Me and my wife are on Doxy (100mg twice a day) for 7 days. Im on day 7. 

I have no symptoms, except for a sore that showed up in my lips (outer part) couple of days ago. I have dry lips right now, but this sore feels different, a little bit bumpy. No pain. Im at day 17 of the exposure.

Should I be concerned with this new symptom? I have Herpes 1 from the past, and could be it (even tough I really cant say what it is).

At day 10 of the exposure the GR girl did blood tests on my ask, and it was negative for VDRL and herpes 2. Those are reassuring that this cant be Syphilis?

Appreciate your guidance. Thank you.

I am pleased to hear that any symptoms that you might have had have resolved on doxycycline. In the absence of a more definitive diagnosis, this was reasonable and appropriate treatment.

I would not be concerned that the new lesion on your lip is due to herpes. As you have pointed out, you already have HSV-1 and HSV-2 is extraordinarily rare in the oral cavity, particularly following a single exposure.

The likelihood that you have syphilis following the exposure you described is very low. Blood tests for syphilis however, are not reliable until 4 to 6 weeks following an exposure. Certainly the negative test result at 10 days is certainly good news but it is not proof that you do not have Syphilis, although, as I’ve already said, the likelihood that you have syphilis is very, very low.

I hope this additional follow-up information is helpful. I would encourage you do not worry further about STI’s  and to do your best to move on without continuing concern. To be honest, I see no reason for additional testing of any sort. EWH.

I started to apply a balm in the lips (it was very dry), and the sore went way in a couple of days.

I finished the doxy cycle on monday (i took for 10 days), and then yesterday i started to feel a new symptom: It feels I have the right testicle enlarged. I dont feel pain (and Im trying to dont touch it, and surely I dont dare to put pressure on it), but It feel enlarged. Even if i rest my hand on top of it, fully dressed with pants, i can feel and touch the right testicle there.

Im also having for some weeks a redness and itching in the skin of the scrotum and perinium - at first i tought this was unrelated (as I had a milder episode in the past that was related to fungus). It got much worse and is covering almost all the scrotum. So the whole area is kind of sensitive. The itching was reduce dwhen I started to apply the same cream against the fungus, yestersy. I will see a dermatologist today about it.

The Girl that I had the unprotected oral event tested fully negative for all blood and urine tests fot STDs, including VDRL, chlamydia, gon, and so on.

What could be now this enlarged testicle after 10 days of doxy? How can be that I got something (I did had Uretrites with white discharge) if her teste are negative?

Very worried in what to do next, and also how to deal with my wife. She also took doxy (she took for 10 days, but she did had moderate drinks/alcohol during part of i) and for 2 weeks I refrained from sex, but cant keep doing this for long.

Thank yoy again for your great service.

I still feel the right testicle enlarged. He could not comment on that.

As far as the enlargement of your testicle is concerned, this suggests to me that you are looking too hard for signs of an infection that there is no evidence that you have.  This does not sound like a testicular complication of an STI (i.e. epididymitis) and is unlikely to be due to any STI.  If you are concerned, you should seek examination by a trained clinician but am confident that it is not an STI.

Finally, that your wife drank alcoholic beverages while taking doxycycline would not impair the effectiveness of the medication as long as she did not drink so much that she forgot to take her medication.  

My sense is that you are far more worried about the possibility of an STI from your misstep than is warranted.  My advice is to put your STI concerns aside and to not abstain from unprotected sex with your wife.  EWH

Indeed anxiety is hard to manage in such situation.

A correction and some updates and questions pls:

I took doxy for 10 days, my wife for 7 (not 10). I do hope she took it as prescribed, but cant really confirm. Does the 7 x 10 changes anything?

I went to urologist today, and he agrees that what I have now is Fungus, also agreed with dermatologist treatment. He could not observe any epididymis (and right now the sensation I had couple of days ago about the testicle is gone). Urologist asked me to run blood tests again in 10 days, but not to run urine tests again.

Questions:

- Why you say there is no evidence of infection? On day 8 and 9 after exposure i had this intense/frequent need to urinate with discomfort on urethra. On day 10 i had white discharge after the 1st urine of the day. Went to urologist that day, that diagnosed it as urethritis (I dont remember if I ever had such thing in the past), so this is too much of coincidence to be something else. What else you think could be?

- tests summary:

I did blood tests (STIs) and pcr urine tests (clamydia and gono) on day 9, negative. On day 10 I did urine tests for clamydia (pcr and culture) and for general urine bacteria (culture), negative.

The girl I had the exposure did blood tests for STIs on day 10 (negative), and urine on day 12 (all negative).

- are those tests reliable? In terms of window period, was it too early for me to detected anything?

- in your opinion, with all that, should I resume unprotected intimacy with my wife?

Thank you very much, really appreciate all your expertise and opinion.

There is no meaningful difference in the anticipated response between 7 and 10 days of doxycycline, both in terms of therapy for chlamydia and for syphilis.

Your symptoms are not suggestive of STIs.  Careful published studies show that urinary frequency is NOT a sign of STI and a small and somewhat variable amount of urethral discharge can certainly be normal. particularly among persons who are carefully examining themselves.  Further EVIDENCE of infection is determined by positive tests- you have had several negative tests.  Finally, urethral irritation is non-specific and does not always indicate the presence of an STI.  Doxycycline bot only can cure STIs such as chlamydia but has potent anti-inflammatory properties independent of it's bacterial effect.  Irrespective, following your (and your wife's) courses of antibiotics, I wonder why you are having trouble putting these events behind you and moving forward.

You were not tested too early.

Tests for bacterial STIs such as gonorrhea and chlamydia are high reliable any time more than 2-3 days after exposure/infection.  With more than one negative test there is NO way that infection is present.

I'm please that the urologist agrees with my sense than epididymitis in not present.  I agree that there is no need for further urine testing and, in my opinion, his recommendation for additional blood tests has been made more as a precaution than because infection is likely.

I see no reason for you to abstain from unprotected se with your wife.  It's (past) time to be moving forward.

As I said, this will complete this thread.  Take care.  I wish you the best.  EWH