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Author Topic: real risk, really freaked out  (Read 6213 times)

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Offline foolish812

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real risk, really freaked out
« on: January 11, 2007, 12:36:22 pm »
I had unprotected sex with a prostitute about 3-1/2 weeks ago.
I lasted 30 seconds before I came.  When I walked her out to her car she looked kind of sick.
I have genital herpes, but did not have any open sores at the time.

4 days after exposure I started having a small herpes outbreak that hasn't fully subsided yet.
I have had dry skin on my feet.  I have pimple-looking things that don't pop and look nasty on my upper inner thighs.  I have also a tingling burning sensation on the back of my legs and accross my back and the backs of my arms.
 More recently -- which is when I actually woke up and started freaking out about this -- I have felt pain in the back of my head, my elbows, and the left side of my jaw. 
Today I noticed a slight swelling of the lymph nodes above left elbow and on the right side of the lower back part of my neck. 
So far -- and I hope to god it stays this way -- I haven't had any fever or macopapular rash.

I was tested today, 23 days after the possible exposure, and it came back negative.  I have heard that 25 days is the average for antibodies to show up, but doubt this strongly.
Should I shell out $400 for a P24 test?

Offline Ann

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Re: real risk, really freaked out
« Reply #1 on: January 11, 2007, 01:35:53 pm »
foolish,

No, it's too late for a p24 test. Read through the Welcome Thread and follow the link to the Testing Lesson so you can understand more about the different tests.

Actually, the average time to seroconversion is 22 days. The vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks, but a six week negative MUST be confirmed at the three month point. Your 23 day negative is very encouraging and I do not expect it to change.

You need to also test for all the other STIs as well - most of which you can test for now. Syphilis shares a three month window period with hiv. The other STIs are MUCH more easily transmitted, so get checked out.

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.

Use condoms and avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple.

Ann


Condoms are a girl's best friend

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"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

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Offline foolish812

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Re: real risk, really freaked out
« Reply #2 on: January 11, 2007, 01:52:14 pm »
Ann, thank you for your response, I really appreciate the help as I am sure everybody else does as well. 

I will never have sex without a condom again unless I am married and trying to conceive.  This anxiety I have been experiencing recently has been debilitating.  I can't sit through class without having to get up and go to the bathroom to check myself out.  Xanax would probably help, although I don't believe in meds.

I have just one more question, and then I promise not to plague you with incessant irrational dissonance...
Is there any sort of general progression of symptoms leading up to ARS/Seroconversion Syndrome, or do they typically all come at once?

Thanks again for your help.

Offline foolish812

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Re: real risk, really freaked out
« Reply #3 on: January 11, 2007, 07:26:46 pm »
Another question here for anyone who might want to answer it.
What are the chances of getting HIV from unprotected sex if you have herpes?

Offline RapidRod

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Re: real risk, really freaked out
« Reply #4 on: January 11, 2007, 07:45:50 pm »
Five times greater than not having Herpes.
« Last Edit: January 11, 2007, 08:40:49 pm by RapidRod »

Offline foolish812

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Re: real risk, really freaked out
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2007, 08:09:43 pm »
So that's 1 in 400 or something?

sorry about the infarction btw.

Offline foolish812

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Re: real risk, really freaked out
« Reply #6 on: January 12, 2007, 06:27:14 pm »
Ok, I have not slept well for a long time, due to some personal stress.  But everytime I go to sleep now I'll sleep for a couple of hours.  I'll have a good dream until something about HIV pops up into it, which is when I wake up completely morbid and thinking about death, with a dry throat. 
Still no fever, glands, or rashes though.  The herps have been resolving themselves as well.  My tongue is as white as any heavy smoker's.

Offline foolish812

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Re: real risk, really freaked out
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2007, 09:30:26 am »
4 weeks negative with Oraquick Advance.  Very nice.  I'll go back in 2 more weeks and then I'm done tormenting myself. 


Offline foolish812

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Re: real risk, really freaked out
« Reply #8 on: January 18, 2007, 11:18:47 am »
O.K., I have been having outbreaks for about 3 weeks now, but am able to write that off to horrible stress, alcoholism, a pack a day smoking habit, terrible eating habits, and not sleeping more than 3 hours a night for a month.

Then I start getting some strange psoriasis in my knuckles, which is making me want to die from fear.  I am shaking like a leaf, thinking, "what if my immune system was shot in the first place... I'm going to go fast".

So I decided to call the woman with whom I had very brief intercourse.  She was very kind and understanding about it.  She told me that she is not an IVDU, and that the only two people with whom she has had unprotected sex in the last year are myself and her boyfriend. 

I found this reassuring until she said that her boyfriend has muscular dystrophy, which has been sharply declining recently.  She also told me that he was an old flame of hers from 13 years ago, a relationship that had ended badly.  So now I am shaking again, and poring over every mark, cut, and pock on my body.
My mind is shot.

Offline ACinKC

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Re: real risk, really freaked out
« Reply #9 on: January 18, 2007, 11:23:08 am »
This is appalling!  WHAT does the fact that her BF has muscular dystrophy have ANYTHING to do with you?  You cant catch it by having sex thats for sure!

Youre neg. move on.
LIFE is not a race to the grave with the intention of arriving safely
in a pretty and well-preserved body, but, rather to skid in broadside,
thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming--WOW! WHAT A
RIDE!!!

Offline Andy Velez

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Re: real risk, really freaked out
« Reply #10 on: January 18, 2007, 04:29:15 pm »
At this point you seem ready to grasp at any straw which will feed your worst fantasies.

Let's get back to the basics in relation to HIV science. HIV is not an easy virus to transmit. It is significantly more difficult to transmit from female to male. You had a single and brief exposure through unprotected intercourse. Even allowing for you're having herpes, the odds remain overwhelmingly in your favor that you will test negative.

But you do need to learn from this experience. Low risk is not the same as no risk, so from here on in as you have yourself noted, you must wear a condom everytime you have intercourse. No exceptions no matter what you think you know about your partner's history or how great she looks or anything else. That's all irrelevant and a condom is a must. Period.

You've got some waiting time until you get tested. A negative a 6 weeks is more than encouraging but you should still re-test at 13 weeks to confirm what I expect will be a negative at 6 weeks.

Instead of torturing yourself with whats ifs and useless speculation, how about re-focusing your energies and getting productively busy in your life. Doing that will make the waiting time pass more quickly than you may believe at this moment.

I expect you to come out of this ok. Get on with your life in the meantime. No kidding.
Andy Velez

Offline foolish812

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Re: real risk, really freaked out
« Reply #11 on: January 18, 2007, 05:47:10 pm »
I need a lot of sleep.  And condoms.

Offline md

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Re: real risk, really freaked out
« Reply #12 on: January 18, 2007, 08:56:53 pm »
So I decided to call the woman with whom I had very brief intercourse.  She was very kind and understanding about it.  She told me that she is not an IVDU, and that the only two people with whom she has had unprotected sex in the last year are myself and her boyfriend. 

When you called her did you have the courtesy to tell her that you had genital herpes and might have infected her with it?

 


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