[Question #7930] Odd symptoms. Any thoughts?
50 months ago
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I’m a 38 y/o heterosexual male. About two months ago I had unprotected vaginal sex with a female of unknown std status. It was a very random alcohol induced hookup. It was unfortunately outside of my relationship as well. A couple weeks later I noticed a tingling/burning sensation on my frenulum but attributed it to masturbation earlier in the day. At 4 weeks I started having pain in my testacles and throughout my pelvic area. I also had a panic attack that night and felt hot and feverish and had a burning sensation in my right thigh and pain throughout my body, no sore throat no swollen glands. The hot skin feeling (no registered fever)lasted as did the pain in my pelvic region. Also, hesitation upon urinating and slight burning afterwards. At 35 days post exposure (6 days after onset of most symptoms) I was tested for gonorreah, chlamydia, and HIV and syphillis. All results negative. HIV test was ag/ab duo test from a blood draw. I was given an injection of ceftraxione and a 7 day course of doxycycline for presumptive gon/chlamydia treatment. Earlier last week I was tested for trich as well, also negative. I understand that a negative HIV result at that time (35 days)is approximately 99.9+/- accurate. So I’m not too concerned with that but if you’d like to weigh in i’d appreciate it. It’s been 20 days since testing and treatment and although the pelvic pain has subsided, I still have nightly burning sensation above my right knee, some joint pain here and there, right hip pain, and odd shooting pains throughout my body at random, some hesitation upon urinating and constipation. My regular partner also had sudden onset of pelvic pain, urethral pain and mild fever about a week or so after me. She was tested (negative for stds) and treated with antibiotics and is fine. Any thoughts? Myco/ureaplasma? Reactive arthritis to an undetected UTI? Anxiety? I was an absolute wreck from onset till test results.
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
50 months ago
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Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your confidence in our services.
Your symptoms are not typical for any STD and I am confident you have no infection of any kind. Certainly mycoplasma or ureaplasma are not responsible. You describe nothing to suggest reactive arthritis. There was no need for the various antibiotics you have had -- but in any case, continued symptoms after them is confirmation of no infection. You are correct in your interpretation of the HIV test results, and in you were not at significant risk for HIV.
All things considered, I'm fairly confident you're suffering from genitally focused anxiety. I'm not a believer in anxiety or other emotional origins of physical symptoms. And I'm not saying your symptoms are merely "in your head". However, anxiety -- e.g. resulting from a sexual decision and experience that you regret -- certainly can magnify trivial symptoms or even normal body sensations that you otherwise would ignore or not even notice. And you might google "chronic pelvic pain syndrome" (CPPS). The information from the Stanford University dept of urology is very good. I'm betting you'll find a lot of information that resonates with your symptoms. As you will see, many (most? all?) cases of CPPS would once been considered chronic (non-infectious) prostatitis -- although it is now know that the prostate may not be involved at all.
Please stop testing for any and all STDs, and do not attempt any further treatment, at least not without professional adivce. Consider seeing a urologist -- and perhaps printing out this thread as a framework for discussion.
I hope this information is helptul. Let me know if anything isn't clear.
HHH, MD
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50 months ago
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Thank you for your prompt response. Honestly, this forum has provided me with a great deal of comfort. I am embarrassed that I basically convinced myself I had everything from chlamydia to HIV in between the onset of symptoms and my test results and was still unconvinced until I began reading your and Dr. Hook’s responses in these threads.
Since I have two follow ups, and I couldn’t fit everything in the initial question, I suppose I’ll just ask even though I’m sure it doesn’t change anything. I suppose my only point of confusion is that my girlfriend had very similar symptoms along a similar timeline as myself. Does this not suggest a shared infection of some kind? Granted, she was menstruating at the time and does suffer from anxiety more so than myself and was anticipating having an std. Also, just out of intellectual curiosity, what is the explanation of the change in stated conclusiveness of ag/ab tests from 4 to 6 weeks? Are there specific outliers or just randomness? CPPS has been something I’ve been reading into as well, thanks for the recommendation. I do have an appointment with my pcp this week to explore these seemingly nerve related pains, I’m hoping it’s just a pinched nerve or an exercise related injury. I should stop playing internet doctor for the sake of my own sanity.
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
50 months ago
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The symptoms you describe are "nonspecific" meaning they do not point to any particular conditions -- they are common with innumerable conditions. Including, probably most important, the emotional/psychological suggestibility noted above. At any point in time, any two people will frequently experience similar symptoms at the same time. And that your partner suffers from anxiety might imply she is susceptible to the same influences. In other words, no: I do not think this suggests a shared infection -- especially with all the evidence you had no infection yourself.
The change in our advice about 4 vs 6 weeks as the window for the HIV AgAb tests occurred almost 3 years ago. Nothing mysterious: just improved data becoming available.
Finally, your internet comment: The famous statistician Nate Silver (see fivethirtyeight.com) wrote a book about statistics titled The Signal and the Noise. In it he states (approximate quote) "Give an anxious person a computer with an internet connection in a dark room, and soon he'll think his common cold is the bubonic plague." Anxious persons tend to be drawn to information that enhances their fears and to miss the mroe reassuring information that also is present. Sound familiar?
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50 months ago
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Thank you again for your response. I appreciate your (and Dr. Hook’s) frankness, and remarkable patience in the face of what seems like endless waves of anxiety ridden hypochondriacs. While I understand it must be frustrating at times, you are indeed providing a much needed service and voice of truly informed reason amidst the murky fog of the internet for people who are, for the most part, truly frightened (whether rightly so or not). And yes, that does sound awfully familiar. In lieu of another question I’ll just let you know, that while I still have some lingering anxiety and concern, I feel much better both physically and mentally. Keep up the good work and hopefully this will be the first and last time I have need of this service. I’d like to think I’ve learned a valuable lesson. Take care and thanks again.
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
50 months ago
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Thanks for the thanks and your kind comments about our services. I'm glad to have helped. ---