Hypochondriac worried about Herpes in FINGER?

Hi. I don't usually post in this forum but I have been feeling incredibly anxious over something that has caused similar feelings in the past.

I have recently been rekindling a relationship with someone who has HSV1 & HSV2. I was less than careful with her in the past and have been making serious efforts to be more cautious this time around, because I could really worry myself into a corner for a LONG time about whether or not I was infected. I spoke to FIVE different doctors all of whom helped explain how to navigate a relationship with someone who has Herpes and assured me that I did not have it. I was tested 4 separate times as well, all coming back clean for both HSV 1 and 2.

I'll just break down my potential exposures with her since we started seeing each other again and perhaps someone can identify whether or not my present symptoms suggest Herepetic whitlow or even typical HSV 1 and/or 2.

- We first started kissing only for the first 3 times we were together. I wanted to go out with her a few times before things got more intimate, just to make sure I still had feelings. I'm sure this puts me at risk for HSV 1 which I'm not too concerned about.

- She came back home with me a few weeks ago but I didn't want to have sex. I wasn't ready to go forward with it yet, both out of emotional reluctance and also precaution.   (out of concern for my health). I did not use anything to cover my finger, because I didn't even consider that something could happen this way. 

  

NOW: I have a numbness at the tip of my middle finger and a very faint and very small red mark. It looks as though there may be a TINY dark perforation at the finger tip, like what you'd see from a bug bite or un-removed remnants of a splinter.   I felt a scratchy throat the next morning (before we had sex, after I had used my finger the night before). I thought the throat was maybe a result of seasonal allergies as the weather has been fluctuating rapidly lately (rain, overcast, intense heat, nice days all in the same week). I then developed sinus pressure and a head cold with congestion. I have taken my temperature about 10 times in the past 3-4 days and have not been higher than 99.1, usually somewhere around 98.0. In checking my throat earlier today, I noticed a couple of very small white spots on my right tonsil, but the left is fine. It doesn't seem excessively red either, and the soreness has subsided somewhat.

At first I thought there's no way this could be HSV, as I have no marks on my genitals, no cold sores and no fever. Now I'm starting to think that there's at least a possibility that this is Herpetic whitlow, because my finger itchiness/numbness has started to become noticeable. Again, there's nothing that anyone would notice on my finger (yet) without being told where to look and even then they'd have to squint to find something. I just know what I feel, and notice it even when I'm not trying to.

What should my approach be here? Do I wait to see if the finger heals or try to nip this in the bud right away before it gets worse? Also: is it possible to spread Herpetic whitlow through the mouth or genitals like HSV 1 or 2?

I'm honestly less worried about the first two questions than I am the third. I have Ulcerative Colitis and while I understand herpes is more stigmatized than it is dangerous, I'd rather not have my caution punished with a new infection in my FINGER!

Post Edited By Moderator (Scaredy Cat) : 5/22/2013 5:27:44 PM (GMT-6)

I spoke with her about an hour ago just to catch up. I wasn't going to ask her about her symptoms or anything like that. I told her I felt like I came down with a cold over the past few days, didn't mention the finger numbness.

She then said that she was feeling kind of "out of it" and kinda sick. I then asked what was wrong and she said "I'd rather not get into it." I then asked if she thought I got her sick and she said she didn't have a cold. I asked what she was feeling and she said she "didn't want to get into it, but it's nothing." I started to get somewhat panicked now. She said she had to go because she felt light headed and wanted to run home quickly to grab "medicine." This pretty much put me into full-fledged anxiety.

She texted me to apologize for her shortness on the phone and said she's been "hormonal" lately. I'm guessing this means that it's around that time of the month for her but my mind won't stop running wild.

I don't know what I can go to a doctor for right now aside from the scratchy throat, but that wouldn't give me any answers on the sensation on my finger. I don't know what to do and I'm having trouble relaxing.

Yeah I know that feeling

I also understand why her cryptic phone manner could ramp up your anxiety higher, but I am sure it was just regarding girl stuff.;p

Keep posting anytime you need some reassurance and encouragement...we will be here.

S.C.

This sounds to me like an abscess from something piercing and getting stuck in your finger.

You mentioned a splinter I think in your first post...have you been doing any yardwork/maintenance where you could have gotten a thorn or something sharp in there?

The body will react after a couple of days, and fester around the foreign body in an attempt to expel it.

I actually once got an abscess from eating lobster!! I was trying to crack a tough shell, and a spine got stuck in my finger....really painful, and sounds like what you are describing.

Try not to worry about it until your appointment. My favorite trick for not obsessing about a fear is to tell myself this, when it pops into my head:

"It is not time to worry about that now."

You will hopefully get your answers next week.

S.C.

I didn't know you could get a herpe on the finger. I am exactly like you are though, my mom had a cold sore on her lip and I swear I had to disinfect everything in the house because i was so scared I would get a cold sore. I am even to the point where i will wash my hands a million times because I will envision somehow transferring the cold sore from the edge of a cup to my hand to genitals when I shower. I am sure this is nearly impossible, as is you getting a herpe on your finger, but it freaks me out regardless. Did you look this up on google? Is there such a thing as a herpes lesion on a finger? Could you get a genital wart on the finger? I would like to research this further to find out. I am sick of being such a hypochondriac over things that might not even make sense.

notsosicklygirl said...
I didn't know you could get a herpe on the finger. I am exactly like you are though, my mom had a cold sore on her lip and I swear I had to disinfect everything in the house because i was so scared I would get a cold sore. I am even to the point where i will wash my hands a million times because I will envision somehow transferring the cold sore from the edge of a cup to my hand to genitals when I shower. I am sure this is nearly impossible, as is you getting a herpe on your finger, but it freaks me out regardless. Did you look this up on google? Is there such a thing as a herpes lesion on a finger? Could you get a genital wart on the finger? I would like to research this further to find out. I am sick of being such a hypochondriac over things that might not even make sense.

At first I didn't think anything of it but I realized it was the same finger I used to touch the girl, so naturally I typed "herpes finger" into Google and came upon the condition known as 'herpetic whitlow.' It is caused by having open lesions exposed to the HSV virus and is apparently common in the medical field, which makes sense when you think about it.

Anyway, I agree with Scaredy Cat's assessments and appreciate her level-headed replies. Sometimes it just helps to hear someone verbalize (or transcribe, in this instance) the more-than-likely reality of situations where I allow myself to fixate on worst case scenarios.