POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: veryworried1234 on September 17, 2010, 05:04:55 am
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I have been living in a nightmare for the past 4 months I had my first ever sexual encounter and it was unprotected with a girl i knew for 3 weeks it was brief but yet unprotected.
After this encounter I started reading more about STDs and knew how reckless i was to do smth like this, i started freaking out as i read more about HIV for the first 5 weeks i didnt have any symptoms at all but on the 6th week right after i learned about lymph nodes i started having this tingling pain in my lymph nodes specially neck and armpits , no swelling at all only a very subtle tingeling pain which comes and goes throughout the day.
I went to a MD and told him the story he checked my lymph nodes and told me there's no swelling , I tested for all STDs and everything was negative including HIV after exactly 91 days from my encounter, i was relieved for a while but still this tingling pain didn't vanish...I also asked the girl to go for a test and she also tested negative for HIV noting that her previous sexual encounter before me was before mine by one month so she tested negative after 4 months.
Is it possible that both of us are at risk and need to test again after 6 months? does this brief pain in my lymph nodes could mean a possible HIV infection noting that i have been having this feeling for almost 2 months now?
Thanks you very much
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You are conclusively HIV negative. There is no need for you to test again at six months. The window period for HIV testing is 3 months.
Whatever is making your lymph nodes ache, it's not HIV. Perhaps you shouldn't prod and poke at them so much.
MtD
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As Matty has told you, you have reliably tested negative for HIV.
Whatever if anything is going on with you symptomatically has absolutely nothing to do with HIV. If "symptoms" persist then you need to have further conversation with your doctor.
Becoming sexually active is very exciting and it can also sitr up a lot of anxiety. If you are upset about it then perhaps talking with a counselor might also be helpful.
For sure HIV is not an issue for you. But you do need to learn from this experience. In the future you always should be wearing a condom whenever you have vaginal or anal intercourse. No exceptions no matter what you think you know about your partner or how healthy they look or anything else. A condom is a must everytime.
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Dear Matty and Andy,
Thanks alot guys for your reply i felt so much better after spending a whole night reading about HIV possibilities....ofcourse Andy i know the significance of wearing a condom but on that night we didnt have anything in mind i was a virgin and having sex wasnt smth i usually seek but it just happened and suddenly out of curiosity i wanted to feel how does it feel to put my penis in there and at this time the girl looked so clean,beautiful and good hygiene but it was a stupid call based on very poor decision factors taken by me while i was drunk
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The important thing is to learn from this experience. She may or may not have been HIV+. but you can have intercourse with anyone you want to. Just do it the safer way which means always wearing a condom.
And mixing excessive drinking with casual sex is definitely a dangerous combo. So remember that for the future as well.
Fortunately this time you have scooted by safely.
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Very,
Cleanliness, beauty and good hygiene have nothing to do with whether or not a person is hiv positive. I'm positive yet I'm clean, some have looked at me through beer goggles and declared me beautiful, and I have very good personal hygiene. Yet I also happen to have a virus and you would never know it by looking at me. It's insulting to use the word clean in relation to a person's sexual health, because it implies that some are dirty. So think before you use that word that way again.
Like the others, I agree that you are conclusively hiv negative. Here's how to stay that way...
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.
ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT NEED FURTHER TESTING AT THIS TIME, 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!
Ann
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After what ive been through and still what to come cause i know i wont let it go...i can assure you no more casual sex for me next time will be with my wife
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Very,
You don't have to be celibate, you just need to use condoms every time you have anal or vaginal intercourse. Condoms have been proven to prevent hiv infection. It really is that simple!
Ann
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Dear Ann,
Excuse my post back them i didnt have HIV in mind i meant clean as in no discharge or genital warts or other symptoms for any other STDs back then i knew soo little about HIV...and when i tested after 91 days i tested for each and every STD in a well known hospital in the US and as i said before this will be my last time and next time shall be with my wife..i come from a background that highly disapproves premarital sex and just for the records iam 25 yold
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Very,
You still need to get this "clean" idea out of your head. Often times things like chlamydia have no symptoms - that's why there's so much chlamydia out there. Gonorrhea too. Other times things like syphilis, warts and herpes can be inside where you cannot see it.
Just use condoms - even with your wife or wife-to-be - until such time as you have BOTH been tested for ALL STIs, including but not limited to hiv.
Ann
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Thank you very much Ann for your advise and I will definitely do it....
My problem is that i still have this very slight pain that comes and goes in my lymph nodes (for 2months and a half now) and there's no swelling and whenever it happens all what i think of is hiv...also i've been back to my long time girlfriend and we are supposed to get married in a year and since we got back my worries have been multiplied by 10 because now someone else is involved and i cant live with the fact of infecting someone incase i have a rare case of hiv that didnt appear in the test after 3 months.
My doctor told me he can refer me to a psychiatrist but wt i need is sumone to tell me I'm ok and more importantly i won't give anything to my wife in the future.
I'm sooo sorry for being such a pain but i have no one to talk to about this other than here...
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You can't give your wife/gf a virus you don't have. You have already been told you have no cause for concern about HIV.
You are worrying needlessly. Get on with your life.
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Thank you very much Andy I appreciate it
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You're welcome. Now, do it!