POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: theguyfromhere on July 13, 2006, 02:49:16 pm
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Hello all.
I KNOW I am posting the same questions that everyone does, and have a similar story to hundreds of others that have been through here - but it never hurts to ask anyways.
So back in January of 2004 I had oral sex with a man of unknown status and let him ejaculate in my mouth, but I spit it out and washed my mouth out with Listerine. About a week later I got a mild cold and did not feel well but got over it fast. About half a year after the incident I developed a rash on my index fingers that was a very itchy rash that consisted of white bubbles that if popped puss would come out. That eventually healed and I got another rash on my elbows (both). The rash resembles eczema and is small red dots that itch on and off. If I continually use cortizone creams it will heal, but comes back upon stoppage of the cream. I also feel fatigued sometimes and like I dont have very much energy. Does the rash sound like ARS rash?
I am also aware that ALOT of this is probably in my head, as I woke up the NEXT day feeling extremely depressed and guilty.
Thanks for your input.
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Hi theguy,
First and foremost you have to get tested for HIV to know if you have it or not. I don't see anywhere in your posting that you have done that. Stop worrying and go get tested. Symptoms don't always point to HIV there are many other illnesses that have like symptoms.
Go get tested!
AppleBoy
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but does the rash i described sound like the ars rash? i was looking at some pictures under a google search for "hiv rash" but they all looked like pictures of extreme cases, mine do not look that bad. sadly enough, in these 2 years I have not been able to muster enough courage to get tested =(
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I takes courage to go get tested. But sitting around looking at stuff on the internet is not going to tell you if you have HIV or not. I am not a Dr so I am not going to give any opinion on if you ars rash or not. If you want to know for sure if you HIV or not go get tested and see a dr about your rash. I cannot give you anymore help. You are going to have to munster the courage and go get tested ask a friend to go with you or someone you are close to that can be there for you.
I wish you the best
AppleBoy
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can anyone else comment on these rashes? i know it typically occurs on the trunk of the body, but what does it typically look like (the average case)?
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Guy,
No. We will not comment on your rash - other than to say that ARS rash, if it happens at all, usually happens around two weeks after infection has taken place, not months after. You need to have it looked at in person by a doctor.
Hiv is only very rarely transmitted while giving a blowjob and it is unlikely that you have been infected this way. However, 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. In fact, a rash on the hands is sometimes secondary syphilis infection. And yes, syphilis is commonly transmitted orally, while hiv is RARELY transmitted orally.
Ann
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ARS symptoms are quite non-specific, and this site does not as a rule comment on them, much less use them as a diagnostic tool.
An ARS rash, from what I understand, primarily occurs on the trunk, not the limbs. However, other STDs are very easily transmitted through oral sex. Syphilis is one of them, and is very widespread at the moment. One of the symptoms of primary syphilis infection can be a rash on the palms. Just food for thought.
Instead of singling out HIV, I recommend that you get a full STD panel (including an HIv test).