I THINK I got KS

[caribguy]

i am 99% sure i has KS, dark spots came up on face then body then penis now its ALL over my body, they started about over just 2-3 weeks ago, seen them on the soles of my feet, hands, near knees, dark spots looking very similiar to my birth marks, i don't even know which is which, they r speading very rapidly, new spots everyday, just got diarrhoea (SP) last night to now, wanna go get tested but diarrhoea (SP) is getting to me now, went 2 toilet 2 times between last nigh n this morning, belching every few minutes, they stink.........possible infection mid December or mid February when the condoms broke (cheap condom in dec., condom in feb was expired january 2k7 but being a dumb dumb i used it anyways), am leaning towards possible mid February infection still.......

am 22 year old st8 black male (living in the caribbean), 120lbs, 5 5, am poor, am worried that I'll die cuz i can't afford meds.........

apart from the KS n diarrhoea am depressed that i got HIV............

am also scared to tell my parents cuz I'm the only child between them n they may reject me...........

the KS is all over my face nose, unibrow, left n right side of face, 3 or so more spots between Monday n Tuesday, haven't looked at my face 2day, have used pepto bismol but still have diarrhoea (SP)

am planning to get tested 2day (HIV) n start treatment for the KS as soon as possible or else risk lose my job which pays VERY meagre n i don't have insurance........so there's no way i can pay thousands of dollars for meds, am surely gonna die within 2-3 years.........

now i buy GOOD condoms.............seems too late huh

an to think i was a virgin til mid December

i might also have mouth herpes...........my life is over.........

take care, unfortunately it seems i'll soon be joing u guys uhh............damn, damn, damn............

[Andy Velez]

That's all interesting sort of BUT.... Do you have a medical degree? If not I would suggest you are practicing unlicensed medicine on yourself which is a dangerous and ill-informed thing to do. You should be discussing your symptoms with your doctor instead of misdiagnosing them yourself.

Have you had unprotected intercourse? If you have, then you need to get tested at 13 weeks after the most recent unprotected incident.

If you haven't had unprotected intercourse then I wonder why you even think HIV is an issue for you.

Neither the presence nor the absence of symptoms will ever tell you anything accurately about your HIV status. Only an HIV test taken at the appropriate time will give you that answer reliably.

Please clarify regarding the above.

[caribguy]

sex drive is at 0, mostly im depressed cuz i know i got sumting, my penis looks VERY diff. from b4 i started having sex, seen couple KS spots on the head n shaft, b4 it wuz pink now it's getting darker...........

i think i have a week immune system y the KS is spreading so quickly.........keep me in your thoughts........am losing sleep, went o bed @ 3am, got up 8am, i cant sleep knowing that i have syntoms of HIV...........gosh I'm scared.......am mostly worried about my parents, them 1 son's gonna die b4 them...........as i said, am poor or should i say working poor, just got paid last night n 80% has gone to bills n possible medical consultantes

i never wanted kids but now i DEFINATELY cant because i cant afford "sperm washing" n the other thing they use to put in sperm into ah woman.......not even sure if this country has access to new affordable ARV

ANDY VELEZ: am basing my self diagnosis off of what i've read, i know the only way to be sure is to have the test which i am planning to do 2day if the diareeah pardon spelling) clears up but it doesn't look good.........

[Ann]

cari,

I'm 100% sure that you cannot diagnose KS, so stop with the playing doctor. Besides, hiv related KS doesn't come on within weeks of infection - it's something that might occur further down the road. Symptoms or even the lack of symptoms mean nothing when it comes to hiv infection anyway. ONLY testing will reveal your hiv status.

It's quite doubtful that you would have been infected because of a broken condom. Hiv is a fragile, difficult to transmit virus and more so from a woman to a man.

Go get that test done and expect a negative result. I am. A test now will be conclusive.

Ann

[caribguy]

i did read sumwhere that KS comes on later but i also read where HIV affects people differently....plus i may have a weak immune system.....am holding on to hope now.........

have been reading the threads here since last night hence 1 of the reasons i went to bed @ 3am.........have found some of them very helpful, my only regret is not looking here BEFORE i started having sex, as u said, only a HIV test is will make me know for sure but i'm very pessimistic right now.........

if i ever get my sex drive back, am staying away from intercourse FOREVER.......EDUCATION IS POWER..........

[caribguy]

oh and i just remembered, the 2 times the condoms bursts, i pulled out immediately after the feeling, IF that person had HIV, could the virus or whatever died when i pulled my penis out, i heard this sumwhere..........

also about 2 weeks after my 1st sexual counter, i got bumps on on top lip, they kept growing, i used whitefield ointment, rubbing alcohol, nothing worked until i used bactroban, growing stopped, little reduction BUT most of the bumps r still on my lip 2day not as much at the end of DEC. 06 though..........i think i did indeed caught sumthing......well am off to the doc for the spots i think are KS.........take care.might just go into town and get HIV test, am very scared and am frettin'

[ACinKC]

carib,

KS does not come on within weeks of an infection as you have been told.  However you may also ask your Dr. to check you for all STD's.  It is HIGHLY unlikely you have contracted HIV from a broken condom incident.  However other STD's including syphillis (which has some of the symptoms you describe) are much easier to catch.

Go to the doctor.  Its the only way to know for sure.

[Andy Velez]

OK, so with the issue having been a broken condom during a single incident of intercourse, the odds against transmission having occured are overwhelmingly in your favor. I expect you will test negative.

Stop feeling so sorry for yourself and go have a checkup with your doctor in addition to your HIV test.

Becoming sexually active is very exciting. It also frequently causes a lot of anxiety for all sorts of personal reasons.

I don't see yours as an HIV situation and I expect a negative test result will resolve that question for you.

Cheers,