POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: tattslottowinner on March 28, 2010, 04:50:43 am
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I have had what i now think was an exposure to hiv about 4 mths ago.
This is a long story and needs some background .
I am from Australia and hetero' where (unfortunately i now think) prostitution is legal.
I have been with i guess about 20 ( yea i was a hoe) since my first encounter many years ago.
All these were in licensed brothels in Victoria where testing and medical certificates are required for workers as are condoms.
This is a fairly safe business considering Australia has a very low hiv rate and particuarly low amongst heteros'.
I have never had unprotected sex and had no issues with stis other than herpes which i have had for twenty yrs which i acquired from my first long term girlfriend.
Anyways i suppose i became complacent and always thought these brothels where safe and i visited a brothel in another state (New South Wales which borders Victoria),where the laws are not policed like Victoria and thought i would never catch anything.
Sorry for rambling but i chose this whore( yea im bitter) who was from Thailand and working in oz.i had a bad gut feeling after i chose her and said to the madam on the internal room phone(bitch) i wanted to change and she said no it was too late a that she was on her way to the room .i thought it will b fine cos' you cant catch anything with a condom on right?
So here was mistake number one.I ignored my gut instinct.i should hav walked out but nope i didn't.
Anyway she comes in and rips her clothes off ,jumps on the bed and starts playing with herself saying how horny she was.
I should have known this was bad as every other time the workers have been professional and inspected me first ,put a condom on before any contact at all.Here is the key that would have saved me.(condom on before any contact at all!)I should have put one on myself but i was just totally bewildered by what was happening and i think i forgot where i was for a split second.I then layed beside her and started to run my hands over her body and i did rub her vagina externally for a few seconds.
Then i stood up and said" hey you better put a condom on me before we go any further.Then( i think i was a little intoxicated ) i noticed a massive amount of pre cum on the end of my penus.I dont know why but i wiped it off with the the hand that had touched the lovely lady (sarcasm) i was with .
I didnt think much of it but i remember waking up in bed that night thinking"Did i just have an exposure"
I had heard of pep but knew nothing about it or where to get it and thought how could i catch anything from this?I would be so unlucky.Besides she told me she had lived in oz for 10 years and i know the government does not let hiv + people emmigrate here as a rule so i thought there was a good chance she was negative.also i thought surely as a sex worker she would have enough conscience if she were positive to insist on putting on a condom to protect others before any contact.I know i would in her situation.
Anyways 3 wks later i woke up with a sore throat in the middle of the night.soon after night sweats ,then major upper body rash and the in the second week i could hardly walk my legs were so heavy.
Pretty sure i had caught hiv at this stage.
After these symptoms i developed a hacking cough which lasted 3 mths.also have had major fatigue.I still have a cough but not as bad.It is more a dry wheezing type of cough where before it was very strong and felt like i was actually expelling something where now it feels weak.
One thing which i am angry about is i had a hep b shot(dont know why i did ) about two days before this exposure.I have since learnt this makes you more likely to contract hiv if exposed.common sense i guess but i never gave it a thought and the nures never told me.Im pissed with her but could never prove this was why if i did contract it.(wouldnt want to do blame anyone else anyway but when your angry you think this way)
I have had a negative test at 15 wks but i know if you are co infected then this is not conclusive.
I thought the cough must have been tb cos al symptoms pointed to it.
i now have blood y sputum which i bring up all day and have done for two months.
doctors have not been able to help with this as chest x rays,tb blood tests and sputum are negative for tb(though i dont know whether they have tried to grow culture from it.)There is nothing on chest x rays at all.This also indicates hiv as i know they are looking for inflammation which occurs with normal immune response.I have asked if the docs would do a western blot or vl test but they all say no,unless elisa test is positive.
I have been to a few different doc's and they all think from what i tell them i cant have hiv?
I have also had a penile yeast infection a bout a month after exposure and to top it off i now have warts on the tip of my penis. so i defin itely acquired warts and yeast infection.)
If i have hiv and warts and tb from this one contact then well what can you say.I feel really ripped off.I have always used condoms every time for intercourse.
i alos had aching muscles and nausea and weird coulored stools( symptoms of hep b).
I havnt been tested for this cos the whole thing makes me sick!Cant believe i can have all these issues from one contact which was not even unprotected intercourse.
I guess i just need to keep testing.I know if my antibody tests remain negative they wont consider my lung problem as undiagnosed tb or pcp which is what i suspect.
It is possible i have hiv ,hep b ,hpv and tb at once which would explain the negative results.(Hope im wrong ,but have had so many symptoms)
i have read that tb is hrd to diagnose if you have hiv and if you are co infected then hiv testing will b negative for some time even if you have hiv.
The whole thing has destroyed my life I have lost my job ,confidence,sex life and if i get a positive result its gonna get worse as i did have sex with someone between the exposure and before any symptoms.I will have to approach them and well this is one of the worst things ever!(protected intercourse but she has complained of muscle aches and fatigue last time i saw her)unprotected oral if i remember right.
would like any input on this .
The stupid thing is i now know th
thanks in advance.
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HIV is not your problem.
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after my last ramble (just needed to vent)i have a specific question which hopefully is a bit easier to reply to. I am wondering if you have ars symptoms as i did after possible exposure (rash,extreme fatigue,sore throat) and these go away aftr a few weeks daoes this mean you have developed antibodies?(assuming the symptoms where caused by hiv )if this is the case would you always test positive on elisa test?thanks for any advice
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Follow the posting guidelines of this forum and return to your original thread.
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sorry for new thread when it wasnt necessary.btw i would like to modify original post but cant seem to find "edit".i am posting on my cell phone,mayb the mobile version of site doesnt have this feature?
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I've merged your threads. In the future, please follow our rule and keep all of your entries in this same thread.
Briefly, what was the nature of the "risk" you had? We have to have some idea of it before making an evaluation of your situation. The presence or absence of symptoms is never the way to know anything accurately about your HIV status. Only an HIV test taken at the appropriate time can give you that answer.
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tatts,
You absolutely did NOT have a risk for hiv infection. So you touched her vaginal area and then wiped some pre-cum off your penis. That is NOT how hiv is transmitted.
Hiv is a fragile, difficult to transmit virus that is primarily transmitted INSIDE the human body as in unprotected anal or vaginal INTERCOURSE. You didn't have unprotected intercourse and so you were not at risk for hiv.
And so you got warts, so what. Genital warts are easily spread through skin-to-skin contact, UNLIKE hiv. The yeast infection? Anyone can get that - in the States they call it "jock itch" when a man gets it on his genitals. It's common. It's usually the result of poor hygiene - not sex.
And the clinching factor here is that you have a conclusive negative hiv test. You do not have hiv, which is no big surprise considering you didn't have a risk. Keep using condoms, correctly and consistently for anal or vaginal intercourse and you won't have a risk in future either.
You need to know that your nasty attitude toward the sex workers you've gone to isn't appropriate here and will NOT be tolerated. YOU went to them, they didn't hunt you down. Take responsibility for your own actions and stop calling them bitches and whores. Do it again and you'll be given a time out.
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:
Anyone who continues to post excessively, questioning a conclusive negative result or no-risk situation, will be subject to a four week Time Out (a temporary ban from the Forums). If you continue to post excessively after one Time Out, you may be given a second Time Out which will last eight weeks. There is no third Time Out - it is a permanent ban. The purpose of a Time Out is to encourage you to seek the face-to-face help we cannot provide on this forum.
Please consider yourself warned!
Ann
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sorry about name calling ie"bitch and whore".when i re read post i thought this was inappropriate too.that is why i wanted to edit but could not see how to. I do not think all prostitutes are bad, just angry with this one in particular for giving me warts and mayb hiv(as i said she was unprofèsional with not putting condom on at the start.i know i should have been a bit smarter and done this myself but as i said this had always been done by the worker previously so i was caught off guard.as for the madam well she was very rude to me when i told her i wanted to change my choice so i guess some resentment there. As for risk the specific risk i had vaginal fluid on my hand and did actually wipe pre cum off the head of my penus(stupid thing to do).alcohol and casual sex not good idea)i figure that if hiv was present on my hand it could hav mixed with precum and gotten inside .just seemed to coincidental that i had what sounded like ars and i hav lung infection that has continued for 3 mths and is undiagnosed by several doctors.. Just for the record i do accept my responsibility if im infected.i didnt have to go there but i did.
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tatts,
YOU'RE NOT LISTENING! NOTHING you did was a risk for hiv infection. Whatever is going on has nothing to do with hiv. And yes, it was just a coincidence that you felt unwell after this incident.
Your fifteen week test is conclusive. The window period for hiv is THREE months. YOU DO NOT HAVE HIV!!!
Keep posting about this NO RISK, conclusive NEGATIVE situation and you will be given that time out I warned you about.
Ann
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Firstly i would like to say how much of a great service the moderators here are doing for all the worried people that post on" Am I Infected" .
Afetr posting previously on here I have been reading the posts and on off for quite a while now and really was hoping i woudn't be needing to post on here again. Unfortunately i am back because i really need to talk to someone about the developments lately.
After a possible exposure which i posted about many months back, i had a 3 month negative result and had accepted that i was lucky to have avoided hiv.
The problem was that a lingering cough which occurred about a month after the exposure never quite went away and after 3 months i had a problem with excessive bloody sputum and still do.
After pestering doctors who claimed i didn't have TB i have finally been diagnosed today withactive tb 6 mths after the exposure after a third lot of Sputum Cultures.
I am beginning 4 lots of medicines tomorrow and this is daunting but the worst part is the Dr has insisted on an Hiv test even though i told him that i had tests 3 mths apart that was negative.
He is surprised that i have tb as it is very rare in my country and would only normally occur if someone was "severely immunocompromised" in his words .
I am shocked by all of this and have read that if i were hiv+ then i have gone straight to an Aids diagnosis ,although the Dr never put it this way.
Have any of you heard of such a scenario , where someone contracts Hiv and then Tb within a month?
Prior to this another Dr told me if i were + then it would take years for active tb to show up?
Im so confused and scared but would really appreciate any info even if it is bad.
I have to take the tb meds for two wks and then get some blood tests.i told the Dr that i did not want another hiv test as it is all a bit much to handle at once but he insisted.
What are the chances that a healthy person can just develop tb without an underlying medical condition?I hope i am that rare person!
I want to think its a coincidence but the Dr seems to think that "healthy people dont just develop active tb" Has there been any documented cases of tb being diagnosed and a reason for delayed seroconversion?
Thanks for your time
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Tatts,
I've merged your new thread into your original thread - where you should post all your additional thoughts or questions. It helps us to help you when you keep all your additional thoughts or questions in one thread. It doesn't matter how long it has been since you last posted in your thread or if the subject matter is different.
If you need help finding your thread when you come here, click on the "Show own posts" link under your name in the left-hand column of any forum page.
Please also read through the Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0) so you can familiarize yourself with our Forum Posting Guidelines. Thank you for your cooperation.
Whatever is going on with you has nothing to do with hiv. You do not have hiv.
Ann
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Since your doctor is insisting that you test, you're going to to have to. Despite your having developed TB, I still expect you to test negative again.