Worried, and need some advise

[happy_camper]

Dear Ann, Andy, Rod, and others,

Thank you for all of your work on this site. I have learned alot. Despite your lessons however, I am very worried over a recent occurance. I am hoping that some of you could E-slap some sense into me.

My situation probably seems very typical. About 1 month ago, I went to a massage parlor, and received oral and vaginal sex. Everything was protected, and lasted about 5 to 10 minutes. I am pretty sure that it was a good latex condom, as it looked similar to what I have used in the past. However, I did not see the box that it came in. When the girl returned to the room after going to get the condom, it was already out of its packaging. It did not worry me at the time; I just figured they didn't want condom wrappers laying around, in case any unwelcomed visitors showed up. I looked at the condom after, and it was not broken. Also, the girl said that she was safe when I asked her. She was very nice and sincere about it.

A couple of weeks after this encounter, I developed a rash on my legs, arms, and torso. I was not concerned at first, but a few days into the rash, I developed a single, small canker sore in my mouth, behind my lower teeth. I'm 32 and have never had a canker sore before. When I was looking into what it was, I found some scholarly articles that said canker sore, when combined with other symptoms, is strongly suggestive of primary HIV infection. This news hit me like a knife in the stomach. Afther this, other "symptoms," such as night sweats, sore throat, have been hitting me one by one. I've had every symptom except fever and weight loss.

I know I wore a condom, but I'm having a lot of worries about it, such as: what if the girl was angry at the world, and poked holes in it?   What if the condom was defective?... etc, etc... needless to say, I am freaking out.

Based on the situation I've described, should I be worried about this?  Do I need testing, or should I try to put this behind me? I am not very sexually active. In fact, this is my first such experience in nearly 2 years, and I was tested about 6 months ago as part of a bone marrow donor screening (I will not be doing that any time soon after this experience).

Thank you so much for your help. Sorry for the long message.

[RapidRod]

She wouldn't poke holes in it. She is more worried about you infecting her, that's how the girl makes her money. If she catches anything then she out of work. So you can get that thought out of your head. She is not going to try to infect you or anyone else. By the way, we don't do "what ifs" on this forum.

[Andy Velez]

Happy, your mind is working way overtime and all to no good purpose here. There's absolutely no sound basis to imagine your masseur is looking to infect customers. That's no way to run a business.

No, I'd guess this is much more about some feelings you had about the incident overall and perhaps about using the services of a professional. Maybe you have sorting out to do about that issue.

Whether that is so or not there's absolutely nothing in this situation to make me think HIV is an issue. If you have symptoms that are continuing to concern you then discuss them with your doctor. This is not about HIV, no how no way.