Axel83

@JakeTurner You could very well be right. I think I had both as the clustered blister-type sores look and felt very similar to previous herpes outbreaks I've had. However, those 2 bigger sores that appeared early on are definitely not typical of my herpes symptoms and I assume it was also monkeypox. Unfortunately I have been unable to receive a formal diagnosis having travelled to 4 different countries in the last month and encountering numerous stresses and challenges with the different healthcare systems (being a foreigner) and language barrier. Just getting a standard and quick STI screen to eliminate syphilis has been a nightmare - I can't believe how hard they make it. It's not fun being sick when you're not at home, especially with a virus that is relatively unknown in the West. The other challenge I would have encountered if I was formally diagnosed is that I would have been forced to isolate for 14-21 days (as required by most European countries now). I am due to head home soon so I couldn't risk getting properly tested. I just waited it out and have kept to myself - which is all I would have done anyway if I was diagnosed given there's no treatment. Glad to hear you're on the mend 🙂

I thought I'd also share my MP experience - with images - hopefully to help anyone else out there with similar symptoms. I am certain I contracted the virus in a popular cruise club in London. It started with two visible lesions or ulcers just inside the anus that appeared maybe 10 days after my slutty evening in the cruise club. At this point there is no pain but they are itchy if I touch them. Probably a day or two before this pic was taken (before I noticed any sores) I was hit with extreme fatigue. Like absolute cannot-drag-myself-outta-bed fatigue and a general feeling of being unwell. I also had a fever and chills. The week before this pic was taken I contracted Covid for the first time (worst sore throat of my life) and assumed the fatigue and illness was the tail-end of the Covid virus. At this point Monkeypox (MP) wasn't even a thought as I have a history of anal herpes and put the sores down to that. Even though they didn't look like typical herpes sores, I assumed that with the accompanying Covid infection, perhaps the sores were exacerbated somewhat. I prepared myself for a herpes episode by dosing up on valacycovir. About one day later I start to get the tell-tail signs of a typical herpes outbreak - tingling sensation in the butt and just a feeling of knowing something is going on down there. The pic shows redness and bumps starting to form. So at this point I definitely associate the 2 sores with herpes and again MP is not even a thought. As seen in the pic, the 2 sores or ulcers are internal and cannot be seen (or felt). They would be exposed however if I opened my butt a little with my hands (similar to the first pic). Another day or so later and the herpes (right-side of anus) is really starting to flare up and cause discomfort. The sores on the left-hand side of the anus are still there and starting to ulcer a bit. They are still not painful to touch, however my rectum at this stage is feeling inflamed and angry. The fatigue has slowly gone away and I feel relatively fine other than having a really sore butt. Again, I put this down to the herpes at this stage. Another day later and I am in a lot of discomfort now. The herpes are starting to ulcer and taking a bowel movement is extremely painful - like passing glass. There is blood with every bowel movement... not just on the toilet paper but the toilet bowl water is coloured red. There's definitely more going on inside my anus here that is not visible or external. I am certain now (in hindsight) that the pain I felt taking a poo was associated with other MP sores that were established inside my rectum. At this point I have a doctor visit me in my hotel (I am travelling at the moment and in a non-English speaking country now, which makes things really difficult). He tells me it looks like herpes but he can't be certain. He suggests possibly syphilis or MP and he directs me to the ER. Here, the doctor tells me she thinks it is in fact MP. She takes a swab and tells me to wait for a call or email for the results within the next day. I am never contacted by them again, so I have no idea what the result was and have a flight to another country 2 days later. Another pic below of what (I assume) is a herpes outbreak but may also be MP.... I will never know. Internally, there is stuff going on inside my rectum, I can feel it and there's still blood, pus and pain when I have a bowel movement. It's the worst herpes outbreak I have had since I first contracted the virus 5 years ago in terms of pain and duration. I now put this down to the accompanying MP infection. x Starting to ulcer here in the pic below. Really painful to touch and I definitely have some degree of proctitis. My rectum just feels so sore and inflamed - the pics don't really do it justice in terms of how I was feeling. Blood and pus is still present with bowel movements. I am unable to sleep properly due to the constant throbbing and blister-type pain. I am having multiple hot showers at night to try to relieve it. After one particularly painful bowel movement with lots of blood, I am convinced that I must be developing an anal abscess (I had one 12 years again and the constant throbbing reminds me what it was like back them). At midnight I present to an ER in a different country this time (still non-English speaking). I use Google translate for the nurse at the ER reception - I say that I am having a bad herpes outbreak with possible anal abscess developing. I see a doctor straight away. She speaks english and is very understanding. She does a gentle investigation with the tip of a lubed finger... no anal abscess she says! I am so relived. Last time I needed to have the abscess surgically drained and I really didn't want to have surgery in a foreign country. She puts it down to the herpes outbreak (no mention of MP) and gives me pain relief in the form of panadine and a small amount of coedine... which was useless. Even at this point, I am not thinking it's MP, just a really bad herpes episode. Probably 10 days or so after the first pic was taken, things start to settle down (at least visually) and the sores being to receed and disappear. The 2 lesions shown in the early pics are still there (internal, not visible) but are much smaller. There is still pus when I take a poo and as gross as it sounds, I am noticing mucus on my stool. This has me concerned that I may also have either an accompanying chlamydia or gono infection (totally plausible given my wild night in the London cruise club). Final pic - for context this is about 2.5 weeks after the first pic that is shown and is what my hole generally looks like without infection. However, as I inspect myself with a lubed finger I can feel just on the inside lining of my anus 2 or 3 notable soft painless bumps (feels similar to a hemorrhoid - but just feels a little different). I'm convinced it is the final remaining sores of the MP infection. There is also a very small amount of blood on my finger when I pull it out. I can have a bowel movement now without pain and there is very little (if any) pus or discharge. I did manage to get hold of some doxycyline and azithromycin (1g) via an online pharmacy. Ever since I took this medication the pus has disappeared which has me believe I definitely had other infection (although not formally diagnosed). In summary, I assume that I had both Covid and Monkeypox at the same time - which was the catalyst also for a bad herpes break out to occur concurrently. I assumed I also had an accompanying bacterial infection such as gono - though this cannot be proven as I did not have an anal swab test. What a combination!!! That one night in the London cruise club really fucked up my life for the last month! Other than the fatigue, fever and genital sores I had no other typical symptoms of MP. I did not break out in sores on the face, arms or legs. I had 2 (maybe 3) very small pimple-like things appear on one leg and one on my neck - but these looked like regular pimples. If they were associated with MP then they were so benign! I have not been sexually active during the past month so am confident I have not spread the virus. I was simply in too much discomfort to even think about having sex. Hopefully this post has been helpful for some. Feel free to PM me with any questions 🙂