throwaway

Thanks for the reply! I don't think I've been tested since then. I went to a dermatologist and he said it was just a couple of pimples, and then I actually forgot about it. I didn't really get to see if they went through a normal progression for an OB, since he hit them with some kind of caustic chemical to "dry them out", and that was the last I've seen or heard of anything there. I was with that same partner up until about a month and a half ago. Whatever nerve pain I was feeling has since gone away.. It was on-and-off the whole day, and seemed to get worse with my anxiety, culminating in my heart pounding as I was trying to sleep and the pain turning into a pretty painful burning sensation. I had also taken a "wakefulness promoting" drug earlier in the day to help me study, which may have amplified my anxiety. When I woke up the next morning it was gone, and hasn't come back since. Nothing has showed up in that area either. As for the folliculitis or whatever I had, that's all but gone as well.. only a little dry skin over the worst one in at the top of my groin, and two other red bumps that have all but disappeared, no pain or anything. As for my new partner, her UTI has cleared up, and she actually is getting her results back for her first HSV 1&2 IgG tomorrow. I think the timeline of my testing will depend on her results.. I keep finding contradicting opinions online as to whether prodromes occur before the primary outbreak (the first outbreak after exposure/contraction).. Thanks again for your time and help!

Sorry, it's kind of a long story.. I've been seeing someone new, and we started having unprotected sex a few weeks ago. The last time was 6 days ago. I experienced itching afterward the same day, and the next morning, and had a bunch of red spots all around my pubic region. I was first worried and tipped off because I had itched my penis when I woke up and saw there was a little crater in that spot (never saw a pustule). Over the next 2 days, a few developed into pustules, and a lymph node in my left groin got swollen and tender (there were 3 red spots, one with a pustule above that area). I went to an urgent care clinic Monday and the doc said it was folliculitis (because of the distribution, the fact that they weren't clustered, they seemed to all be at the base of a follicle, and the speed with which the one on my penis healed). He Rxed Doxycycline, but gave me Famvir just in case they didn't get better within a few days. The next day (Tuesday) I went and saw a dermatologist, who agreed that it was folliculitis. He even seemed more sure than the urgent care doc.I then heard from my partner (with whom I had a talk with before we started anything, and said she was clean) who said she was having burning with urination. She saw the doc the next day, and he prescribed her with Cephalexin and thought it was a UTI. On her home UTI test, the strip for nitrites (made by the most common UTI organisms) was negative. (Possible non-bacterial infection?) So I've continued my antibiotics as recommended, and everything seemed like it was clearing up. The red spots are all but gone now (most never formed pustules), and the larger ones in my groin (doc said they could even be furuncles) look like they're going down and healing well. Now, I'm worried I may be experiencing an HSV prodrome. I've gotten two headaches over the last couple of days, and the one last night was bad (none today thankfully). Starting today, I've been experiencing a constant burning/stinging sensation from the left base of my penis to my left inner thigh for the last 7 hours. The skin looks normal. Granted this is giving me a good amount of anxiety, and I've got a huge final monday, but could anxiety really cause this feeling in this one area, constantly? I've been tested for HSV1&2 and been negative months into my previous monogamous relationship. So if I have it now, I've acquired it in the last month. So I have a few questions: I've read Dr. Handsfield's comments from Medhelp.org, in which he states that prodromes ONLY occur with recurrent outbreaks and NOT the first one. Is this true? How long does your prodrome (or did your first prodrome) last? Is the feeling you get during your prodrome constant? Does the prodrome area look different at all? Does it hurt to touch? Did you get headaches before/during your prodrome? Any other info you have, please share! Thanks!

Thanks for your replies. When you say "becomes big enough to blister," do they normally grow? I suppose now we play the waiting game! Since HSV1 is so ubiquitous, I'm not sure that I don't have it, so I just wanted to make sure not to break the "no kissing while you've got a cold sore" rule.

I apologize for not being clear.. I have not been diagnosed, nor have I ever had a cold sore before, as far as I'm aware. A lot of the pictures on the internet look stylized and/or like worst-case scenarios. I just wanted to know what an average/regular cold sore looked like. I've just started dating(kissing) someone new, and I'm just trying to be prudent. I actually just had an IgG test done about two weeks ago (before meeting her) which came back negative. I'm also not sure whether she's ever had a cold sore before.

I've read a few articles about the stages of cold sores, but not many of them are very clear about the timing, and it seems like a lot of pictures online are examples of exaggerated cases. In my case, I had 3 small, pimple-like white dots appear close together at the corner of my mouth about 5 days ago. They haven't changed in appearance at all since then. There was no pain or anything beforehand. It's kind of sore to open my mouth and push directly on them now. Is this a normal appearance? Do they usually hang out this long?