living in Turkey, dont know what to do...

[whattodo]

Hope I can express myself because Im a Turkish girl 24 years old and trying to find a way to live my life. I have a boyfriend since 2010 august and we're living together. Since september 2011, something weird started to happening to me. First I lost 3 kilos and stomach problems started. Then, insistent muscle pains and headaches have started and still suffering from them. I am also suffering from insistent throat problems since it hurts most of the time. While these things going on I realized that i might be HIV + and think that i got it from my ex boyfriend that we were together in 2010 for 4 months. I am going to be tested this week but Im so scared. Because if im infected, my boyfriend is infected and he doesnt have money, he is doing his master degree. I dont know how I will tell him. I dont know how he will react. Since he doesnt have money how is he going to afford all of these medications... I can struggle it by myself. I can try to live but I blame myself for my boyfriend. Im so scared to die, to cause my boyfriend to die... I am trying to reach my ex but he is like never existed. Hope i did not bored you. And sorry for my poor English...

[RapidRod]

What was your possible exposure?

[Ann]

What,

If you've been having unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse with these men, then you do need to test. However, your symptoms could be caused by many things, not just hiv. They are in no way hiv specific.

The ONLY way to accurately know your hiv status is to test.

If you do test hiv positive, that is not a guarantee that your boyfriend has also been infected.

If you test negative, that also does not mean your current boyfriend is also hiv negative.

The ONLY way to accurately know his hiv status is for him to also test.

Not everyone who has been expose to hiv will get it.

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.

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

Good luck with your tests.

Ann

[whattodo]

I had vaginal sex with my ex boy friend and also with my current boy friend. My current boy friend was tested last year in 2011 February and it was negative. But I was tested in 2010 september just before the relationshp started with my ex boy friend. But the things going on with my body are not normal things according to me. I went to see my doctor which is a prof. on ear nose throat. He said that nothing is wrong with my throat. But you can not predict hıv status from throat examination of course... I am really trying to talk to my ex boy friend as i said before but his phone is closed, he doesnt answer e-mails. And Im pretty sure that he is not fine... I blame myself a lot. I really dont care about my self right now. I am only worried about my boy friend. We were planning really good things for future. And now I feel like I ruined everything. Im such a mess...

[Ann]

What,

Neither symptoms nor even the LACK of symptoms will ever tell you a single thing about your hiv status. Many people never have a single symptom of hiv infection until anywhere from one to twenty years have gone by. ONLY testing will accurately reveal your hiv status.

You need to go to a general practitioner who can run general tests to help pin-down what's going on with you. Nothing you mention is hiv specific.

Don't bother trying to track down your ex-boyfriend. After all, he could lie about his hiv status and/or his testing history.

The ONLY way to know YOUR hiv status is to test. It sounds like you have a good chance of still testing hiv negative, but the ONLY way to know is to test.

Work with a general practitioner, rather than an ENT specialist, to find out what's wrong. Chances are good that it's not hiv, but you do need to test to rule hiv out.

Good luck.

Ann

[whattodo]

Thank you for your responses.I am going to get tested in 2-3 days. I feel so lonely and I dont feel like there are people to talk about my worries. I want to ask you about how to tell my boy friend all of this... I know it is a huge thing to handle and I dont want to lose him. And since Im living in Turkey, there arent enough medication options. And all of these make me feel miserable...

[Ann]

What,

Don't worry about telling your boyfriend anything until you have your test result. Chances are good that you're worrying for no good reason.

Ann

[whattodo]

Ann,

Thank you so much. I wish I could have friends like you beside me. But there isnt... Glad that I know English enough to talk to you and found you. Thank you so much again.

[Ann]

What,

You're welcome.

Don't assume anything until you get tested. It's the ONLY way to know your hiv status and chances are that hiv is not your problem.

Let us know how the testing goes.

Ann

[whattodo]

Ann,

You can be sure that I will let you know my test results as soos as I get them...

[whattodo]

I got tested, but waiting for the results. But Im going to get crazy. Because since I've been reading the posts in this forum, I realized that Im living all of the symptoms mentioned at this site. I guess I dont need the results...

[Andy Velez]

Symptoms are never a reliable means of determining HIV status. They simply resemble the same as many other illnesses. Only an HIV test taken at the right time can give you the answer you want.