Hey everyone.

I just got a call a couple days ago from a guy that I had sex with once a month ago and he tells me that he developed a cold sore on his lip a few weeks after our encounter, and the test showed it was oral HSV2. He thinks I gave it to him since he hasn't had sex with anyone but his wife since May and I'm single and sexually active. I've never had any of the classic herpes symptoms (lesions, pain, etc) to tell me I was infected, however, after reading everything I can on the net and wracking my brain since that call, I came up with a few things which are making me wonder.

I do remember experiencing an odd tingling/vibrating sensation in the head of my dick intermittently for a few days but it stopped quickly, was never painful and no sores developed. Sometime around then, I noticed on the underside of one forearm, one single reddish spot made up of a few small bumps, all about the size of a small finger nail, that I assumed was a new eczema patch as I've struggled with that for years on my elbows and shin. I started using the steroid cream on it that I got from the doctor for the eczema and it seemed to help, making it less reddish, but it did sort of linger for a few weeks although it never grew or changed. Also during this time, I got a cold coming back from a trip (which happens to me often after a flight) and during this cold, I noticed some small reddish bumps starting to form under my eyes, almost like pimples or bacterial or allergic reaction, which i assumed was somehow connected to the cold or else the new moisturizer I started using under my eyes just before. But if I put all these seemingly insignifcant things together....hmmm.

Am I just being paranoid or does it actually go down this sublty? It's sounding to me like an asymtomatic initial outbreak that I spread to other parts of my body but I'm really hoping not. I have reluctantly (due to not having health insurance) scheduled an appointment for bloodwork since all these symptoms are gone now but the waiting is making me a bit crazy and I would greatly appreciate any feedback/opinons from those with more experience. I really really hate the idea of becoming a member of this club but...it is what it is I suppose. I just had different ideas for what this next chapter in my life was gonna look like.

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom, whether they point to the crazy or the contagious.

That's the best thing to do is have blood work done...explain to the doctor what you've told us so he won't brush it off as nothing. It may be that what you've(and even a doctor) thought was just eczema was herpes all along. I can see how one would think that! I also get it on my body...I knew what it was because I had all the other symptoms of genital herpes but had I not...I would have never in a million years connected the itching rash with herpes for goodness sake!!!!! It looks and feels like a poison ivy rash what I have! I will also get a tiny dot or two under my eye during some genital OBs. And sometimes very raw inside my nose.

Unfortunately herpes symptoms and types of o/b's vary from person to person. The internet only shows the worst of the worst and this virus has so many forms that even doctors don't pick up on it. My gp told me not to worry and that the tiny, tiny red rash next to my anal area was a sweat rash. Now i've never in my life had rashes down there, let alone sweat rashes. I took myself off to a sexual health clinic and they swabbed the rash. It came back positive for type 2. Never again would i advise anybody go along with what a general gp says, unless you know your doctor and know he/she is a good one, very thorough and looks at matters from all angles.

You will find that you will still be able to have a sex life and find partner/s, only you wont be able to be as spontaneous as previously. As for the other guy, all you can be is honest with him and if he doesn't believe you then there's not much to be done there. It's not as though you knew for sure you had it and passed it on knowingly.

Unfortunately herpes symptoms and types of o/b's vary from person to person. The internet only shows the worst of the worst and this virus has so many forms that even doctors don't pick up on it. My gp told me not to worry and that the tiny, tiny red rash next to my anal area was a sweat rash. Now i've never in my life had rashes down there, let alone sweat rashes. I took myself off to a sexual health clinic and they swabbed the rash. It came back positive for type 2. Never again would i advise anybody go along with what a general gp says, unless you know your doctor and know he/she is a good one, very thorough and looks at matters from all angles.

You will find that you will still be able to have a sex life and find partner/s, only you wont be able to be as spontaneous as previously. As for the other guy, all you can be is honest with him and if he doesn't believe you then there's not much to be done there. It's not as though you knew for sure you had it and passed it on knowingly.


I feel you about those pics on the net of ourbreaks. When i got the virus i went straight to the internet to do some research and I did come across some BAD and i mean some BAD breakout pics. It totally freaked me out and I was scared as HELL! But then realized thats the worst of the worst.

And i dont think its going to be as bad as the 1st outbreak. The 1st outbreak is usually to worst.

Sounds like you are paranoid. Get tested for peace of mind. If indeed you have asymtomatic herpes, it would be better to know. My doctors and readings say Oral HSV2 is rare and even if it does happen, it is mild and does not recur. I'd really like to know if anyone has documented proof that this is not so.