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Author Topic: UK Question: If you don't disclose and the condom breaks?  (Read 3949 times)

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Offline blueballs

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UK Question: If you don't disclose and the condom breaks?
« on: January 25, 2013, 04:42:22 pm »
Hi guys,

I'm wondering do your HIV meds help with swollen lymph nodes? I've had swollen lymph nodes since November and it's really doing me in now. My doc has told me that I have to wait until I get a positive diagnosis and even if I get my diagnosis there will not be any meds prescribed unless my CD4 count is low enough.

What meds would you recommend that has the least side effects and will help with the swollen lymph nodes? Since I had my initial sero conversion symptoms I've felt somewhat run down. I still have a mild rash but it's cleared up a lot since December. All other symptoms are gone now, it's just the damn lymph nodes, they hurt like hell!

I have read about the French trial that says starting out on ARV's can make people become "elite controllers", this is another reason why I want to get straight into the meds, even if my CD4 count is still very high.

I hope you guys don't feel offended that I'm posting before my diagnosis, it's just I live in an area where there are no HIV specialists so I'd love to get some expert opinions as I know my doctor will be working on years out of date advice.

I respectfully ask that this does not become a you are not HIV+ thread, I just want to talk about the meds, thanks.
« Last Edit: January 25, 2013, 04:46:57 pm by blueballs »

Offline blueballs

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UK Question: If you don't disclose and the condom breaks?
« Reply #1 on: January 25, 2013, 05:56:41 pm »
What would happen if you was HIV+ and you didn't disclose, lets say the condom breaks and the other person catches HIV, highly unlikely scenario but still.

I am a straight male who is going to have to face a life of being HIV+. I like to be positive and upbeat about things in life and have convinced myself that everything will be ok because I can just take ARV's and use condoms and not tell any partners.

But at the same time, I do not want to break the law and end up in prison.

Offline newt

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Re: Starting out.
« Reply #2 on: January 25, 2013, 06:01:42 pm »
Quote
My doc has told me that I have to wait until I get a positive diagnosis

Yes you do.

After then when to start treatment depends on your view and your doc's and what your country's guidelines permit, and perhaps financing. Starting at a CD4 count of around 350 is pretty much a universal recommendation these days. Above that level it depends on your and your doc's view of the science, which is unsettled pro/con wise.

If you do have HIV, treatment tends to help with swollen lymph nodes, but only if you have HIV.

- matt
"The object is to be a well patient, not a good patient"

Offline blueballs

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Re: Starting out.
« Reply #3 on: January 25, 2013, 06:09:25 pm »
Thanks for the reply, sure is a relief to hear the meds help.

I will look at a poz diagnosis the same way a diabetic would look at his condition. Yes you have HIV but it's a treatable condition, not a death sentance. CD4 count aside my primary reason for wanting to go on meds is so that I can reduce the risk of passing the virus onto others as much as possible.

From a moral stance I am currently abstaining from sex until a) I get a poz diagnosis and b) I have an undetectable viral load.
« Last Edit: January 25, 2013, 06:12:33 pm by blueballs »

Offline jkinatl2

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Re: UK Question: If you don't disclose and the condom breaks?
« Reply #4 on: January 25, 2013, 06:21:44 pm »
as someone who has not been confirmed to have HIV, I have requested that your posts on forums specifically designed for HIV positive people only to be moved, hopefully here if they are relevant.

What I am hearing is that you were with someone sexually and the condom broke? As this part of the forum is for risk assessment, a few more details would certainly help.

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

-Kimberly Page-Shafer, PhD, MPH

Welcome Thread

Offline jkinatl2

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Re: Starting out.
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2013, 06:24:40 pm »
Blueballs, as someone who has not been confirmed to be HIV positive you should not be posting in this part of the forum. I have alerted the moderators to have this and your other posts moved to AM I INFECTED. That forum, the "Off Topics" forum, and the "Somebody I Care About Has HIV" forum are open to HIV negative as well as positive people.

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

-Kimberly Page-Shafer, PhD, MPH

Welcome Thread

Offline blueballs

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Re: Starting out.
« Reply #6 on: January 25, 2013, 06:36:39 pm »
ok fair enough, I don't plan on getting my next test until end of February though.

Should I have the same DUO 4th gen test or is there something different I should ask for, I heard something about an RNA test.

Offline jkinatl2

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Re: Starting out.
« Reply #7 on: January 25, 2013, 06:45:42 pm »
ok fair enough, I don't plan on getting my next test until end of February though.

Should I have the same DUO 4th gen test or is there something different I should ask for, I heard something about an RNA test.

Until one of the remaining moderators gets to this thread and moves/removes it, could you please stick to your thread in AM I INFECTED?

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

-Kimberly Page-Shafer, PhD, MPH

Welcome Thread

Offline blueballs

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Re: Starting out.
« Reply #8 on: January 25, 2013, 06:56:57 pm »
It won't let me reply to my thread in am i infected, the reply and quote buttons have disappeared but I'm able to reply to my other threads.

Not sure what's happeneing, I did try to answer you in the other thread.

Offline jkinatl2

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Re: Starting out.
« Reply #9 on: January 25, 2013, 07:17:52 pm »
It won't let me reply to my thread in am i infected, the reply and quote buttons have disappeared but I'm able to reply to my other threads.

Not sure what's happeneing, I did try to answer you in the other thread.

Ah. You seem to have reached the three post limit on that forum. I did not realize it counted posts elsewhere toward those posts. Just sit tight. A moderator with magic powers will be here eventually :)

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

-Kimberly Page-Shafer, PhD, MPH

Welcome Thread

Offline Ann

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    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
Re: UK Question: If you don't disclose and the condom breaks?
« Reply #10 on: January 26, 2013, 03:45:32 am »
Blue,

It's a shame you didn't bother to read our rules here before you started posting in forums where you're not permitted to post and used up your three free Am I Infected forum posts.

Unless you had unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse, then you're most likely worrying over nothing. Hiv isn't an easy virus to transmit and it's more difficult to transmit to the insertive partner. As you say you're straight, I feel it's safe to assume you haven't been anally penetrated.

You say this incident happened in November, so you should go to your nearest GUM clinic and get an antibody test now. You don't need RNA testing at this point and you most likely wouldn't be offered one on the NHS anyway. They are not stand-alone diagnostic tests.

You don't need to ask for any specific type of antibody test other than an hiv test. GUM clinics don't let you pick and choose - they give you the type of test they have available. The generation of test doesn't matter at this point in your window period anyway.

The vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks, with the average time to seroconversion being only 22 days.

A six week (or more) negative is highly unlikely to change, but must be confirmed at the three month point.

Symptoms, or even the lack of symptoms, will NEVER tell you a single thing about your hiv status. ONLY testing at the appropriate time will. Just go test and get it over with. Don't wait around for February.

Ann
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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

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

 


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