Hoping Im Not Infected

[GMcBridde]

I did something extremely stupid.  I had unprotected sex with a woman from a bar at the end of August.  I don't know if she's a pro cuz it wasn't that kind of interaction but she is there quite often and seems to be well-known.  It was primarily  supposed to be just oral sex but in the heat of it all,   I eventually penetrated her for a about a minute before giving up.   I came home, urinated and washed my penis and covered it with alcohol.

Two days later,  I noticed a sliver of milky discharge that appeared in the crevice of my penis and it made my penis head sticky.   I thought it was cum since I masturbate a lot but it felt different.   I didn't want to wait to go to the clinic so I went to the ER in the middle of the night and they treated me for gonnorhea.  The doctor and nurse said it wasn't in my urine but definitely in my urethra.   A few days later, I had soft runny stools that lasted four days,  however,   diarrhea is a common thing with me (at least once or twice a month for a couple days) and I already had diarrhea the day before I had sex with her.   Then a week later,  I started to feel flush in my face though whenever I took my temperature,  it never got higher than 98.4 and would go lower within minutes.  Usually though it's normal which for me is 96.9 - 97.5 sometimes lower.  This went on for a few weeks.   I can't blame it on the heat because this has been one of the mildest Augusts in our area in years.   The back of my tongue was painful for about two days for the first week though I couldn't see sores.   Then my tonsils seemed to enlarge and I even had trouble swallowing.   And the glands in my neck became a little swollen.  Im not sure how swollen they usually get during hiv infection but these were a little bigger than kidney bean size at times but usually go back down.   No gland enlargement anywhere else.   No coughing.  I don't feel fatigued.   No night sweats.  No mouth blisters.  No weight loss except from exercise and dieting.   I was surprised the symptoms I did have happened so quick. 

I bought one of those Oraquick kits yesterday but it says not to use it until after 3 months which is about the end of November.  I had my pcp check my tonsils and she didn't see anything but red irritation and she took my blood yesterday to test for hiv but im not even sure if enough time time has passed to detect it by now.   I'm very worried.   I didn't think I would find myself in this position but my own stupidity and horniness brought me to this.  I hadn't had sexual intercourse for almost two years maybe more because I was having trouble getting and holding erections.  Then over the last year, I lost some weight and some of my libido and blood flow came back.  I know I put myself at high risk.   I'm praying and crossing my fingers that I dont have HIV.  It's causing me a lot of worry right now.

Oh, and I also got a flu shot recently so Im hoping some of it is residual side effects from that.

[Jeff G]

You had a risk for HIV and will need to test . You can do so at 6 weeks past the exposure and again at 3 months to confirm the results .

You cant go by a list of symptoms that are in no way specific to an HIV infection and guess if its HIV . The only way to know is to test at the appropriate time . This is why were do not discuss symptoms . Best of luck . 

[GMcBridde]

Wheeewww!!  Dodged one bullet.  I just had a test at 7th week.  Negative.  I was so glad to hear that.  I've been freaking out for weeks.  Prayer really does work.   OK.  But my tonsils are still kind of choking me and I've had recurrent irritation in the throat the past few days.  I know I still have to test again in a few months and Im keeping my fingers crossed and saying a prayer for others not so lucky.   Im wondering if my body is maybe still reacting to the dose of clap I had before that's already been eradicated.  Maybe my body's security filter is stuck in the "on" position.  Or maybe there's something else ailing me. 

[Jeff G]

That's great news . Your 7 week test is highly unlikely to change .

The average time to seroconversion is 22 days. Most who are infected will test positive by 6 weeks. For various reasons a small number will take longer and that is why we follow the CDC recommendation to test at 3 months for a conclusive negative result.