What it's like to have Monkeypox

[viking8x6]

First, just breathe and don't freak out! You are OK. You have a disease (in the literal sense - "dis"-"ease", something wrong). You will get better, possibly with medical help.

Second, you can't be sure what it is without testing it. It could be monkeypox (the pictures you posted are consistent with poxvirus lesions). It could be something else. Given the current landscape of hazards and the timing of a possible exposure, it seems likely that it is monkeypox.

Third, when a disease doesn't go away on its own and instead seems to be getting worse, the thing to do is go see a doctor (or urgent care or whatever options you have in your locale). That's what they are for. Even if they don't have vaccines/testing locally, they can certainly take a sample and send it somewhere else for testing. And if they're ignorant about monkeypox, well, you will be doing a public service by making them educate themselves!

I'm merging this thread into "What it's like to have monkeypox," where others describe their experiences, with pictures. That may help you compare.

[Kinkybreed]

2 hours ago, viking8x6 said:

First, just breathe and don't freak out! You are OK. You have a disease (in the literal sense - "dis"-"ease", something wrong). You will get better, possibly with medical help.

Second, you can't be sure what it is without testing it. It could be monkeypox (the pictures you posted are consistent with poxvirus lesions). It could be something else. Given the current landscape of hazards and the timing of a possible exposure, it seems likely that it is monkeypox.

Third, when a disease doesn't go away on its own and instead seems to be getting worse, the thing to do is go see a doctor (or urgent care or whatever options you have in your locale). That's what they are for. Even if they don't have vaccines/testing locally, they can certainly take a sample and send it somewhere else for testing. And if they're ignorant about monkeypox, well, you will be doing a public service by making them educate themselves!

I'm merging this thread into "What it's like to have monkeypox," where others describe their experiences, with pictures. That may help you compare.

Thanks! And yes, trying my best not to freak out, although that's pretty hard. I've heard from many people who had mpx here (in germany) and they all basically told me that no one helped them when they got to a hospital or a doctor. No one told them what to do other than quarantining and they didn't get any meds. not even pain medication. The only thing that happened was that someone from the health department called them twice a day to make sure that they're still at home. So that doesn't really comfort me and the more stories I hear the more scared and angry I become. Gonna try to go to a hospital tomorrow though, just hoping that I can get the vaccine since it's an emergency and prevent it from getting worse. It's so weird though since all the pics I've seen look so different from what I have. There's no puss or anything, nothing is swollen, I don't have any other symptoms.. Gonna know more soon I guess. 
And thank you for the encouraging words! 

[JakeTurner]

@Kinkybreed - Having had MPX, it looks like it to me. Make sure you keep everything very sterile. The really bad shit happens when the lesions get a bacterial infection. The other issue is pain management. If it gets bad, contact a doctor or clinic for pain meds. You may also want to look into getting on Techovirimat - the antiviral for MPX.

[Kinkybreed]

On 10/3/2022 at 6:10 PM, JakeTurner said:

@Kinkybreed - Having had MPX, it looks like it to me. Make sure you keep everything very sterile. The really bad shit happens when the lesions get a bacterial infection. The other issue is pain management. If it gets bad, contact a doctor or clinic for pain meds. You may also want to look into getting on Techovirimat - the antiviral for MPX.

Soooo over 3 weeks later I finally got an appointment with a doctor. Thank god for my friend who was able to get me the appointment with his doctor because no one else wanted to see me. It was frustrating as fuck. Luckily the lesions are much much better now, stopped hurting and I was still able to get tested. The doctor said that it's always 50/50 with patients coming into the clinic with monkeypox symptoms. 50 Percent actually have it and the other half has Syphillis. But turns out: My tests all came back negative, including monkeypox. Still have to wait for my results when it comes to Gono and Chlamydia but I already got tested for that two weeks ago and it was also neg. My guess now is that it actually is Gono but that the test back then gave me a false negative. Gonna get my new results on Friday and am actually hoping now that the test will be positive so I can finally get treated and get this over with. Once I'm done with this I'll get vaccinated asap. So to everyone who thinks that they might have caught mpx: Try your best to get tested, even if it is literally a pain in the ass to find someone in some areas. The symptoms differ from person to person and can be very similar to stds like gono and syphillis. I was so sure I had it and therefore would've thought that I'm healthy now and won't need the vaccine anymore. Was basically already giving up on finding a doctor who'd see me. So glad I didn't and got tested, otherwise it could've gotten worse over time.

[Versfuck95]

On 8/4/2022 at 7:55 AM, JakeTurner said:

Just an update…

I had a mild case overall, and I'm grateful that was the case. BUT it just won't quite go away - which ie beyond frustrating.

I started Techovirimat (aka TPOXX) on "Day 11" and just too my last pills this morning (Day 25). Things were going so well that I thought I'd stop the TPOXX early. But then a little over a week ago ("Day 17", day 6 of TPOXX) I took a pic to see how thing were going "down there" (I felt great) and I saw an unhealed lesion. At that point I figured I'd continue the TPOXX for the full 14 days. BUT it hasn't healed in that time. It's looked pretty much like this the entire time…

So that little fucker is going to stop me from having fun this weekend (I'm going to Montréal for Pride). I just want it to heal so I can be done with everything.

 

But the takeaway for guys who are trying to avoid getting MPX is that, if that sore were in my ass rather than just outside it, I would have no clue I still had a problem and I'd be at GI Joe this weekend taking loads - and infecting the tops who fucked me. So this is not a good situation for tops since you can't see the lesions that could infect you and the bottom may have no clue that they haven't healed.

I don't care I would fuck u..that hole is hot as fuck

[supertramp]

2 days ago i noticed a small bump near my lips and progressed into a puss formation the next day- here is that pic. I don't know if its herpes or hpv or mpx.. i never had anything near my lips in the past and its the first time its showing up there..

likewise, there are few bumps near my pubic.. 

i did get mpx vaccination ( both doses), I wonder what these could be ?

i will be visiting my parents and family next week and i dont want to show up in this condition.. 

[Gohandsome]

On 7/22/2022 at 2:59 PM, Axel83 said:

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 🙂 

In the end I wanted to ask; there is any solution for anal herpes? This happen sometimes with me, never know what to do. Any medication or cream?

[BootmanLA]

1 hour ago, Gohandsome said:

In the end I wanted to ask; there is any solution for anal herpes? This happen sometimes with me, never know what to do. Any medication or cream?

Not sure what you mean by "solution". There is no cure for herpes, period. There are treatments which can help manage or control breakouts, some of which need to be taken daily (like PrEP or HIV treatment) in order to be largely effective. But there are no guarantees - it's possible for someone with herpes to have a breakout almost any time. The medications that treat it, though, can make it harder to pass on to others. So it's worth talking with your physician about that.

[PozBearWI]

14 hours ago, Gohandsome said:

In the end I wanted to ask; there is any solution for anal herpes? This happen sometimes with me, never know what to do. Any medication or cream?

I've lived with HSV for decades now.  My doc prescribed acyclovir.  At his encouragement I have experimented with reducing my 3x a day tablets to see if outbreaks calmed down.  But I'm back on 3x to keep it controlled.  As @BootmanLA wrote above, there is no cure.  

[JakeTurner]

On 11/24/2022 at 3:40 PM, supertramp said:

2 days ago i noticed a small bump near my lips and progressed into a puss formation the next day- here is that pic. I don't know if its herpes or hpv or mpx.. i never had anything near my lips in the past and its the first time its showing up there..

likewise, there are few bumps near my pubic.. 

i did get mpx vaccination ( both doses), I wonder what these could be ?

i will be visiting my parents and family next week and i dont want to show up in this condition.. 

Unfortunately, it's probably MPOX. There are a fair number of breakthrough cases. The fact that you're vaccinated will most likely make it a mild case. Let us know how it progresses…

[JakeTurner]

On 11/24/2022 at 5:59 PM, Gohandsome said:

In the end I wanted to ask; there is any solution for anal herpes? This happen sometimes with me, never know what to do. Any medication or cream?

As others said, there is no cure. But there are meds that will reduce the frequency of outbreaks (if taken daily), or shorten the period of symptoms. My physician has me take 2 grams (2 x 1000 mg) of Valacyclovir twice a day when I have an outbreak. I do that for 2-3 days and I'm over it. My outbreaks are pretty rare, so it doesn't make sense for me to take it daily (if I did it would be 1 gram a day).