Question regarding OCD and STIs

[heyhi]

Hey all. I'm recently having a pretty tough time with some OCD related stuff and I guess I'm on here to seek some sort of reassurance, or confirm whether or not my concerns are valid. With my OCD, for my whole life a huge issue of mine has been fixating on very small symptoms relating to potential health issues and convincing myself I have them. This has ranged from cancer to schizophrenia and currently I am experiencing this with herpes.

Here is my situation. Being as obsessed with contamination as I am I've never really "slept around" or had meaningless sex without knowing the girl well and knowing that she wasn't infected. This changed two nights ago after my first drunk hookup. I used protection, and there was no penetration without a condom, but there was about 30 seconds where there was contact between my penis and the outside of her vagina during foreplay. I hadn't really given it a second thought until a friend of mine, who also hooked up with her somewhat recently, told me that he developed a painful rash (that went away, and he said he was almost certain wasn't herpes) 2 days after sleeping with her.

I haven't really been experiencing any symptoms, but because of my anxiety I've been completely fixated on my genital area for the past 24 hours and it seems like I'm convincing myself that I'm feeling things that I'm actually not feeling. There is one genuine concern though.

I've always had fordyce bumps on my penis and I'm pretty sure on the inside of my foreskin. In my anxious state I've been very thoroughly searching myself and in doing so I found some very small, painless bumps on the inside of my foreskin that have been freaking me out. I'm pretty sure they've always been there but I'm not certain. I observed them around 7 hours after the hookup, and most online resources say herpes cannot develop that quickly. Other than this, I haven't experienced any symptoms aside from my penis being a little raw which tends to happen after I have sex for the first time in a while, which I did the other night lol.

I also contacted the girl and she said that the last time she was tested was 7 months ago and she said since then she's had 3 partners, my friend and I included, and she's always used protection. She insists that I have nothing to worry about but I just can't shake the anxiety after my friend telling me about the rash and after becoming aware of these small bumps.

I'm not sure of the rules of this site but I could provide a photo of the bumps if necessary. Do you think I have reason to be concerned or do you think this is my anxiety and OCD getting the best of me once again?

Thanks for reading, any input would be appreciated.

PS. I plan on going to see a doctor as soon as I can, but I've been having constant panic attacks about this and am looking for a bit of guidance to help alleviate this anxiety until I can get in to see a professional.

[nijhtowl71]

I have OCD too so I know how it feels to get really anxious about health matters. I've had mysterious bumps in my testicles (which were normal), balanitis (not sex related) & was convinced all through my 20's that I has gonna get some terrible STD (or worse!) if I ever let my guard down (for even a min) when it came to sex. But I can honestly tell you that all that obsessing was a total waste of time & that i'm still alive at the ripe old age of 46. And as long as you're reasonably responsible, you will be just fine too. Having said that, I would definitely get your bumps checked out by a doctor just in case. But excessive worrying won't make it any better so just take a deep breath, try to relax & realize that, no matter what happens, you will survive.

[jaglad]

Always worth getting checked out if you really concerned but from what you describe everything sounds fine.