Possibly HIV+ -.-

[Offl1m1t]

Hello,
 I am sure that you have read threads like this over and over again, however I am a little concerned and worried, so I am reaching out on the internet for advice / reassurance.
In January of this year, was when I first started losing weight. I went from 155 to 146 pretty quickly. It almost seemed like it was over night. This was the only symptom I had at the time. I was worried as my friends would comment on how skinny I have become and I really didn’t have any reason for it. I run and work out a lot and don’t always eat well…but that has how I had always been and always stayed around 153-156.
Skip forward to April (3 weeks ago). I had unprotected sex with an ex. 2 weeks later I started having some symptoms that made the thought of HIV pop into my head once again.
First I noticed some swollen lymph nodes. My question to anyone who is HIV positive is are swollen lymph nodes painful and how long do they stay around? Ive had 3 swollen lymph nodes:  under my arm pits and one on the side of my leg. They usually flare up in cycles and do not last long. And they are also very painful to touch? Is that normal?  For example, Monday the one under my left armpit was swollen. Lasted about a day and then went away. The next day it was my right armpit; then went away. Then on my leg. Then I was fine for a few days and the cycle began to repeat itself.
Ive also experienced some diarrhea which to be honest ive had for the last several years (I don’t know why – but ive just gotten used to it).  I have no desire to eat though my stomach has been churning constantly. My hands have also be sweaty these last few days.
I couldn’t stand it anymore so I decided to take an Oraquick test last week. The test was negative – so that means I must not have caught HIV in January at least since its been 3 months since then. However, I still may have caught it a few weeks ago so I will have to wait and retest in a month or so.
I’ve also had a tingling type feeling throughout my body. Kind of hard to describe. Almost feels like parts of my body will just twitch inside if that makes any sense at all.
My question is – do my symptoms seem typical. From what I’ve read, most of these symptoms such as sweaty hands, swollen lymph nodes, loss of appetite, tingling feeling etc. all seem to be symptoms that happen later on in the HIV cycle. Should I be experiencing these symptoms after 3 weeks of being infected or is it possible that I might be experiencing something else.


Thanks for your time

[Jeff G]

The risk factors for sexually transmitted HIV are from unprotected anal and vaginal sex, so if one of these is your risk factor 3 weeks ago you will need to test for HIV at 6 weeks past any possible exposure and again at 3 months . 

We do not discuss symptoms because they are not specific to HIV and the only way to know if you are infected is to test at the appropriate time .

Here's what you need to know in order to avoid hiv infection:

You need to be using condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, every time, no exceptions until such time as you are in a securely monogamous relationship where you have both tested for ALL sexually transmitted infections together.

To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with an STI. Sex without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

Have a look through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.

Anyone who is sexually active should be having a full sexual health care check-up, including but not limited to hiv testing, at least once a year and more often if unprotected intercourse occurs.

If you aren't already having regular, routine check-ups, now is the time to start. As long as you make sure condoms are being used for intercourse, you can fully expect your routine hiv tests to return with negative results.

Don't forget to always get checked for all the other sexually transmitted infections as well, because they are MUCH easier to transmit than hiv. Some of the other STIs can be present with no obvious symptoms, so the only way to know for sure is to test.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!