POZ Community Forums

HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: Sprite1 on October 07, 2007, 10:16:57 am

Title: Vaginal Insertion with Brothel worker + symptoms
Post by: Sprite1 on October 07, 2007, 10:16:57 am
I had an exposure ten weeks ago - some possible vaginal insertion (she denied it, I am convinced I was in) without protection with a girl in a brothel; not to orgasm. I've had every symptom in the book apart from mouth ulcers and KS, and while you can put most of them down to stress/anxiety/flu the two that still frighten me are the severe aches/pains in my arms and legs I had between about ten days and six weeks after (much worse than the mild aches I have with my cold now) and a proliferation of new moles on my arms - there's a few on my torso and legs too. Most are only small but it's frightened me how many have cropped up. I believe a suppressed immune system can give rise to new melanomas, benign and malignant... while I assume this is rare, can this be due to HIV infection? I have very fair skin, and have always had a few moles, but never this many.

I am due for a final test at the 13 week mark, and I have had negative 3 1/2 week and 6 week tests. These were only antibody tests, however, as that is all I am able to get.

Is there any point in having another test in the next week or so while I wait for the 13 weeks? Can the fact that I have a cold interfere with the antibody test?
Title: Re: Vaginal Insertion with Brothel worker + symptoms
Post by: Ann on October 07, 2007, 10:25:11 am
Sprite,

You're more likely to find a winning lottery ticket worth millions lying in the gutter than you are to go on to test positive after your six week test. After all, you are basically dealing with a hypothetical situation anyway.

There's no point in you testing again before your three month window period is over. I'm fully expecting a confirmation of your previous negative results and so should you.

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 sexually transmitted infections together. To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with an STI. Sex with a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

Have a look through all three 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 for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!

Ann
Title: Re: Vaginal Insertion with Brothel worker + symptoms
Post by: Sprite1 on October 07, 2007, 12:33:26 pm
Thank you, however I need someone to give me some information about moles cropping up after infection because I'm going out of my mind with worry. I know statistically it's 1 in a 1000 or whatever, but with all the symptoms I've got, I don't understand how I can't be that 1. So does HIV infection increase moles?
Title: Re: Vaginal Insertion with Brothel worker + symptoms
Post by: Andy Velez on October 07, 2007, 01:15:02 pm
Sprite, you're unwisely practicing medicine on yourself without a license and misinterpreting everything, including your "moles" through an HIV jitters mindset.

Moles are absolutely not in any way an HIV-specific occurence. You need to get yourself to a dermatologist and have them looked at.

Looking for statistics to quantify your risk is a very unwise road to get on. All that will do is feed your uncertainties without giving you any conclusive answer. It's not even certain that you had an actual risk although you are insistent you had a very brief unprotected insertive moment. OK. So get tested at 13 weeks just to ease your mind and collect the inevitable negative result that both Ann and I expect you will collect.


Title: Re: Vaginal Insertion with Brothel worker + symptoms
Post by: Ann on October 07, 2007, 01:35:33 pm
Sprite,

Moles are generally an age thing. You've probably been experiencing an increase that you never noticed until you started looking at your body through the lens of hiv. If you're concerned about the moles, show them to your GP. They certainly are not hiv related.

Ann
Title: Re: Vaginal Insertion with Brothel worker + symptoms
Post by: Sprite1 on October 08, 2007, 01:40:26 pm
Got any odds for insertive vaginal risk, followed by every symptom in the book? If I felt fine, I'd not worry, have a test anyway, move on. But I've been feeling like shit for over ten weeks now. All in the ARS timescale.
Title: Re: Vaginal Insertion with Brothel worker + symptoms
Post by: Andy Velez on October 08, 2007, 04:48:39 pm
You're still not listening. Neither the presence nor the absence of symptoms will ever tell you anything accurate about your HIV status. When there has been a genuine risk, only a test result at 13 weeks will give a conclusive answer. And ARS doesn't last for an extended period of time, but rather for a week or two. Which only further tells me that what you're experiencing has nothing to do with HIV.