Question:
Ok, this is going to be a long post and i appologize. I've been to three doctors, none of them seemed worried enough to perform any kind of test, even though I asked if it might be herpes. Here goes.


History of symptoms:

Ok. Christmas morning I woke up with a very red, irritaded glans. The head was inflamed, it itched, and I flipped out. I called my girlfriend at the time (who had been with a few other people in her past) and she said she was positive she didnt have anything, but had never been tested. She said that she had just had a yeast infection and that I might have caught that. I had also been in a couple hot tubs, and I hear they are a breeding ground for fungus.

The area around the glans was red, and I had a red patch near the urethra. It was slightly swollen at first, although that subsided, and there were no detectable red spots, lesions, blisters, cracks. Just blotchy. It definately didn't look like herpes, but more like a yeast/fungal infection or balanitis.

I wrote it off, assuming it was a fungal infection. I bought some monistat and it got slightly better. The itching stopped, redness was going away, but never quite cleared up completely.

A few months went by with no change in the redness. The hotter/sweatier I am, the redder it was.


Then I noticed some minor itching on my scrotum. I looked down and saw a verrry slight dry spot on the underside.I made an appointment with my family doctor.

Doctor's visits:
1st visit:

I went to a my family doctor. The redness was almost completely gone, but I could still see it slightly around the ring of the head. It's mostly on either side of the head, where (embarrassing) I'd sometimes get irritation after masturbation (well before this whole fiasco began) My scrotum had cleared up, but the doctor looked at that too. "I don't see any signs of herpes, usually you'll have a lot of tiny sores that hurt. It looks like some irritation or a minor fungal infection" is the gist of what he said. He prescribed me some sort of anti-fungal cream and sent me on my way. I thought, 'hmm, I guess if he had thought it could have been herpes he would have tested me'. I felt better for about 2 days.

I used the cream, but the slight redness never really went away. So I decided to go to a dermatologist. I had some other unrelated skin issues too, so that was what I told my parents was the reason for me going.

2nd Visit:

I talked to the doctor about my Darier's Disease (unrelated) and then said 'I have another rash that I saw a doctor about, could you look too?' The redness was visible at the time, and all this doctor said was "it just looks like minor irritation to me". She prescribed me some lotion for my darier's, and some sort anti-itch/anti-fungus gel. I dont remember the name, but it was green and had aloe in it. It reminded me of the stuff I use after getting a bad sunburn.

So I put this lotion on and WHAM the redness gets worse than it's ever been, overnight. I woke up the next day and my scrotum was beat red and swollen, and the redness on the head and shaft of my penis had intensified as well, along with being swollen. I also had two bumps about a centimeter apart from one another. It itched so badly it would wake me up at night, and I could hardly walk.

3rd visit:

I got squished into the schedule at a urologist's office. Went in and I laid down on the examination table. The rash was at its worst at this point, red, swollen, with two bumps that I had never had before. The doctor put his magnifying goggles on, and looked at it under a light. I mentioned herpes. "No, I don't think you have herpes" he said. "I think you have a fungal infection." He didn't give much else as far as information, just prescribed me dyflucan i think, a women's yeast infection pill. It's usually given in one dose, but he gave me three.

So I took those 3 pills, 3 days in a row and used the fungal cream he gave me. The swelling went down, and after about a week all of the redness had gone away from the scrotum, and mostly from the penis as well.

But there is still redness there. I started using the monistat again (its the cream women are supposed to use internally) As soon as I put it on I can feel a slight burning, and the skin gets red wherever I applied it. Sometimes swollen too. It never burns before I use the cream.


This has all occured over the past 6 months, with the doctor's visits within the last 2.


The redness appears to be fading away. I cut out all "extracurricular" activities and have been using the monistat consistently. I still can't quit worrying about it. I have read that herpes often mimicks every ailment that these doctors decided I probably have. It does not look like herpes, or act like herpes. It acts more like fungus, or eczema.


I guess my question is this. Should I still worry? Three doctors told me it wasn't herpes, but did not perform any tests. Wouldn't they have suggested one if they thought it was a possibility? One of them, at least. Does anything I have described look similar to anything those of you that definately have it have experienced?

I have a routine physical scheduled in about a week and a half. I will probably ask for a blood test, or a test for yeast, or something, just to be sure. But in the meantime, should I be content with the opinions and visual examinations of the three doctors I have seen? My rationale has been this: One is a general doctor, one specializes in ailments of the skin, and another is a urologist. If it looked like anything serious, they would have tested me.


On another note, now that I'm thinking about it, I used some lotion the other night that. I use different lotions during extracurriculars, but the redness only intensifies some of the time. Perhaps I simply have an allergy to the lotion. I don't know.

Any opinions or suggestions other than "go see a doctor and get tested" would be greatly appreciated. I've seen doctors, three of them, but none saw a reason to test me, and I'm still not satisfied. I'm worried sick. I broke it off with the girl I was with through all of this, and now that I'm single I want to quit worrying about this and any implications it will have for future relationships.

Educated guesses, personal experience, anything at all. Thanks a lot.

Answer:
why not at your physical just ask to get tested for all STD's including the ones that require blood test such as herpes, HIV/AIDS, and hep.... this way all your basis are covered... be sure and ask for the ones I mentioned as they are not part of standardized testing... if you come back negative.. then you just had a fungus... and trust some yeast infections are a bitch and take forever to go away.... I had one once that was exactly as you described.... I wanted to tear my skin off... and it took 2 rounds of medication to get rid of... yeast is funny... it will look like it is gone... so you stop the meds... and wham bam... it returns with a fury... I will never take antibiotics again if I can help it as they were what lead to that yeast infection..

good luck to you.....

Answer:
I've been using monistat fairly regularly over the past week and a half, and the redness is noticeably better. Better than it's ever been, but still visible.

My doctors say that it isn't herpes, and have prescribed me things that have helped significantly, but not completely. The pills I took got rid of the swelling and itching, but the redness blotches are still there and the skin has a shininess to it.

All I had was a visual exam. Could all three of the doctors I saw be wrong?

Anyone else have anything similar?