Hey guys, new to these boards so please bear with me. Sort of concerned about what's been going on the last few months, and need some advice as to what I should/shouldn't do. Here's what has been happening:

March 2004: Ended a 2 yr relationship with a girl I'd been going out with. We had oral sex (unprotected) and protected sex.

Sept 2004: Wake up one morning and have shingles, right after that I develop a pimple type bump on my penis (at the same time as the shingles). It comes and goes as a pimple would, with no bleeding, scabs, pain or itchiness. I tie it to a side of the shingles, and forget it.

Oct 2004-Nov 2004: New bump comes. This one is smaller, the normal color of skin, with a black head. It hangs around for 1-2 months, and then I get tired of it and pop it. It pops exactly like a blackhead, so I *think* it was a blocked pore and again forget it.

Dec-Jan 2005: Same blackhead thing happens again.

Feb 2005: I get a bump under my skin. My derm says it’s a cyst and to leave it, it may go away on its own, or may not and it won’t be harmful. After about 2 months it went down and 95% away within the last week. As I said, it was like a small lump under the skin that caused the skin to rise. The raised skin was a normal color, wasn’t itchy or anything else.

March 2005 (what I’m concerned about) I noticed two patches of very small red bumps (they mostly look like the white bumps/glands that are normally on a male penis, except they are just a little red). As of now, one patch went away, but the second is still there. They aren't blisters, but they don't look normal either and have a bit of a shine to them. They aren't itchy or uncomfortable in any way. I barley noticed them while getting out of the shower.

If it is Herpes, could it happen this long after? I don’t have cold sores (at least none I’ve noticed). I do routinely get little bumps in my mouth, but they come and go in a matter of 3-4 days. Don’t think that’s related. Just seems really odd that all of a sudden all this weird stuff is happening “down there.” (Very) bad luck maybe?

With that said, and my past in mind, should I be worried? I want to get tested, but I'm 18, and can't exactly ask my parents "hey can you take me for an STD test?!". Is there any way I can do it privately? (I drive and work, so that’s not a problem, I just don’t want my parents in it).

Thanks and god bless!

Hello Mike,

I first noticed little bumps inside my mouth too but they hurt. I have herpes type 1 on my face so I don't know what it feels like to have it down there. I usually get a itching and a tingle feeling right before my face swells up and gets red. Within 1 hour of that feeling I get a little patch of red bumps on my lip or my chin or both. Sometimes they will heal in about week and I have had some that take a month or more to heal. Very depressing. I would get to the doctor while you still have something showing on your body so they can test it.
As far as can you have it and not know it....YES.....almost 80% of our population has it and some don't even know because they never have breakouts or if they do, it isn't noticed. I am learning more everyday about this problem. A lot of my friends have breakouts and it is something that you have to live with but I hope the best for you and take care of yourself!!

Darlene :angel:

get tested. but it isnt the end of the world if you do have herpes you know.

That's exactly what I want to do, but don't know how to go about getting tested. I live in New York, how would I go about finding a place to get tested? I would ask my regular Dr., but since I'm insured through my parents they have (and do) always come with me, which makes it hard to mention. Any suggestions?

Thanks

if your not worried about the expense you can get testing done from an online testing center. you can do a search on the web there are a bunch of them. You call them and they make an appointment(Same Day) at a laboratory who do the blood work... You call back in three days for your results.... Thats how I found out. The good part is I did not have to search for a doctor the bad part was finding out that I had hsv2 and not getting proper advice...Except "hey its not that bad".

That's exactly what I would want. The cost isn't an issue (out of curiosity, how much did it cost for you?), can't really put a price on peace of mind. Could you tell me which one you used or recommend one?

Thanks so much