Hi there,

Please read me! I'm making myself crazy.

I am terrified that I have an STD, and more terrified still that I may have Herpes. I have been looking exhaustively for others who didn't really think they had symptoms, but they ended up having something, as this may be the case with me. As I have read over and over again, many STDs have no symptoms.

Earlier this summer I started getting a prickly/stinging sensation in my genitals. It was not constant, it would happen briefly, often as I was standing or sitting. This was accompanied by no other symptoms; no redness, no swelling, no itching, no funny bumps, nothing. At the time (and a part of me is still clinging to this) I thought it may be because I shave all my pubic hair, and it's the hairs growing back and poking sensitive areas and just being generally uncomfortable. What concerns me so greatly is that this tingling is very often mentioned in conjunction with herpes--although typically it is the sign of an upcoming outbreak and I have yet to have one. Still, it scares me.

Recently I have also developed some anal itching. Minor and seems to be disappearing, but still of concern. My boyfriend has never had any symptoms that I've noticed, nor has he ever mentioned anything to me.

May I mention that I am a teacher and spend several hours a day standing on a hot (sweaty) playground, as well as a runner... and sometimes wear my running clothes for a while before I manage to get into the shower. It has occurred to me that this may be some type of bacterial infection from warm moistness.

All of this said, these symptoms are barely noticable to me. Sometimes I think my stressing about them makes me more aware of them than what's actually there. Then again, it could easily be Herpes. I realize a good idea would be to get tested, but while I'm working up the nerve both to face this and to face my boyfriend with it, is there anyone who was ever in a similar situation, has advice or thoughts, or something else? Does this sound like anything OTHER than herpes?? I'm desperate and am worrying myself silly over it. Please. Thank you.

It could most definitely have been to do with shaving your pubic area or from sweat. The only way you will know is if you have a type specific blood test.

The anal itching could be due to the sweat or it could as be due to having hemmoroids (sp?) even if you only have them in a minor way. Sometimes if you have a bowel movement and it's not totally "clean" at your anal area that can cause itching too. One of my friends gets a slight case of hemmoroids and constipation if she doesnt do half and hour of exercise daily and if she doesnt eat a high fibre cereal each morning. She also mentioned being "itchy" at the anal area. Hers only flared up every so often.

If the tingly sensation only occurs after shaving whilst the new hairs are growing through but not at other times then it likely may not be herpes.

In my case i caught genital type 2 at my anal area. My first o/b was very small. It simply looked like a tiny red rash. I had my gp look at it and he said that it was simply a sweat rash and that it would go away. I didn't believe this as i have never had a sweat rash in my life. I had a sexual health clinic swab the rash and it came up positive.

When i get my o/b's next to or partly on my anal area the will go through a phase of itching for a day or two and i apply tea tree oil onto them. The other time i have experienced itching at the anal area is when i was on medication for anemia and it changed my stools completely and they were not as, shall we say, "solid" as before. The medication made everything messy down there and difficult to clean so that i'd go through endless toilet paper. In the end i had to use a q-tip either dipped in a bit of olive oil or warm water and give the area a better clean than toilet paper and no itching. It's as though the toilet paper does it's job, but one tiny, tiny particle gets left behind and causes so many dramas. Sorry if that's too much info, but no better way of describing it.

With my herpes at least i had something which was visible to the eye, even if it was tiny so i had something to go on, but in your case you dont. It could be very likely that you dont have herpes after all and you are simply worrying yourself sick.

I would personally take the blood test to stop all the worry so that you know where to stand. Good luck.