GP thinks I have an STD when I dont

[ZanyPombear]

I have had sex once in my life. It was a year ago and I was raped. I had a few weeks of counselling and spoke to women’s aid, the general practitioners who are both aware. I have a number of health issues that existed before this and eczema. I finally made appointments for my health issues separately this year and made the general practitioners aware that my symptoms started well before I was raped. I have spoken to them about my symptoms a number of times, and they keep trying to tell me that it’s probably an STD. But that can’t be the case because I had these symptoms well before being raped which they know. I spoke to them about a severe case of eczema and they asked if I was sexually active and I said no, but the first thing they suggested was herpes. They keep trying to make me do STD tests and it’s more than one practitioner, just because they know I was raped a year ago as it’s on my file. Google searches showed me that it was a severe case of Dyshidrotic eczema.I live in a small place but I think I am registered to this one because it’s closest and I don’t know if I’m allowed to register with another one that’s further away What can I do!

So very sorry to hear of your assault, I imagine an STD test is triggering 💐 I’m sorry you are having to go through this. I have had really terrible experiences with GPs in the past. I hope someone can come along and tell you if you can register elsewhere as I’m not knowledgeable about this, but hope you can get this resolved. Worst case scenario, could you agree to the STD test so that they quit harassing you and then focus on the actual cause?

I would just do the std test. There are rare cases of people catching herpes in non-sexual ways (including two women who died after contracting it during a cesarean). Surely best to rule it out for good, if only to kick the doctors in to investigating other causes.

I'm so sorry this is happening to you.

Some GP practices have a map of their catchment area on their websites so it is worth checking there first. If not, give ones near you a ring and the receptionists will be able to tell you.

As long as you are in catchment and the surgery is accepting new patients then changing GP is usually straightforward.

I'm sorry for what you've been through and that your GPs aren't listening to you.

If you haven't been tested I would do it, who knows what you might have got from the rapist. Hopefully it will be negative and you can look for other answers, but you may need treatment if there is an std, as well as other problems.

Please speak with someone in the sexual health clinic. I’m so sorry that you went through what you did. You’ve actually been incredibly brave to be so open about this both here and with your GP. GPs aren’t experts in sexual health. You need to have someone support you who has specialist training in this area. I think it does make sense to have the sores looked at and swabbed. That will give you the answers you need and hopefully help you figure out what you need to do to treat it and feel better.

I'm sorry you went through that OP

I would just get the std test first peace of mind and to shit the gp up and make him take you seriously.

Do you have sexual health clinic near you? They could do the tests. When I went I swabbed myself like they told me to. So nobody touched me. She asked if I wanted to be examined. It was my choice.

They are used to dealing with woman who have undergone trauma.

Just tell them when booking your appointment

@ZanyPombear have you possibly misunderstood? Dyshidrotic eczema is also known as pomphylox eczema or herpeticum. It is related to the Coldsore version of the herpes virus.

Could this be what they were saying rather than suggesting an STD?

I’m sorry OP, feeling like you aren’t being listened to by doctors is always distressing.

But I think you might be hearing herpes and getting the wrong idea. People hear “herpes” and think sex but the most common form of “herpes” is actually HSV-1*, and it’s usually acquired in childhood NOT through sexual contact. It’s often asymptomatic for years or decades (or for the whole life) so there’s no way to know when a person actually acquired the virus. More than half of adults carry it, so it’s extremely common. And yes it can cause some forms of eczema.

I understand anything that feels like it’s being connected to your assault will feel triggering, but I’m hoping this explanation might help you detach the two things some.

*chickenpox is actually caused by a type of herpes virus as well, but when people refer to “herpes” they’re usually talking about HSV not chickenpox

For peace of mind I'd do a test. You can get testing kits you can do at home.

Sometimes getting a differential diagnosis is the only way doctors can really narrow in on the real cause. This is definitely true for skin conditions.

you aren’t going to be harmed by std testing. It might be a bit of a mental roadblock, but in the long run won’t you feel better having gotten that clear set of test results back anyway? It may even help with lingering trauma because you are now past the incubation periods for most conditions so testing will be definitive.

your doctors will then have one more piece of data that they can use to figure out how to fix your skin which is the real goal. I always focus on that goal, every time they want yet another test or trial. (My least favorite was going completely and religiously gluten free to “see what would happen”)

The doctor won’t need to touch you anywhere intimate - you can swab yourself, and then it’s urine and blood tests. It feels very different from going to the SARC. If it’s something you can work toward it will make them change tack on your skin condition. I think unless you go private, any other NHS GP will read your notes and say you still need the test.

You’re actually wrong. You’re thinking of herpetic whitlow. And if you do a search for it you’ll see that
Dyshidrotic eczema is non contagious and unrelated to the herpes virus but can be confused with it

You are not being reasonable. OP. Get the tests done and then you will know for certain. No amount of arguing or avoiding testing will benefit you.

It absolutely isn't. It's a form of eczema and has nothing to do with anything transmissible. Please don't go round spouting rubbish about medical conditions you don't know anything about. It's hard enough having a skin condition without people spreading false information suggesting it's contagious.

Please just get it done. Do you want have this in the back of your mind for ages or just dump it.
You had a terrible thing happen to you, you just now need to get this issue cured.