My uncomfortable pain won't go away.
Last November I had an unfortunate encounter with a girl who gave me head for maybe a minute.

Not knowing her, of course I freaked out a couple of days later. So, I went to the urgent care center and asked for some preventative medicine. The doc prescribed 1 cipro pill and a gram of zithromax in case it was chlamydia or gonorrhea.

2 weeks later I get an uncomfortable spot on the tip of my penis. I go back to the doc and he says it is just urethritis.

It continued to drive me crazy so I got my hands on a gram and a half of zithromax and took it again. No results.

I had the flu at the time and had a cough that wouldn't go away so I went to the doc and she prescribed levaquin 500mg for 10 days ( which should kill anything that is an std and bacterial ) still no results.

I then get tested for gonorrhea and chlamydia at a confidential lab...negative

Still no success. I go to an out of town doc and he checks me out and tests me for syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia plus herpes 2 (using the pockit test). All negative.

I still have the problem. I have had no blisters through it all but the head of my penis has had a slight pain ever since the first two weeks.

I went to my own doc. I didn't tell him about my other visits and he gives me cream for jock itch. This made it red and irritated after a few days.

He is now testing me for herpes with a swab test and this is freakin me out.......

Anyone got any words of wisdom ?

There's a possibility that you have HSV-1, which is more likely than HSV-2 because you got if from oral sex.

Good luck.

Hi ACWI,

You sure have been through the mill with this. If the swab turns out negative, I'd recommend you get the doc to order a Western Blot test for herpes. The POCkit tests only for HSV-2 and is a good test, except (1) it can still return a false negative within 4 months after initial infection (you didn't say when the test was done), and (2) it is sometimes not quite as accurate at the best of times. Also, if what you have is HSV-1 genitally, POCkit will not confirm this.

The Western Blot test won't confirm what your specific symptoms are but it will tell you (with the most accuracy that is available) what types you do have of herpes. Most of us have HSV-1 orally (cold sores), typically caught in early childhood, so you have a good chance of testing positive for that. The WB should also tell you if you have HSV-2 though, more accurately than with the POCkit. And the time that has passed will maximise the accuracy of the results for HSV-2. Also, if you have genital HSV-1, the WB will at least confirm that you have HSV-1 -- it just won't tell you where, but it's a start at getting a reasonably accurate diagnosis.

If you only test positive for HSV-1, then keep getting swab tests done. If the PCR DNA test is available, that is a more sensitive and therefore more accurate test than the regular swab cultures. Your doc might know if this is available, or you could call around to different medical labs to ask if they can do that test.

You might also check out http://www.herpesdiagnosis.com/ (in our Resource Links) which has very advanced, detailed information about testing. If your doc isn't aware of the different tests available, you might refer him/her to this site for more information. Hopefully the two of you can come up with a testing strategy to see if you can nail this thing down.

It may or may not be herpes, but herpes (especially genital HSV-1) can be difficult to diagnose accurately. And a negative test result doesn't usually "rule out" herpes per se, unfortunately.

In the absence of a fully confirmed diagnosis via testing, you might see if your doc will agree to try you on Valtrex or Famvir (the two best HSV-antiviral drugs available) and see if that helps. Surely it couldn't be any worse than taking antibiotics if they're not required.

I hope that helps! Good luck. Keep us posted how you make out.

TheOneInFour

But, could it be anything else ? Could my tests have somehow missed the gonorrhea or chlamydia ? Could the antibiotics not have taken care of the bacterial possiblities ?

I'm not a doctor so I can't say what else it might be. But I'd keep going back to your doc, or find a new one who will test from scratch (maybe who doesn't know your history and won't be taking that into account).

I don't know how accurate tests for other STDs are, but antibiotics aren't guaranteed to cure you all the time. If it was me, I think I'd want to get retested and possibly get a second opinion. Doctors work for you (you're payint, either directly or through insurance) so you have the right to have some say in the strategy of diagnosis and treatment.

Sorry, I don't know if that helps or just frustrates you more. I wish I could say "Oh yes it might be this" but I'm not a doctor. Have you checked out the "Sexually Transmitted Diseases" board here? Might be worth a try if you haven't. We're pretty specialised in HSV here. Just a thought. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif Let us know how you make out and if you find or try anything new.

1in4