POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: charlie355 on August 20, 2012, 04:59:54 pm
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Hello everyone,
First of all I wanted to sincerely thank in advance any feedback you might have about my following dilemma. I am a 45 Male and about 5 weeks ago while I was at work in Mexico (I live in the US), I had an encounter with a call girl. She said due to her line of work she must be tested every 2 weeks. During the act, she performed oral sex wth no condom but everything else I used a condom. However during the last part when I was on top of her (this was only for about 3 minutes) I finished and when I removed myself, the condom had broken leaving my head exposed inside her vagina. I was exposed for maybe 1 minute since the condom was fine before I went on top of her.
Needless to say I am very very worried... I have the following symptoms:
1 week later:
I developed a very painful testicular/penile pain and I went to the Urologist thinking it was UTI but it was nothing. He still gave me Cipro and Daypro in case an infection and an antiinflammatory...
2 weeks later:
No Fever
Sore Throat (mainly at night)
Lymph Nodes hurt (neck and armpit) but don't always hurt...
Fatigue and depression...
very tiny rash in the mouth (inside the lip) looks like tiny white blisters but they don't hurt at all. Doctor says he has no idea what they are...
A few pimples (would not call rash) on my torso...Doctor said "It's not an HIV rash"
A white tongue...Doctor said "It's not thrush"
My eyes became infected...red and with a yellowish discharge in the morning...
BIG TIME Anxiety... and Stress (BTW I don't cope weill with Stress)
4 weeks later:
I went to the doc and I did all kinds of tests...Blood, Cholesterol, Thyroid, STDs
No STDs - All negative
HIV 1/2 Screen RFLX WB was non reactive - Negative (4 weeks after exposure)
Thyroid was a bit low 0.5 but nothing unusual
My face has become extremely oily (I was never like that)..Could it be SB?
Still have Lymph Node pain (not much though)
Now 5 weeks later...
A litle tingle of my hands...
During this whole time, I have not stopped on reading about HIV symptoms, causes, etc etc... I can't concentrate thinking I have HIV and I am extremely stressed out... can't sleep at night just thinking and get up to read even more...
I have not any fever or headaches nor diarrhea during this time..
I am currently under Testosterone Injections treatment every 2 weeks (has been for the last 6 months)
Could all this be caused by anxiety? stress? Could it really be HIV? I know I need to be re-tested...
What do you all think?
Thanks in advance...
Ch.
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4week neg is a good sign bro,take another test @ 3month im pretty sure it going to be negative, im in the same boat i only test @ 1week it was negative,but it take 3week for antibodies to build so i just took a test at 3month waiting on the result so i know how scared you can be but u seem to be in a better sitituation then me 4week neg is highlu unlightly to change as far as i been reading
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Sadman, although I know your intentions are good, the rule in this forum is that only those who are authorized to do so may respond to members here. You don't have that authorization so please don't do it again.Thanks for your cooperation in the future.
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Charlie, yes a condom break is a risk but it is a low level one. The condom protected you until it broke. You were exposed very briefly for one single time. And it is significantly more difficult to transmit HIV from a woman to a man than the other way around.
Taking all of that into consideration I expect you will test negative. You can test initially at 6 weeks. Assuming you get a negative then it is very likely you will test negative again at 3 months for a conclusive result.
There is absolutely nothing HIV specific about any symptoms you are reporting. Of course now you are anxiously watching for every "sign" that confirms your fears even though the likelihood of your being infected is very, very low. If symptoms persist you should discuss them with your doctor.
I expect you to come out of this ok.
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Sadman,
I know you had the best intentions. Thanks for your reply.
Andy,
I have been lurking this forum for the last 4 weeks and I have seen your proactiveness and support with all the members with spot on feedback and advice. In my case, yes I agree, I need to test again at 6 weeks (I tested at 4 and it was negative) and then again at 3 months.
Having said this, yes it's possible that I am overanalyzing this (I always do) and my 2 hands started tingling yesterday (a possible sign of HIV), a rash has been growing steady in my chest but you can only find the rash if you look carefully... it's a bit red with many little tiny lessions across but nothing big. I do feel more pimples (acne perhaps) in my shoulders and I pinch them to see if they are acne and I believe they are. This is about 5 weeks later...
Still no fever, no headache, no diarrhea but I am definitely more tired than usual.
If the symptoms appear, do they all appear at once? or they appear one by one like in my case?
Thanks in advance,
Ch.
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You had an extremely low level risk which has you nervously (mis)interpreting everything that happens or doesn't happen to you physically as another SIGN of HIV. Cut it out.
I expect you to test negative. While waiting to do that you need to make a real effort to focus on other matters in your life. And don't bother saying you're too worried to do that because that response is not going to fly here. Really.
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Andy, POZ Community...
I appreciate your answer greatly and I have started putting real efforts in thinking positively and move on. However, as you may have seen with many other folks here, sometimes it's a bit hard to do so. Today I went to the dermatologist and he wanted to do a biopsy of my rash to rule anything out. He asked me the typical: fever? headache? chills? to which I answered NO to all the above.
However he seemed to be concerned about the Rash which is in the upper torso and it's hardly noticeable but it's red and it does not have one specific location. It's all over on the top of my chest. (kinda like baby rash) He had no idea what it was. He asked when I tested (I said 4 weeks after exposure) and he mentioned you need to be tested again. (I knew that)...
My PCP was not worried at all and now the dermatologist got me worried with his comments...
Then yesterday my lower abdomen (right side mainly) and back started hurting followed by a soft stool this morning...no diarrhea but soft.
My glands below my chin sometimes hurt as well.
Does anybody have photos and/or pics of early HIV rash? Is fever a must before you develop skin rash? I have had this rash for over 3 weeks...
Thanks in advance for taking the time to answer my questions...
Ch.
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Charlie,
The rash that sometimes accompanies seroconversion happens around week two or three, and it only lasts a few days, not weeks like yours.
The symptoms of seroconversion are not due to the virus itself. They are due to the process the body goes through while producing antibodies - and this process happens in the first two or three weeks. These symptoms do not come and go or come on one by one, they happen all at once.
We don't want to hear anything more about your symptoms. Keep working with your doctor to find out what, if anything, is actually going on.
You are HIGHLY unlikely to end up with hiv as the insertive partner following a condom break. Believe it or not; it's true.
You're just going to have to get busy with other things in your life - and quit micro-examining your body all the time - until it's the appropriate time to test. We fully expect you to test negative.
Ann
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Charlie,
I have removed your PM privilege. We do not permit people to use PMs as a means of getting around paying a subscription for participation in the Am I Infected forum.
You are not permitted to use PMs to ask questions dealing with hiv transmission and/or testing anyway.
If you read the Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0) before posting like you're supposed to, you will have read the following posting guideline:
Do NOT use Private Messages to question other members about any transmission, testing or symptom issues. These issues must be discussed in the public forum. Misuse of the PM function in this manner will result in your PM privileges being removed without warning.
Ann
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Ann,
I am very sorry. Yes I did not read the subscription payment message. I just did.
My question now is please. I am at 11 weeks after my initial exposure and will be taking a test this week. I was feeling very positive about this with no signs of the symptoms.
Now all of sudden in the last 72 hours, I have developed painful lymp node (armpit), sore throat for about 1 week, eye discharge and pain around the sockets, canker sores (2 or 3 of them) inside the mouth and lastly, diarhea, night sweat (I am awake at this time due to this).
Now all my positive thoughts are almost gone.
I know the testing is this week but I don't understand how now I am getting this which I did not get in the intial 2-4 weeks.
Any advice? Ann, Andy?
Thanks
Charlie355
ps. Once again, my apologies for not having read the rules for payment.
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Charlie,
You're not going to start going through ARS at this late stage. Please re-read reply #7.
You are highly unlikely to end up positive being the insertive partner following a condom break. Test at the appropriate time and collect your negative result.
Ann
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Hi POZ Community,
I feel compelled to provide an update of my results done today at an HIV clinic. It has passed 11 weeks since my possible exposure and the clinic used "Oraquick Swab" and it came back "non-reactive - negative".
I felt so much relief after I heard the news and yet so ashamed of what I had done and that 30 min of pleasure were not worth the agony that I went thru.
I am reading that this test is apparently 99% effective and that 11 week results is as good as 12 weeks... no difference there.
I wanted to especially thank Ann and Andy for their support and positive comments about my ordeal. They changed my approach to this and gave me the reassurance I needed at times where I felt completely lost.
I hope this test is accurate and gives me an opportunity to make some changes in my life.
Should I get tested again? and if so, when?
Once again THANKS!!
Charlie355
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Charlie,
You don't have hiv, which is not surprising considering your low risk. You only need further testing if you need it for peace of mind - you will just get another negative result. Otherwise, get on with your life.
Make sure you read through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms correctly and with confidence. A correctly used condom rarely breaks.
Ann