POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: lance on March 06, 2007, 07:58:14 am
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hey, hope ur doing fine!!! anyway, m also a filipino but currently working here abroad.
it's my firstime to post a message in this forum. honestly, m experiencing also the symptoms of HIV while m working here abroad, expecially right now. i dont know wat to do coz i dont know where is the testing center here. and honestly m very afraid right know.
but maybe dis week i will go for it. anyway,. my purpose of this message is this:....
hoestly, i think i was exposed to this virus during my time der in the philippines so i think u can help me in preventing it coz i know where i got this virus....especially ur engage in AIDS organization.
let me start, i am working here abroad for about 1yr. my exposure is 1 and 8 months i think. m a person who is not sexually active. honestly, its my 3rd time to have sex at the age of 25. so, it means that i am so ignorant. but luckily, i think i got it. so, through this i can trace the place where i got it so u can ask the health department der to conduct a STD/HIV test to that area.
it is in BATANGAS CITY PIER...prostitution is very active in that place so pls ask the deparment of health to conduct this. ok, just to protect the youth and save lives in that place coz in my barangay, the youth is always telling stories about their experience having sex with girls in that place. and honestly, its my first time to go there and i think m infected.
maybe someday when i return home, i'll join the organization of AIDS also but honestly, m a MAN.
but, first i will make a test maybe this week. hope u pray for me.
hope u will be able to read this coz this and do my favor. thanks a lot.
god bless and have a healthy life....
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Lance,
I removed the two posts you made in other forums and placed them here, in the Am I Infected forum, which is the only place you should be posting as you have not tested positive. Please read the Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0) and read our forum posting guidelines. This is the ONLY thread you should post in. Thank you for your cooperation.
Symptoms, or even the lack of symptoms, mean absolutely NOTHING when it comes to hiv. The ONLY way to know your hiv status is through testing at the appropriate time.
You need to test at three months after your last unprotected incident of unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse.
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 STIs together. To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with a sexually transmitted infection. Sex with 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.
Ann
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hello experts
kindly help me!!! i am 27 yrs old. male and from the philippines but currently working here abroad.
my case is that i am experiencing a lot of symptoms of HIV. i have a swollen lymphnodes, rashes, night sweat, etc. my posible exposure is 1yr and 8 months ago to a sex worker girl in my country. i didnT used condom and after a week, there is a white liquid discharging from my penis so i go to doctor and just give me antibiotics but he didn't explain the name of that STD. after taking all the medicines, the discharging stopped. however, my concern right know is HIV especially that i am experiencing all the symptoms. it is very difficult for me to get tested because i am working abroad and the people here don't know how to speak english. the only thing that i can give is my CBC count coz we have a medical check-up in the company.
kindly help me, coz my WBC- white blood count has abnomalities. it is higher, four months ago it is 9.0H and right now it is 11.5H. what is the relation of HIV to the white blood count? does it affect the values of WBC? pls help me!!! tnks a lot
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Hi Lance,
Neither your WBC nor any symptoms past or present will ever tell you anything accurately about your HIV status. When there has been a risky incident such as unprotected intercourse, an HIV test is the ONLY way to know your HIV status accurately.
Your risky incident was so far in the past that you can take an HIV test anytime now, (since it's long after the recommended 13 weeks waiting period), and get an accurate result.
HIV is not an easy virus to transmit. It's significantly harder to accomplish from female to male. Given you had only one unprotected incident the odds are very much in your faovr that you will test negative.
You do need to learn from this experience. You can have intercourse as often as you like and with as many different partrners, whether civilians or professionals, just as long as you ALWAYS, without exception, wear a latex condom. With a condom on it doesn't matter if your partner is HIV+ or not. Condoms do the job as far as HIV is concerned.
Get yourself tested and collect what I expect will likely be a negative result.
Good luck.
Cheers,
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thanks a lot. i will follow ur advice so maybe this april 22, i will go back to my country to get tested. i am just really concern about the symptoms i am experiencing right know. so, whether the result is positive or negative, i will continue praying for all the HIV+ people. thanks again and god bless
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And in the meantime if you continue to have troubling symptoms you should discuss them with your doctor.
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Lance,
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.
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.
Ann
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thanks again ann and andy for ur reply,
anyway, as i said before, my schedule for HIV test will be nxt month. but right now m i experiencing symptoms especially loosing weight and skin abnormalities. also my sinusitis get worst. regarding my WBC, i know we can`t evaluate HIV using WBC but i want to know the common trend of WBC for HIV+ person. especially if your exposure is more than a year. will it increase or decrease? aslo as andy had said, the risk of HIV infection from female to male is very difficult to transmit. kindly explain why? pls kindly evaluate my question coz my WBC is increasing. honestly i am very scared right now coz i am living alone here in a foreign country. dont know wat to do. i am loosing weight very fast. hope u understand my situation. thnks
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--You cannot use WBC at all to evaluate HIV. It just can't be done. Do you realize how many things can cause a WBC count to bounce around? Your account can be different within a matter of hours. Your WBC counts aren't really that worrisome and that infection you were treated for definitely can explain the slightly high WBC count. Your sinusitis can slightly raise the white count. The only way is an HIV test. You say your last exposure was 1 year 8 months--you can have a definitive result today if you just test! You have a very good change at being negative, but you do need to test.
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thanks chick8 for ur reply.
i know it can't be use to determine whether ur POS or NEG. what i want to know is the common trend for WBC of HIV+ person. is it always lower than the normal range? coz right now i can't go to HIV testing site coz i am working here abroad and sad to say i am experiencing all the symptoms of HIV. kindly give me an opinion, just to lessen my anxiety here. thnks a lot.
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I can't give you the answer you want. There are so many causes which can affect a WBC. It is absolutely not in anyway a reliable means for evaluating your HIV status. Period.
Stay productively busy until you can get tested and the time will pass more quickly than your mind may imagine at this moment. Really.
What is distinctly in your favor is that HIV is not an easy virus to transmit and it is much more difficult to accomplish from female to male.
Now, get yourself busy. And when you become tense do good, deep and slow breathing in and out. It really helps.
Cheers,
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thnk you andy for ur reply. i am sorry if i am always imposing my concern about my WBC.
anyway just one more question, you said that HIV is very hard to transmit expecially from female to male, can you elaborate that. meaning, if you had a sexual intercourse with a HIV+ female, there is a posibility that you can not be infected by the virus?
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It is true that it only takes ONE time. However it is common for individuals to have sex with HIV+ people and NOT become infected. That being said, is this the type of Russian Roulette one wants to play?
Use condoms EVERY time for all vaginal or anal intercourse and you wont have to worry about the odds.
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--Well, I can't give you a trend in HIV postive individuals not only because there is not a common trend, but because there are so many things that can affect WBC counts it would be literally impossible to pinpoint a certain disease on WBC count alone. Also, your symptoms are useless in pinpointing whether you are infected.
--It is always easier for the receptive individual to get infected (for example a woman during vaginal intercourse, a man who is a "bottom" during anal sex) than the other way around. Luckily HIV is a very hard virus to transmit, but it only takes one time and while your situation is less likely to result in HIV, it isn't impossible. There have been people who have had unprotected sex with a partner for years before finding out that one of them was infected and that person remain HIV negative. But there are people like me who got it after only one time. You just cannot take the risk and you certainly cannot speculate. That is why it is important to use condoms 100% of the time and good practise to get tested regularly.
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Lance,
I've been positive for ten years, I'm not on meds, and my WBC always comes back within normal ranges. The WBC does not reflect hiv infection in any way.
Ann
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expert, members, thanks for your reply. i really appreciate it. honestly i think that i am HIV+ because of all the symptoms that i have right now. sad to say it's been 1yr and 8months and i think i have a lot of trouble right now maybe regarding my VL and CD4 counts if i am positive. i can't take an HIV test coz i am here abroad but i will go back to my country nxt month just to have an HIV test.
hey, ann, you said that you are an HIV+ for about 10yrs and no meds. how did you do that? what is your daily activity or food diet? especially if your loosing weight very fast. kindly share it with me pls coz i am living alone here abroad and no doctor to consult to. pls. thnk you.
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Lance
Peoples experience with HIV infection is different from person to person. Many people go for years without any symptoms and a few require active treatment soon after becoming positive. Its impossible to predict with accuracy how an individual will react to the disease but the average time from infection to needing treatment is approximately 10 years or so.
However, even in those that don't need treatment, its important to monitor the progression of the disease, hence the need for early detection. I've read your post and am on board with everyone else in saying its unlikely but not impossible that you've been infected. The odds are definitely in your favour that you've remained negative but you'll need to test as a test is the only way to rule out infection.
Anything else is pure speculation, WBC included.
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thank you so much 411... i am sorry if i am very paranoid regarding my symptoms and condition. maybe because i am dealing this all by myself away from home. also in my country, HIV is a very humiliating. more so, the medical treatment there is not good. as of now, i dont know if medicine are available. maybe all these situation greatly affect me. i hope you understand. thanks again.
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ann,
ann kindly delete my first two post in this topic. the two post that you move into this discussion. it has nothing to do with my trend here. pls. thnks a lot.
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Lance,
I deleted one of your posts, but the software does not allow me to delete the first one.
I don't do anything special to stay off meds. I'm just lucky, like many others who don't need meds for the first ten years or so.
You need to keep in mind that hiv is a fragile, difficult to transmit virus and more so from a woman to a man. Chances are good that you are worrying over nothing. You need to get that test done as soon as possible so you can move on with your life.
Ann
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ok, thank you ann for deleting my post.
i know i have not been tested for HIV and i will go for it when i return to my country this april. honesly, i am very depressed right now because of the symptoms i am experiencing. especially that i am alone here and my condition is getting worst everyday. i dont want to discuss it to my employer here coz it will ruin my job and maybe forced me to go back to my country. and sad to say in my country work is very hard to find. so right now, my faith in GOD and my family is the only thing that gave me strength in facing this HIV symptoms. also, this forum especially the stories of other survivor gave an inspiration in dealing with this.
thank you so much....
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hey, ann, kindly explain why HiV is difficult to transmit from female to male? is it proven?
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lance,
It's because the hiv has to be forced up inside the urethra where there are cells hiv can latch onto and infect. These cells are also present to some extent on the underside of the foreskin in men who have intact foreskins. (Hiv can't just infect any old cell, it can only infect very specific ones.)
The receptive partner in either anal or vaginal intercourse is at greater risk because there are more of the correct type of cells present inside the anus or vagina and the fluid carrying the virus is deposited directly into the area where the cells are. Hiv cannot move on its own, it must be placed in the area where the correct cells are.
Ann
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hey, experts, just want to know how to prevent loosing weight if your HIV+ person. thnks
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When your HIV+ is when you should worry about that. Don't put the cart before the horse.
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experts,
as i said my testing schedule is next month coz i am here abroad. access to medical experts here is very difficult especially if ur concern is about HIV. i said before that my possible exposure is 1yr and 8months. just want to know how long it will take to develop AIDS? the minimum. coz right now, my condition is geeting worst everyday. i hope you understand my condition. thanks a lot.
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hey, experts or anyone who has the knowledge,
what i said before is that i am going to have a HIV test in my country on april. but right know i am planning to have a test here in abroad using RAPID TEST. i repeat my possible exposure is 1 yr and 10 months ago.just want to know if there is a FACTOR AFFECTING RAPID TEST? for example, drinking, green tea or taking-up 1 table spoon of VCO before the test, or taking antibiotics for several days before taking RAPID TEST? thanks a lot. i hope i can got an answer coz i want you to know guys that this forum help me a lot here. THANKS
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lance,
None of those things will affect your rapid test. Your test will be conclusive.
Ann
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thanks ann for your reply,
i highly appreciate the support and knowledge this jforum has given me. thanks. i will try to post again when i confirmed my condition right now after the HIV Rapid Test. so if it is negative, i think i need to go for another test. or for other STD test like syphilis. i want to have a test for all kind of STD to make sure that i am free of it especially HIV and syphilis. so, i hope it will give me peace of mind.
hey, wait, just want to ask about this forum. is this for HIV/AIDS concern only? how about other STD like syphilis, can we get information and knowledge or we can consult in here also? i hope you dont mind to answer this. thanks a lot. GOD BLESS !!!
LANCE
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hey andy,
thanks your online, just want to ask if symptoms like bacterial sinusitis or any symptoms can affect RAPID TEST for HIV.
is RAPID TEST 100% accurate?
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Lance
The only issue that affects the results of a rapid test is testing too early before detectable amounts of antibodies may be present. A negative result at 13 weeks or longer means that you are considered HIV negative. It is a specific test that only reacts to HIV antibodies, so those examples that you provided would not affect the test accuracy.
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hello experts and member,
i went to the HIV testing site here in abroad. it is a RAPID TEST for HIV and after 15mins i got the result. according to them i am NEGATIVE. i am a little bit relieve coz i am experiencing a lot of symptoms of HIV and they say i am negative. maybe next week i will go for another HIV test just to make sure. it is ok coz next week there will be a free HIV test here. so i go for the second time just to make sure. maybe this symptoms is cause by other STD. syphilis or ghonorrea or chlamadia. i am sorry if i am paranoid on STD. i just want to make sure that i am free of all STD.
i still have 21 days here abroad before i go back to my country. and when i arrive, the first thing to do is to have a general check-up.
i want to thank you all for all the knowedge and information you all given me. for being patient in answering questions i imposed. thanks a lot. i wll post my 2nd HIV test result next week and also the cause of this symptoms. thanks a lot.....
ps. my lymphnode are stll swollen and i am experiencing body aches. muscle pain. any STD that cause?
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If you tested and the last unprotected sex you had was 8 months ago, then you don't need to retest. You are reliably negative. As for your symptoms, see a doctor, they are unrelated to HIV.
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experts,
i am sorry if i am always repeating this questions. just want to know the opinion of the experts and members. i am really worried. i was tested using a RAPID TEST last week and my result according to them is NEGATIVE. i am a little bit relieve but i haven`t been tested for other STD. ok, this is my question.... pls kindly response so that i can have a peace of mind.
if you have syphilis for about 2 yrs without any treatment, and you have symptoms, can this AFFECT THE RESULT OF HIV RAPID TEST???? kindly reply
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NO, it will not interfere with your results. You're negative. If you've had syphilis untreated for two years you have other serious issues to deal with.
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experts members,
thanks a lot. this forum really help me a lot give me streght while waiting my time to go back to my country. this lessen my worries and anxiety about my condition.
ann and andy, thank you so much... and to the members. i got 2 weeks left before going to my country...
experts, pls reply ann and andy. if you 1yr and 10months positive of syphilis, on what stage is it? is it in the secondary stage? what is the best and fastest cure for this STD? just worried and confused. pls tell your opinion about this. thank you so much
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lance,
If you have been infected with syphilis for a year and ten months, it would be in the secondary stage. The treatment is usually penicillin injections. The test for syphilis is a simple blood test - get tested, don't just buy antibiotics off the internet.
You have already tested reliably negative for hiv. You do not have hiv. Work with your doctor to get to the bottom of your problems - whatever is causing them is NOT hiv.
Ann
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ann,
thank you so much. i will go back to my country next week and i will consult a doctir fir my health problem. i will try to inform you what are the causes of this symptoms. ok. thanks again. god bless you all...
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hello experts,
i stilll have 1 week before i go back to my country. and i am looking forward to it coz i do really need a medical check-up because of my STD symptoms.
hey, ann said that if i had syphilis for 1 yr and 10 months it would be in secondary stage. just want to know if syphilis is curable. how long will it take to be cure if you have it for 2 years. i am really worried coz the symptoms i have is related to syphilis. and my last exposure is 1 yr and 10 months....i am afraid....
i hope someone will give me some information. thanks a lot. god bless you all
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Lance,
Syphilis is totally treatable and the treatment usually lasts a couple weeks or so.
Why don't you Google syphilis? There's plenty of information out there for the asking. This is an hiv website. You don't have hiv.
Ann
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ann
ok ann, thank you so much. i appreciated your quick reply. GOD BLESS