Jump to content
  • Want to be a part of a supportive community? Join the H Opp community for free.

    Welcome to the Herpes Opportunity Support Forum! We are a supportive and positive group to help you discover and live your Opportunity. Together, we can shed the shame and embrace vulnerability and true connection. Because who you are is more important than what you have. Get your free e-book and handouts here: https://www.herpesopportunity.com/lp/ebook

For the Watch


Recommended Posts

SO I've finally decided to share my story. Though it's not much of a story. In fact, it's very similar to most of your stories.... which is probably why we're all here in the first place.

To say the last couple of months have been an absolute shi.show would be putting it politely. I've recited how this story would go a hundred times in my head... so here it is.

On October 12th I had unprotected sex with a friend of a friend. It had been a while since I had sex, so even though I didn't know her very well, I went for it. She made me feel wanted and she was fun to flirt with. So before going to her house, I shaved my more private regions. (MISTAKE #1 apparently)

On October 21st, she received the dreaded "Positive" test results (her previous boyfriend told her he was positive). That evening, I began to develop the first...symptoms. I apologize if the rest of this is too graphic, but considering the nature of the condition, I will just say it as it is. About 60% of my scrotum appeared bright red and it burned. Strange part is, that it was the left and right side part of the scrotum with a very distinct line in the center with about a 1/2 inch clear zone down the length of my scrotum. The right and left side felt dry, while the center strip felt and looked normal. Needless to say, I freaked out. Monday morning rolled around and I called out of work. I was so sure I had herpes that I didn't know how I could face my friends at work. Later that day I scheduled an appointment with a doctor that I had never seen before that accepted my insurance and had availability the next day.

On October 23rd, I went to the doctor's office. I told the nurse my blood pressure would be high because my anxiety was through the roof. I was on the verge of a mental breakdown in the lobby of the DR's office. Sure enough, my blood pressure was high. The doctor came in, and apparently was hard of hearing. He kept leaning in to hear me, so I would speak louder. I'm sure the entire office heard about my red testicles. I told him what was going on, to which he replied "Pull down your pants". So, I was in the Marines, so I was kind of use to people seeing my privates. I pulled my pants down faster than he could turn around. He told me to point out the "herpes" and I showed him the sides of my scrotum. He took a look and told me that it wasn't herpes. He then asked me if I had shaved (apparently I had done a good job because of the smoothness) which I replied "yes".                            ***SO HERE'S something we have to know about that: I hadn't used that razor blade in over a year. So that blade has been sitting in my bathroom closet for literally over a year.*** I hadn't shaved my face in years, and I'm pretty sure the last time I used that razor blade was nearly 1 1/2 years. And yet would a bacterial or fungal infection take 9 days to appear???

So my doctor says that it was probably something on the razor blade that caused my issue. He prescribes Clotrimazole and Betamethasone (which is often prescribed for fungal infections).The doctor also submits a blood test for HSV1/2. This was my first indication that my Dr. wasn't up to date with herpes. Everything I had read suggested at least 4-6 weeks period after exposure with a follow up after 3 months. A couple of weeks pass by. During this time I'm debating with myself if my red balls is a symptom of herpes or something else. On October 29th, I went ahead and had my blood test.

Since it had not even been 3 weeks since my exposure, I was sure my results would come back negative, which they did. But of course, life will do what it does best and throw you a curve ball. On 11/12, just a couple of days ago, I noticed a discoloration on the head of my penis. Once I got home I looked at it more closely with an LED flash light. It looked like several red dots in close proximity to each other had formed. The area around these dots was dry and skin had been peeling (though the skin peel was only noticeable with white light). Even now, these dots are not raised and I cannot feel them. There is not itching or scratching or burning associated with them. If not for the brighter lights, I would have never ever known they existed. But, I can't explain them. The only other possible explanation that I have is that the medication prescribed for my red scrotum also causes dry skin.

I have researched herpes for countless hours. I have also seen more pictures of infected male genitalia then I would ever care to see in a life time. None of my issues look anything like the pictures. And yet, I can't explain any of them. Maybe I have herpes.... and maybe (and hopefully) I don't. Has anyone seen or felt any similar experiences? According to some websites, this is what herpes feels like to some people. And perhaps I won't know for sure until my next blood test.

My doctor joked with me that if I come clean from this that I should just become a priest and I am inclined to agree. But if I do test positive, I can not imagine, for the life of me, passing this shit on to the next person. If I test positive, I refuse to be sexually active ever again. At least the strain of virus I have, will die with me.

 

And so my watch begins.

Link to comment
On 11/14/2018 at 9:13 PM, Victory_in_Defeat said:

SO I've finally decided to share my story. Though it's not much of a story. In fact, it's very similar to most of your stories.... which is probably why we're all here in the first place.

To say the last couple of months have been an absolute shi.show would be putting it politely. I've recited how this story would go a hundred times in my head... so here it is.

On October 12th I had unprotected sex with a friend of a friend. It had been a while since I had sex, so even though I didn't know her very well, I went for it. She made me feel wanted and she was fun to flirt with. So before going to her house, I shaved my more private regions. (MISTAKE #1 apparently)

On October 21st, she received the dreaded "Positive" test results (her previous boyfriend told her he was positive). That evening, I began to develop the first...symptoms. I apologize if the rest of this is too graphic, but considering the nature of the condition, I will just say it as it is. About 60% of my scrotum appeared bright red and it burned. Strange part is, that it was the left and right side part of the scrotum with a very distinct line in the center with about a 1/2 inch clear zone down the length of my scrotum. The right and left side felt dry, while the center strip felt and looked normal. Needless to say, I freaked out. Monday morning rolled around and I called out of work. I was so sure I had herpes that I didn't know how I could face my friends at work. Later that day I scheduled an appointment with a doctor that I had never seen before that accepted my insurance and had availability the next day.

On October 23rd, I went to the doctor's office. I told the nurse my blood pressure would be high because my anxiety was through the roof. I was on the verge of a mental breakdown in the lobby of the DR's office. Sure enough, my blood pressure was high. The doctor came in, and apparently was hard of hearing. He kept leaning in to hear me, so I would speak louder. I'm sure the entire office heard about my red testicles. I told him what was going on, to which he replied "Pull down your pants". So, I was in the Marines, so I was kind of use to people seeing my privates. I pulled my pants down faster than he could turn around. He told me to point out the "herpes" and I showed him the sides of my scrotum. He took a look and told me that it wasn't herpes. He then asked me if I had shaved (apparently I had done a good job because of the smoothness) which I replied "yes".                            ***SO HERE'S something we have to know about that: I hadn't used that razor blade in over a year. So that blade has been sitting in my bathroom closet for literally over a year.*** I hadn't shaved my face in years, and I'm pretty sure the last time I used that razor blade was nearly 1 1/2 years. And yet would a bacterial or fungal infection take 9 days to appear???

So my doctor says that it was probably something on the razor blade that caused my issue. He prescribes Clotrimazole and Betamethasone (which is often prescribed for fungal infections).The doctor also submits a blood test for HSV1/2. This was my first indication that my Dr. wasn't up to date with herpes. Everything I had read suggested at least 4-6 weeks period after exposure with a follow up after 3 months. A couple of weeks pass by. During this time I'm debating with myself if my red balls is a symptom of herpes or something else. On October 29th, I went ahead and had my blood test.

Since it had not even been 3 weeks since my exposure, I was sure my results would come back negative, which they did. But of course, life will do what it does best and throw you a curve ball. On 11/12, just a couple of days ago, I noticed a discoloration on the head of my penis. Once I got home I looked at it more closely with an LED flash light. It looked like several red dots in close proximity to each other had formed. The area around these dots was dry and skin had been peeling (though the skin peel was only noticeable with white light). Even now, these dots are not raised and I cannot feel them. There is not itching or scratching or burning associated with them. If not for the brighter lights, I would have never ever known they existed. But, I can't explain them. The only other possible explanation that I have is that the medication prescribed for my red scrotum also causes dry skin.

I have researched herpes for countless hours. I have also seen more pictures of infected male genitalia then I would ever care to see in a life time. None of my issues look anything like the pictures. And yet, I can't explain any of them. Maybe I have herpes.... and maybe (and hopefully) I don't. Has anyone seen or felt any similar experiences? According to some websites, this is what herpes feels like to some people. And perhaps I won't know for sure until my next blood test.

My doctor joked with me that if I come clean from this that I should just become a priest and I am inclined to agree. But if I do test positive, I can not imagine, for the life of me, passing this shit on to the next person. If I test positive, I refuse to be sexually active ever again. At least the strain of virus I have, will die with me.

 

And so my watch begins.

This is EXACTLY what happened to me after unprotected sex. I was even prescribed the same medication as you were.

6 months on and my doctors can not explain why I still have the red, burning scrotum; burning scrotum skin, peeling skin on penis, or the red bumps.

Link to comment

Well after about 2 weeks of using the medication, my scrotum no longer itches or burns. Some days I don't even realize I've got it. It does continue to be red and dry though, but I'm wondering if this is a side effect of the medication.

There's most definitely something going on in my downstairs region, I just don't know what it is. I'm currently at 5 weeks since exposure and I plan to get tested again next month. Until then, it's a whole lot of waiting and anxiety. A lot of anxiety.

Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...

As soon as those red spots appeared you are then best to get them swabbed for an accurate result as blood test isn't guarenteed that it will give you an accurate result which is why they don't test for herpes in the uk without a sore present.

I agree mine never looked as terrifying as the images on google as they tend to always show the extreme version. Mine was neat tiny dots together on a very small area buy my god the pain from it was extreme and again I could only see them under a very bright light. The only outbreak I had after that was on the inside this time and they were just two very tiny white ulcers on my inner labia which was extremely painful to wee and then ever since then I have been on suppressive therapy and I will be staying on them for life.

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...