Hey everyone!
So I’ve had a couple of weeks following a possible HSV exposure (receiving unprotected oral) that has not been super fun. I went four days after exposure to get testing done on non-HSV STIs, which came back negative (I also at the time preemptively did the shot and pills that is gonorrhea treatment).
My symptoms remained (irritation and discomfort mostly, nothing bad but troubling, and general in the way that it could be like a million different things), and I thought that maybe it was a yeast or other fungal-type thing? Got some Lotrimin, got some Hyrdrocortisone, for a couple days it really was feeling better. Then, it leveled off and started to feel pretty much like my initial symptoms).
Then I noticed a red spot on the underside of my penis and all initial concerns came back (we are now at 14 days after potential exposure). It seemed like it could just be friction-based or any number of other things but I was concerned. The doctor this time seemed pretty convinced that it was HSV, but based that mostly on an absence of other symptoms (urine came back clean, didn’t know what else it could be). He then said that the spot I noticed was in fact a small lesion. We did an HSV IgG test, and a swab test of the red spot. I was prescribed a cream, and also a small course of acyclovir (like… 5 days’ worth?). He didn’t really entertain the possibility that it could be something else, sort of felt like I was wasting his time, and sent me on my way.
Ok, so, cut to today. I call the aftercare department at the doctor, and they say the blood came back negative, and the swab test came back not isolated (which I guess just means not detected?).
I know that in another month/six weeks or so I should get tested again as antibodies from that recent of an exposure wouldn’t be present in enough numbers to be seen in the IgG.
But wouldn’t the swab have likely picked something up if it were HSV, even if it were a small lesion (I really couldn’t tell that’s what it was, but you know, the doctor got a MUCH closer look. Also, he’s a doctor.)
Is there some possibility of it being something else that I haven’t considered/been tested for? Like, should I get the other STI panel again, too?
I feel almost EXACTLY the same as I did a few days after I had concerns. Wouldn’t the cream and the acyclovir have made a difference and made me feel a bit better? I sort of think maybe it’s made a difference and then realize I feel mostly the same and it hasn’t really made a notable difference.
SO:
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I am going to get retested for HSV in another month, despite the swab ALSO coming back negative.
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I guess I see a urologist to see if they might have some more insight into what it might be?
But any other thoughts or recommendations as to what else this could be and what I might be able to do, either in terms of possible other conditions or strategies moving forward to figure out what’s going on.
Thanks so much!