[Question #1866] Nervous and scared

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93 months ago
Had an regrettable lapse in judgement 40 days ago.  
 I met a woman at a hotel bar, one thing leads to another and we end up in her room. A lot a kissing and touching and eventually we attempted to have sex but were unsuccessful. While on top of her and my penis touching her vagina I had huge feelings of guilt and did not insert. My penis probably touched her vagina (no condom) for no more than 10 seconds with no penetration. 4 days later I feel a pain in my shaft. It was a deep pain like I pulled a muscle or something. Next day  I have a sharp pain in my left thigh, again like a muscle pull. Day 5/6 I notice 4 red spots, slightly itchy on shaft (mind you my penis is often itchy for unknown reasons). The spots never raise or blister just itch time to time. They appear to be more like dry skin and are somewhat shiny.   Now on Day 40 - spots still present looking not much different then they did originally.  Been using gold bond every morning after shower. Since Day 4 I have also been dealing with pain in both legs (thighs, hamstrings, knees, ankles and feet.) The pain seems to be more prevelant in left leg which has been scaring me.  Comes and goes throughout the day. Tested negative (IGG- HSV2) 15 and 28 days after possible exposure and testing again at 42 days. Do you believe this is genital herpes? I've been avoiding sex with my wife and she is starting to wonder why. I feel like I am probably about to ruin life for our family.
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
93 months ago
I do not believe for a single second that you acquired herpes in this situation.  First of all, there was no enough contact for a long enough period to acquire herpes - it takes far more contact with vaginal tissue for that to happen.  Second, the symptoms that you have are nerve symptoms, not skin symptoms as we would expect from brand new herpes.  Yes, some people with diagnosed genital herpes have pain in the leg before an outbreak.  Your spots have been present for 40 days - herpes isn't like that - the lesions blister, ulcerate, scab and resolve - yours did none of that.  Your negative test at 28 days is a great start, but if you were my patient and you had the kind of encounter that you describe, I wouldn't even have suggested testing beyond the baseline, it is so  low risk.  I don't believe this is genital herpes, no, I'm thinking that your 42 days result will also be negative. 

Terri
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93 months ago
Thanks.  I was thinking much of the leg issues were mind induced. Also was thinking that the possible exposure was very low risk and that 40 days was much too long for the spots to be herpes related.
I'll still test at Day 42 and again at 9 weeks to be sure. Thank you for your feedback. I feel much better after hearing from you.
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93 months ago
I feel  I should also mention occassional (but daily) pain in the buttocks and numbness in the tailbone. Would this alter your thinking?
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Terri Warren, RN, Nurse Practitioner
93 months ago
Not really, no, it doesn't alter my opinion, though I am certain that is annoying for you.

Terri
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