[Question #2853] Herpes Fear

41 months ago

Hi,


I had unprotected vaginal sex with a woman about 9 days ago. 2 days later, I noticed that my penis began to itch slightly and I had a slight burning sensation while urinating and wasn’t able to expel my bladder fully. After 3 days I went to the local clinic and informed the doctor of my symptoms and that I had been feeling sick for the past two days(tired and sore throat) she informed me that my cold-like symptoms were common in the local area and could be unrelated to my urinary pain. She also tested me for chlamydia and gonorrhea with a urine sample--both tested negative. After this, I closely examined my penis and noticed a tiny red dot about the size of a pin near the head(I am not sure if this has always been there or it is also a symptom) it is not painful or itchy. The next day, I began to feel a tremendous amount of testicular pain and had trouble urinating. I also felt an extreme pain in my lower abdominals. 5 days after sex the pain in my testicles became so unbearable that I visited a local urgent care where the doctor performed a urine sample for chlamydia and gonorrhea again(negative). He prescribed me doxycycline as he believed my pain to be stemming from Urethritis caused by either chlamydia or gonorrhea. After taking it for 3 days the testicular pain subsided, my abdominal pain stopped, and urination feels more normal. However, I still have a slight itch at the tip of my urethra, the red dot still remains near the crown of my penis, and my testicles still feel slightly sensitive. Is this something that I should be worried about? What steps should I take moving forward?

Edward W. Hook M.D.
Edward W. Hook M.D.
41 months ago
Welcome to our Forum.  Terri Warren answers all of our herpes questions but has asked me to weigh in on this as there is no reason to be worried about herpes from what you describe.  It sounds to me as though you have received thoughtful, high quality medical care and, from a distance, over the internet, I suspect I would have done the same thing.  Several comments:

1.  You have proven you did not have gonorrhea or chlamydia.  That does not mean that you did not have non-gonococcal urethritis (NGU) and doxycycline is the right treatment for this problem.

2.  The red dot you describe sounds nothing like herpes.  It may be a benign lesion called an "angioma" which is a small red spot caused by dilated blood vessels.  Such lesions are benign and can be present for long periods of time without symptoms.   

3.  Testicular pain of the sort you describe is most commonly caused by either kidney stones or epididymitis.  Kidney stones most often initially pass and the pain goes away.  Epididymitis may be caused by any number of non-STD bacteria present in the urinary tract when they move prove the penile urethra into the testicular collecting system.  If you had epididymitis, a urinalysis taken at the time of your evaluation might have been abnormal.  Reading of the time course of your illness and its resolution, I suspect this may have occurred and would suggest you continue to take the doxycycline. 

I hope these comments are helpful.  Please feel free to use your up to two follow-up questions if any of this is unclear or if there are further questions.  EWH
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