POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: urinmymind on September 21, 2006, 02:37:24 pm
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I am 22
5 weeks ago I had unprotected anal sex with an 18 y/o gay boy of unknown HIV status. He came inside me.
A week later I experienced the following symptoms:
Sore throat
Weakness
Swollen under-armpit (left)
Exactly a week later the symptoms dissapered. I had no other symptoms.
A few days ago I had mild itching in various places.
I went to get tested and was told that I need to wait 3 months for the test to be accurate. The advisor told me that it was highly unlikely (becuase the boy was not of west african origin??) but said it was a good idea to get tested anyway.
I have told myself that I have HIV becuase I believe the chances are very high. I am now trying to get used to this idea. I have trouble sleeping because I keep dreaming about this stuff..
Can anyone else recall their initial experiences right after being infected?
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ur,
As symptoms or the lack of symptoms mean nothing when it comes to hiv infection, we do not discuss them in this forum. The only way to know your hiv status is through testing.
As the vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks, a test at that time will be a good indication of your true status. A negative six week result MUST be confirmed at the three month point.
You need to learn a lesson from this and STOP having unprotected intercourse. You are playing roulette with your health. 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.
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.
You DO need to test. Good luck and keep us posted.
Ann
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thanks ann. I am aware of the risks and of course it goes without saying that my actions were stupid.
Just because my partner was young does not make it any safer.
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why don't you go to do a PCR test, it will detect virus even only 3 or 4 days
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koko, please keep all your thought and questions in your own thread. PCR tests are NOT diagnostic test. PCR tests have a tendency of giving false positives.
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Tested negative. Could be false negative? Still scared.
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UR, it's not clear what you are reporting. Are you are telling us that you just tested negative for the incident which took place sometime in August? If that is so then you can celebrate your negative result. You are past the 13 week waiting period which the CDC recommends and that's a reliable test result.
You don't have to be concerned about a false negative. Occasionally there is a false positive, but not a false negative.
Congrats and celebrate by making sure that in the future if you're involved in intercourse, whomever is the insertive partner is always wearing a latex condom. No exceptions. Condoms do the job but the guy has to be wearing one to make that happen.
Cheers,
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Hello andy, thanks for your reply,,..
I am reporting that it has been 3 months since the incident.
WHat got me started thinking it might be HIV is the fact that I had a flu-like ilness without a blocked nose or caugh - just sore throat + swollen lymphs... a week after the incident and it lasted for a week.
I was living last 3 month in fear
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Symptoms or lack of symptoms is not a way to diagnos HIV. Your symptoms came on to early to be related to HIV. When was your last test? Your first post said your possible exposure was five weeks ago. I'm confused by your different posts.
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why don't you go to do a PCR test, it will detect virus even only 3 or 4 days
No, a PCR test should not be done. PCR tests are an unneeded expense, give false positives, and are only for prognostic purposes, NOT diagnostic purposes. The standard serology tests are the ones to use.
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Hello andy, thanks for your reply,,..
I am reporting that it has been 3 months since the incident.
WHat got me started thinking it might be HIV is the fact that I had a flu-like ilness without a blocked nose or caugh - just sore throat + swollen lymphs... a week after the incident and it lasted for a week.
I was living last 3 month in fear
I was confused at first by your post, but then I realized the first post was September 21, hence the two different times. Anyhow, you are HIV negative. The 3 month test is definitive. Your symptoms were unrelated to HIV. Sometimes a sore throat is just a sore throat. You were lucky this time. I hope this is a wakeup call to you and that you realize that if you continue to play Russian Roulette with your health you may not be so lucky in the future.