked at me and said it was probably fungal since I also have had some prostate infections.

I left with caution. Things went away after a week. That was about it. About 2 weeks later I had some vigorous sex and afterward I had a whitehead pimp right on my shaft that came on very quickly (5 minutes) after sex. I killed. I popped it carefully and cleaned the area without spreading potential virus. Felt better instantly.

Over the next 4 weeks I would have occasional dryness at the end of the shaft near the head. If I masturbated it would cause skin to break off and flake. Then, 40 days after the first OB it happened again. Same place, just a little fluid. No zits, cuts, pockets of fluid, etc. (maybe fluid broke from pocket I didn't see/feel). Took a couple days to go away.

So I go to a different Dr. 12 weeks after my first OB. He does blood tests and puts me on Valtrex. The blood tests are type specific and one tests for recent antibodies of type 1 and type 2 (for recent infection) and the second test for any antibodies for type 1 and type 2 that have always been in the system (Igm?).

2 weeks later he calls and say I don’t have Herpes – tests are negative. The problem is, I continue to have some sort of dryness, some skin flaking, and loss of sensitivity (just a little). About 2 weeks alter I go back and I have a “mild” OB that has no fluid. Just kind of a rash. He scraps it under a microscope and say it fungal. So for 3 months I try this fungal cream every day and it kinda works. Didn’t make the rash go away instantly. Which leaves my wondering. I still have the occasional dryness.

Then, about 3 months ago the “hot spots” on the scrotum start. Almost every other day it feels like my scrotum is on fire. Creams give temporary relief but not much. Every once in a while it happens around the anus area. I look using a mirror and there is no bumps, no read, nothing. I read hear the nerves can start doing that.

So finally I have another rash area and I go into the same Dr. and say hey, take a look and these creams are not looking. I also have a scrotal rash. He basically says I need to go to a dermatologist. So the next day I go to a dermatologist. The rash is a bit better but not gone. Throughout some of these out breaks it feels and looks like I have a paper cut right under the head of the penis. So at this point I am 8 months in and I go see a dermatologist (6 days ago). He looks and says “yep, herpes”. He puts me on Valtrex. Here I am 6 days later and the symptoms are better but have lasted longer than usual. The scrotal hot spots are much less. It would appear that I am having an outbreak and the Valtrex is working. Dr. says if the swab is negative we will just have to wait for a rash and do a biopsy. Anyone ever have this to confirm herpes?

So as I sit here and type this - this is what I have going on. I have hot spots on my rear end. These are realively new. Sometimes I have them around my anus. They come and go and get better if I’m not sitting. Sometimes my scrotum has the hot spots. They are random basically but bother me.

Bottom line – the last 8 months have felt like this: I have hardly had a day in the last 8 months where I have woke up and went through a full day without a hot spot, tingle, burn, or itch. Every day, maybe for 10 seconds, I have something.

I go into my Dr. this morning and I hammer him about the tests. He calls the lab and assures my up and down that this test is the gold standard and I did test negative. I told him that my concern is that the test was wrong, and the hot spots have come on because I am not treating the virus. I told him about doing a western blot as it is supposed to be the gold standard. He said the Western blot is for HIV only. We know that is not true.

Basically, I think I have herpes and this guy doesn’t know what he is talking about. I think I have Herpes HSV1 from the oral. I’m starting to think that this is my second “big” outbreak (2 in first 8 months – not bad). All the other stuff I don’t know.

Any thoughts? Should I retest and pay on my own? I’m getting sick and tired of the roller coaster. It’s cool if I have it, I just don’t want to spread it. If all this dryness and flaking is shedding, it appears that I am having an 8 month out break with an initial outbreak and a second large out break. It feels like 8 months of hell because I get not relief. Maybe I keep reinfecting myself. I don’t know. And what about the Valtrex? They always give me a 3 day supply but the symptoms last 10 days. Shouldn’t I take it longer?

Thank you so much for reading this. You people are great. I hope to get over this and help others. I am ready to accept my condition and help others. I just need a proper diagnosis. Thanks

by reading ur post, i can sense u're EXTREMELY anxious. pergharps paranoia and stress caused alot of your symptoms.

i'm in the same boat as you. I had unprotected oral sex and was so sure i have HSV-1. i probably do, but i'm not having outbreaks since my initial one which wasn't bad anyways. I too have the dry skin thing. it almost seems like the skin on my penis is dehydrated/pruned, LOL. I read from somewhere from a doctor's reply that if the texture of your penis changes, its very likely its balanitis (a fungal infection of the penis). and guess what? i went to a very good derm. yesterday and he told me "Nope, its not herpes. If it were, u would have blisters and pain in urination." i showed him a few pimples i had which could've been there since i was born. he told me they were sebecaous glands. i told him when i masterbated, my whole penis goes red (does your do the same, btw?). he told me i have balanatis and gave me some anti-fungal cream. i slapped on some after i took a shower last night. And now i'm feeling better.

dude, just don't get urself too stressed out. the mind can do alot to ur body. my derm told me alot of the skin problems like warts, acne and rashes are stress induced. sounds harsh, but try to take a little bit of xanax if you need it. don't become dependent on it, but take it once in a while to stop urself frm going insane.

Thanks man. I work a very stressful job. That was about a year in from when this started happening. I don't doubt that that could be one cause of this.

I'm really trying to be upbeat and just wait for my last culture to come back. I have every reason to believe it is negative. The Derm wants to do a biopsy though - when I have another outbreak. Who knows when that will be.

I think I will get all the tests run again for piece of mind. This derm I am seeing has a good reputation and he said it looks like Herpes. This was a surpirse to my Dr. though. Very frustrating.

I have read here where other people have said that the whole penis will turn red during masturbation. That is not the case with me. It's almost like I know what will happen before I do. The member just seems to be a bit dry - not much. Then the end of the shaft under the head will flake/peel away some skin upon completion. Doesn't hurt, no pain. I just put some lotion on it and go to bed really. I have obviously cut back over the last 8 months. Put since I am inspecting myself everyday there have been times where I notice a flack of skin in that area. When I rub my finger across it skin comes off. Now here is the thing, the skin coming off in this situation is not dry, it seems to just "roll" off. Not lots, and it doesn't hurt. Wierd. I tired fungail cream for 2 months and it didn't take care of this. However, I have had 3 prostate infections over that last 1.5 years so maybe it is related.

i had a rash and a cut (still do) for about 2 1/2 mos. at first i thought it was type 1 herpes, but i already have oral, so it wouldn't last this long. the clinic gave me some anti-fungal cream, but that didn't work. probably not strong enough. i read on here that some ladies with cuts took difulcan and that helped. i'm going to my 4th doctor on tuesday. i read it could be fungus because some of my hair is coming out and i read fungus in your body could cause that.

Exactly. I don't get big blisters or anything like that. But I get shooting pain right in these cracks. It does look fungail. However, I seem to get the traits of Herpes. The nerve part is what is bugging me. My whole scrotum, or parts of it will have these hot spots. Somtimes the crack of my azz too. I look in the mirror and there is nothing there. Maybe a little red, sometimes. It's a no win.

Once time I used some jocj itch spray on the cust in case they were fungail. Burned like a mother. Maybe that was good, don't know. The fungail cream I was using was Ketocayline or something. Supposed to be the strongest available. I'll keep trying.

i strongly believe we both have balanitis. i read from other msg boards of ppl with our same symtpoms. well, at least for me. i checked last night and found really soft bumps on the head of my penis. i thought it was blisters but then upon 1-2 min. they were gone. i later found out that there was a correlation between clothing friction and these bumps,redness,irritation. i stopped messing wit the area and voila. 30 min. later it was normal. no redness even. i do NOT think herpes comes and goes like that. my ball sac/scrtum was red too yesterday when i was messing and checking my penis. its completely normal this monring. i think this is a sign of infection, most likely canida or yeast.

oh yeah, i was even more confirmed i had balanitis when i saw my penis was oily/sticky and waxy looking. it almost seemed like my face when when i was a teenager eating pizza. shiney and waxy. then i read up the symptoms for balanitis last night and it said there would be white chunks of cottage cheese. i went to the toilet and pulled down my granny panties...ummm.. no, i meant Tommy Hilfiger boxers (just a lil' joke to ease u up) and sure enough i've got chunks of these white dandruff like material stuck on my penis along my waxy penis. i guess this is the same with you. u said u get white skin off thats NOT dry. this is not skin. this is YEAST. my brother used to have it on his uncircumsied penis. and everytime as a kid when i peed with him, he would pull back his forskin and boy would it stink like intense crap. i used to joke that it smelled like molded preserved shrimp. if i remember correctly, he used to tell me his glans would be quite red (we never suspected it was an STD since we were only 9-10 back then). he did nothing. maybe an occassional anti-fungal cream. and guess what? he's been ok ever since 15 when he first had sex. i'm circumsized so its easier to treat my condition, i hope!!!

ok...bottom line.. u most likely have balanitis. my derm kept insisting this. he knew my symptoms are half related to stress and anxiety so he kept inisiting i don't have it and live life. surely enough his confidence convinced me i don't have it and guess what? i got some good sleep these days and things get better.

the way i think of it: if you don't have herpes: congrats!. if u DO have herpes, u're lucky cause u have it easy. at least u and me don't have the classic blisters and oozing. don't worry about it unless it restricts ur life or bothers u toooo much.