POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: gradstudent28 on November 14, 2012, 12:42:22 pm
-
Hi,
I was with someone 3 weeks ago. Last week he called me to tell me he discovered he was infected positive for HIV and began to experience the first symptoms of ARS at the same time we were together (chills, night sweats). When we were playing, he inserted himself briefly into me (I was the receptive bottom) for less than a minute, but we later used a condom when we had sex.
About six days after I was with him I developed a runny nose, congestion, fever, muscle aches, feelings of malaise. I'm hoping it's something else viral. But now the congestion has gone away and I still have a low grade fever, dry mouth, and a sore spot on my tongue. I don't have a lot of energy and feel tired a lot. Yesterday night I took an acetametaphen and had a small rash on my chest, but it went away by this morning.
When he told me about his diagnosis last week I immediately had an RNA test (P4 antigen I believe), but the results will take about two weeks to process. In the meantime, I've been anxiously reading everything on the internet and trying to figure out if my symptoms are ARS. He was most virulent when I was with him, and I can't figure out if during the brief period I blew him / had him uncovered inside of me I would have contracted something before we used a condom.
Please help. Anything would be great to read during this waiting period.
-
OK Gradstudent, for starters take a nice deep breath in and out. And then again. I mean it. Do that right now. And remember to do it anytime you're tensing up. It really helps.
Yes, you had a risk but from what you have described it was a relatively low level one. Looking for symptoms is not helpful because neither the presence nor the absence of symptoms will ever tell you anything accurately about your HIV status. Only an HIV test at the proper time can give you that answer. You can test initially at 6 weeks after the incident. If you get a negative result then in all likelihood you will continue to test negative at 3 months for a conclusive result.
There is nothing HIV specific about your symptoms. If they persist you should discuss them with your doctor. They actually sound like a garden variety flu to me.
Do yourself a big favor and stop surfing the net for symptoms and the like. Doing that will just feed your fears without helping you at all. So nix on that.
Giving oral is only theoretically a risk. Your saliva contains over a dozen elements and proteins which very effectively prevent the transmission of viable HIV.
For the future just make sure there is no unprotected anal even briefly. You can have all the intercourse you want to. Just do it the safer way which means the insertive partner is always wearing a condom. No exceptions.
-
Ended up negative, thanks for the responses and real relief. Can't help but urge people who have been in sticky situations to test yourself for your own peace of mind and also because virulence is highest near infection so you protect future partners too.
thanks again
-
Glad to hear you're negative.
And you can protect that happy status by always without exception properly using condoms in the future anytime you have vaginal and/or anal intercourse. It's just that simple.