Last April, I slept with a new partner and shortly after tested for STD's, all negative. I was not tested for herpes since I did not have symptoms. This past December, my current partner had a flare up of his Crohn's (constipation, blood in stool). He also had non-gastro symptoms such as Charlie horse feelings down back of both thighs and a small red lesion on the inner part of his knee. I went online and saw different variations of herpes outbreak symptoms that made me concerned that what he was experiencing was perhaps a herpes outbreak and it was triggering the Crohns flare. His symptoms lasted about 7-10 days. He has not had symptoms since. In February of this year, I had on two occasions low back pain which I can only describe as burning. At one point it was mostly to my left side. It woke me up from sleep and I had a hard time bending over. Not long after that (I don't recall an exact time period, maybe a week or two) I woke with an itching feeling on the inside of my left thigh. It didn't last long. That morning I showered and felt itching in between my buttocks, the upper part closer to the lower back. I looked in the mirror and noticed about 5 small pink bumps in a cluster. After going online and reading about the prodrome symptoms, I sent a picture of the bumps to an MD via another website and was told they did not appear to be herpes, more like an irritation with linear marks from scratching. They did not blister or ulcer and disappeared within 3 days. I mentioned the bumps to my obgyne a few weeks ago and he said herpes sores are typically painful and blister. For some reason I keep obsessing over this worried that I have it and passed it onto my partner and it's complicated his Crohns. I realize it sounds silly but I would appreciate any sort of feedback. 

It doesn't sound the least bit silly to me - you are concerned about some symptoms that you have both had.  it's good to check out your perceptions about that.  The only thing that concerns me at all about herpes in your post are the five small pink bumps - in a cluster.  It's good that you had an online person look at the pictures but a swab test would likely have given you a clearer answer.  Yes, most often herpes lesions will blister and often are uncomfortable but they do appear in a cluster in and can come up in the area that you describe.  If you were my patient with this description, I would probably ask you to obtain an IgG antibody test if you have never had one.  Did your OB discuss that with you at all?  If negative, I think you can relax about herpes. 

I am NOT concerned abou8t the Charlie hose feelings nor a single red lesion on the inner part of the knee nor an itching feeling on the inside of your thigh without any lesions.  None of that concerns me.  I also think probably the online person would recognize any possible herpes but I guess looking a pictures online often doesn't help me much.  Have you ever had anything like this in the past, in the entire boxer shorts region?

Terri
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Because there wasn't a recurrence, he said we would keep an eye on it and could test down the road if symptoms reappeared. I have not had anything like this in the past. I wondered if it could also be from moisture or sweat in the middle of the night. If it were herpes, is herpes known to cause complications in Crohns patients? Am I able to send the two original pictures I sent to the other MD? 

It's the policy of this forum that we don't accept pictures, I'm so sorry.  Not knowing how the bumps looked, I can't really say if they could have been caused by sweat or moisture.  People with Crohns may have a little more difficulty with herpes due to challenges of the immune system but nothing terrible. 
So please - if you get the bumps again, have them swab tested right away for clarify on the diagnosis.  And if you get very curious or concerned in the future, you can get the IgG antibody test also.

Terri
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