Hello, I am in a ten year monogamous relationship. I am male and in my early 40s, my partner is female in her early 30s. I was recently diagnosed with genital warts, a second doctor diagnosed me with herpes but I think this may have been incorrect. I live in a developing nation and the second doctor didn't speak much English at all, i think she looked at the GW removal wounds and didn't understand that I had had electrocautery, so thought it was herpes, but I can't be sure. I then took an LLG herpes test which came back negative (i did this off my own back, the doctor told me i don't need it because she can diagnose herpes by sight). 

Welcome to the forum. I'm happy to help.---
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I forgot to respond to your comments about methotrexate and herpes. Methotrexate is immunosuppressive, but in the low doses used for eczema and other inflammatory conditions, it has little effect on susceptibility to infections. Probably it had nothing to do with the flu-like symptoms you had. With other personal contacts having similar symptoms, probably you had some other viral infection (cold, influenza, covid, etc) and had nothing to do with either herpes or the methotrexate.---

Thanks for your reply, it's good to have reliable information, both doctors I saw told me it was impossible for me to develop the warts without my wife having cheated. We have been going through a rough couple of years and I do have some suspicion about what she's been up to, but I guess there's nothing that can be done about that. If it's OK, I have one more question. I had 4 small warts, all of which were removed by electrocautery 3 weeks ago, but one of them seems to be reappearing through the wound. Should I immediately go to have this removed again? I think I also have a new wart appearing. Also, around the time I saw the warts a small black dot appeared on my penis, the first doctor I saw told me it was almost certainly nothing to worry about, but I should photograph it every few months to see if it increases in size. Does this sound right to you? Thanks again

Hello, I was just wondering if you'd missed my follow up question?

Sorry for the delayed reply. Also sorry that you found two doctors who don't understand HPV infections! In any case, if indeed your wife has had other partners, there would be a possibility your warts are from a newly acquired HPV infection. It also is reasonable for the sex partners of anyone with genital warts to be examined themselves. On that basis, you should make sure your wife knows about your warts and that she should see her gyn for evaluation. You don't necessarily need to discuss any suspicion about her having other partners:  it is routine for all partners of persons with genital warts to be evaluated, regardless of the sexual circumstances. (That said, perhaps it would be a good idea to have a frank discussion with her about all this. But this is a relationship issue, not one of STD management.---

Thanks so much for your help, it's greatly appreciated

Thanks for the thanks. I'm glad to have helped. Best wishes and stay safe.---