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Author Topic: Can HIV be tranmitted via a nitrous balloon?  (Read 3597 times)

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Offline Vanessa1013

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Can HIV be tranmitted via a nitrous balloon?
« on: October 26, 2010, 12:13:29 pm »
Hi Y'all,

Thank you in advance for your time...

I attended a "rave" like party on 8/21/10. At this party, nitrous balloons were being passed around. I took several hits...And now I am wondering if there is any chance I can get HIV from sharing a balloon.

I haven't had unprotected sex since 11/13/09.

I took an oral HIV test at Planned Parenthood on 9/30/10. It was negative.

I tested for other STD's, negative too. Pap smear was normal.

I have read that HIV is not transmitted via saliva, but I'm wondering if there is any chance of infection if I shared a balloon with someone that perhaps had an open mouth sore or bleeding gums, etc. Am I paranoid or is this a valid concern?

I developed a sore throat that doesn't seem to go away. I've read that's a symptom of newly HIV infected persons. I was diagnosed with acute sinusitis on 10/12/10.

I made myself quite sick for 11 days prior to testing. I didn't eat, sleep, suffered anxiety attacks, nightmares, etc. You would think that after I got my negative test results I would be relieved, on the contrary, I began questioning the accuracy of the oral rapid test. And now I find myself crying and feeling nervous all the time. Please help.

Best,
Vanessa1013
Engaged female living in Los Angeles, been jumping from site to site asking pro's and general public if HIV can be transmitted via a nitrous balloon. Sigh. Tested NEG on 9/30/10 but that's only 40 days after the "balloon game". Sigh again. Am I paranoid? My apologies if my ignorance is offensive or insensitive. Nonetheless, this experience has prompted me to educate myself on HIV/AIDS. This disease affects all of us! Praying for a cure. God Bless.

Offline RapidRod

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Re: Can HIV be tranmitted via a nitrous balloon?
« Reply #1 on: October 26, 2010, 12:51:57 pm »
No you cannot contract HIV in sharing a nitrous ballon.

Offline Andy Velez

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Re: Can HIV be tranmitted via a nitrous balloon?
« Reply #2 on: October 26, 2010, 02:16:58 pm »
HIV is a fragile virus. It is not passed via environmental surfaces such as utensils, dishes, food, doorknobs, toothbrushes or nitrous ballons or balloons of any sort.

You are worrying needlessly. Please read our lesson on Transmission. There's a link to it in the Welcome thread which opens this section.
Andy Velez

Offline Vanessa1013

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Re: Can HIV be tranmitted via a nitrous balloon?
« Reply #3 on: October 26, 2010, 08:11:53 pm »
Hola Teak aka Rapid Rod...Nice to bump into you AGAIN :-)

@ Andy...Thank you for the prompt reply.
Engaged female living in Los Angeles, been jumping from site to site asking pro's and general public if HIV can be transmitted via a nitrous balloon. Sigh. Tested NEG on 9/30/10 but that's only 40 days after the "balloon game". Sigh again. Am I paranoid? My apologies if my ignorance is offensive or insensitive. Nonetheless, this experience has prompted me to educate myself on HIV/AIDS. This disease affects all of us! Praying for a cure. God Bless.

Offline Andy Velez

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Re: Can HIV be tranmitted via a nitrous balloon?
« Reply #4 on: October 26, 2010, 08:29:42 pm »
You're welcome.
Andy Velez

Offline Vanessa1013

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Re: Can HIV be tranmitted via a nitrous balloon?
« Reply #5 on: October 26, 2010, 08:56:07 pm »
Ok, I read the HIV 101 tutorial...

It only speaks of sexual and the other forms of HIV transmission (breastfeeding, needle sharing, etc.)

However, I do wonder if there are other non-sexual ways to contract HIV...Like via a nitrous balloon!

Why isn't it possible? The tutorial speaks of transmission through moucous membranes and open sores...And that's exactly my concern! I worry that I might have shared a balloon with someone that has bleeding gums, and maybe I wasn't aware of a small cut on my lips.

So am I still being paranoid?

Engaged female living in Los Angeles, been jumping from site to site asking pro's and general public if HIV can be transmitted via a nitrous balloon. Sigh. Tested NEG on 9/30/10 but that's only 40 days after the "balloon game". Sigh again. Am I paranoid? My apologies if my ignorance is offensive or insensitive. Nonetheless, this experience has prompted me to educate myself on HIV/AIDS. This disease affects all of us! Praying for a cure. God Bless.

Offline RapidRod

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Re: Can HIV be tranmitted via a nitrous balloon?
« Reply #6 on: October 26, 2010, 09:05:22 pm »
Ok, I read the HIV 101 tutorial...

It only speaks of sexual and the other forms of HIV transmission (breastfeeding, needle sharing, etc.)

However, I do wonder if there are other non-sexual ways to contract HIV...Like via a nitrous balloon!

Why isn't it possible? The tutorial speaks of transmission through moucous membranes and open sores...And that's exactly my concern! I worry that I might have shared a balloon with someone that has bleeding gums, and maybe I wasn't aware of a small cut on my lips.

So am I still being paranoid?


You've had doctors tell you that you have never had a risk and to seek professional help.

   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.

Offline Vanessa1013

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Re: Can HIV be tranmitted via a nitrous balloon?
« Reply #7 on: October 26, 2010, 09:36:49 pm »
You've had doctors tell you that you have never had a risk and to seek professional help.

   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.

Rapid Rod aka Teak or whoever you are...FYI, yesterday I went to see a psychiatrist about my "unwarranted HIV fears" and guess what? Even she said that my concerns are not that irrational. She told me I have every reason to be concerned! So now you understand why I'm seeking answers??? My own psychiatrist says that HIV can be transmitted via saliva IF infective blood is present. So either all my Kaiser Permanente doctors or the doctors on medhelp and thebody are incompetent! Sigh.

So if you want to report me to the moderators, go ahead. I feel my concerns are valid and I won't apologize for it either.
Engaged female living in Los Angeles, been jumping from site to site asking pro's and general public if HIV can be transmitted via a nitrous balloon. Sigh. Tested NEG on 9/30/10 but that's only 40 days after the "balloon game". Sigh again. Am I paranoid? My apologies if my ignorance is offensive or insensitive. Nonetheless, this experience has prompted me to educate myself on HIV/AIDS. This disease affects all of us! Praying for a cure. God Bless.

Offline David Evans

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Re: Can HIV be tranmitted via a nitrous balloon?
« Reply #8 on: October 27, 2010, 01:08:28 am »
Vanessa,

Though you may not have liked Andy and Rod's answers, they are, in fact valid. The event you bring up, sharing a nitrous balloon, is not a relavent risk for HIV transmission. You state that you have read the transmission 101 material, and you have now received Andy's reply. If you are not convinced, then you will have to wait on further test results. Nothing that any of us can say at this point is going to relieve your concerns. If you continue to have concerns you should pursue help for these outside of the Forums.

David
Moderator

Offline Vanessa1013

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Re: Can HIV be tranmitted via a nitrous balloon?
« Reply #9 on: October 27, 2010, 01:43:14 am »
Vanessa,

Though you may not have liked Andy and Rod's answers, they are, in fact valid. The event you bring up, sharing a nitrous balloon, is not a relavent risk for HIV transmission. You state that you have read the transmission 101 material, and you have now received Andy's reply. If you are not convinced, then you will have to wait on further test results. Nothing that any of us can say at this point is going to relieve your concerns. If you continue to have concerns you should pursue help for these outside of the Forums.

David
Moderator


Hi David,

Thank you for the prompt and forward reply...

I had a physical on 10/22/10. I had blood work done, including an HIV test. "No news is good news" I think that's the way it works at Kaiser Permanente, so I'm trying not to react like a mad woman whenever my cell phone rings. Sigh.

I also mentioned yesterday's appointment with my psychiatrist. She thinks my concerns are valid! So either her & I both need help AND/OR a big time dose of HIV transmission reality.

I understand that my concerns seem rather ridiculous to those who are well educated on HIV transmission, but in my mind I really do think there is a possibility even if it's "theoretical".

I want to make it very clear that my intentions are not to be offensive or insensitive to those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS.

I have made a conscious effort to seek help for my "unwarranted fears" but it's sort of hard to get over it when my own psychiatrist tells me that my concerns are valid. Even my primary care physician told me that the virus IS transmitted via saliva! I was so shocked! I told him that the CDC specifically states that HIV cannot be transmitted via tears, saliva, and sweat...You wanna know what he responded? "Who are you going to trust? The internet or your doctor?" I was totally beside myself especially since I've spent so much time researching HIV. Extremely contradicting and confusing!

Engaged female living in Los Angeles, been jumping from site to site asking pro's and general public if HIV can be transmitted via a nitrous balloon. Sigh. Tested NEG on 9/30/10 but that's only 40 days after the "balloon game". Sigh again. Am I paranoid? My apologies if my ignorance is offensive or insensitive. Nonetheless, this experience has prompted me to educate myself on HIV/AIDS. This disease affects all of us! Praying for a cure. God Bless.

Offline Andy Velez

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Re: Can HIV be tranmitted via a nitrous balloon?
« Reply #10 on: October 27, 2010, 07:56:16 am »
If you continue to seek other opinions on the internet or directly from whomever to further confuse and alarm yourself, believe me you are going to find them.

We've given you our evaluation of your concern and that it was a non-risk. Period.

There's nothing we can add to that. You are planning to get tested and hopefully your inevitable negative result will resolve the issue for you. I can also tell you that we're not going to get into a back and forth about this concern which we see as a non-risk.

Wait your time out, get tested and collect what we expect to be a negative result based on what you have reported. 
Andy Velez

 


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