HERPES

Embarrassment

Dear Dr. Rob:

I am a 47 year old male and contracted herpes from my partner 17 years ago. We are still together although it came as a shock, I had unprotected sex with her and share the blame even though she did not tell me. I suffer flu like symptoms and burning skin sensations, sometimes I burn myself just touching parts of my body. I get very high body temperatures, I also have very bad joint pains usually in my hips but any joint can be affected. It appears that these symptoms are getting more frequent, almost monthly. I very rarely get genital lesions, but have had more occurrences of cold sores recently. I am embarrassed to go to my doctor as my first diagnosis was at a clinic, and I have had no correspondence with my doctor regarding this infection.
Yours Sincerely,
Steven

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Dr. Rob’s Response:

Dear Steven:

Embarrassment is going to be a significant problem for you. You clearly need to have a workup consisting of the Herpes Select Test, as well as immunologic tests. The generalized symptoms that you have as well as their frequency suggests that there may be a problem with your immune system that is leading to more than the usual herpes outbreaks. I do not know at this point if we are talking about Herpes Type 2 or Herpes Type 1, but general systematic symptoms other than during the first outbreak are somewhat uncommon. Again, not dealing with your embarrassment can cause you significant medical problems. If you are too embarrassed to see your doctor, try a new one.

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