Confusing Symptoms

I am a married man who hasn’t had any sexual contact with anyone other than my spouse of 20 years. About 40 days ago, I started noticing fewer bowel movements, sore lower back, and tingling around midsection. That went on for a few days then one morning I woke up with red bumps down my left inside leg (near anus to knee) but none on penis. From online pictures, it looks herpetic. So I went to the doctor and he agreed. So I got blood work done and the results were negative for HSV1 and 2. So I went to another doctor and she also said it looks like herpes. I know tests can be false negative, but aside from appearance, it doesn’t really behave like herpes. It doesn’t really hurt or itch (except when I sit on them). They don’t seem to respond to valtrex. I didn’t have fever or flu-like symptoms. And I’ve had them for 6 weeks and they more or less look the same. Plus, it would have had to remain dormant for 20 years (I know thats possible but rare). Also, my wife doesn’t have any symptoms.

But there was the tingling and BM thing. And I occasionally feel a burning sensation in my testicles (which btw, rode really high for the first 2 weeks - they’ve since dropped back down). The red bumps are big, they blistered within a few days and some broke. But they never crusted over. They remain red and a little itchy. They definitely have that herpetic grouping look. Oh, and one more thing: I’ve got a bump on my finger for the last several days that looks a lot like whitlow but hasn’t opened yet. And I swear that I can feel tingling in my lips (although that may be in my head).

I am planning on another blood test in a couple of weeks but in the meantime, does anyone have any thoughts on this. Sorry for the long post but I wanted to give as much info as possible. Any insight would be greatly appreciated.

Could it be shingles? Did either doctor test you for this? The same antivirals that are used for HSV are used to treat shingles, but in much MUCH higher doses. Id get back to a doctor that knows something about infectious diseases.

A couple things come to mind. One, it could be shingles. Two, if it's HSV it's entirely possible your wife is an asymptomatic carrier and you finally contracted it after all these years. If that's the case you would expect your IgG to be negative as this would be a recent infection.

Did they swab and culture the lesions? If not you could either encourage your wife to get an IgG test, if she's negative (and it's not a false negative) then you probably have shingles. Is it only on one side? That's typical of shingles. If your wife tests positive (and it's not a false positive) well then, you probably have what she has.

I'm actually in a similar situation. I've been with my spouse for 15 years and out of nowhere I had genital lesions. Doctor said it looked like herpes but my IgG was negative. No swab was done. The assumption is that my husband is an asymptomatic carrier and I finally got it from him. He never went and got tested and I may or may not go back for follow up testing. Neither of us really care since it doesn't change anything.

Kittenchops and Username, I did get shingles test but it was Igg only. As far as I can tell, it only confirms that I’ve had chickenpox (>4000). I always thought shingles was very painful (herpes too for that matter). This is more just uncomfortable. I’d write it off to something else if a few of the other symptoms weren’t consistent with herpes. I’ll go for another blood test this week and update. Thanks for your comments.

@RandomName A majority of people who contract HSV, especially HSV2, don't notice upon contracting it. Most often there are no symptoms or symptoms mild enough to be mistaken for something else such as jock itch, a pimple, razorburn, an ingrown hair. Not saying this is what you have, just that it is not at all uncommon to have symptoms that are not painful.

The fact that it is to your knee doesn't sound like herpes. Is it unilateral? If it's unilateral I vote shingles.

The OB is in patches down left leg only. They’ve stayed constant in coloration and intensity the whole time (I’ve been on valtrex the whole time too). Correct me if I’m wrong but only way to get negative test result is either false negative or new infection. Is that correct? I assume if I have an OB, antibodies should be present. Maybe I’ve got that wrong.

If I do have herpes, then one explanation was my wife was asymptomatic all those years, and for whatever reason I contracted the virus and had an outbreak. But what if I always had it and was asymptomatic? Would my body still produce antibodies?

At the end of the day, it is what it is. I’ll learn to live with it if I have to. Just be nice to know what “it” is so that I can try to find a way to suppress it. The lysine, oregano, coconut oil, epsom salt, bee pollin, pineapple, lemon balm, vitamins, and valtrex concoction doesn’t seem to be working.

Yes, you would still create antibodies even if it took months or years before a first out break. 6 weeks is a long time for symptoms to last. Is it clearing at all? Please keep us posted on your lab results I'm intrigued.