POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: DontKnowWhatToDo on February 13, 2007, 02:44:23 pm
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First Off, Please don't judge me. I've made some mistakes in my life and certainly have told some lies. And I hope you will read my entire story. (Some may have seen it on other boards). I would appreciat your opinions.
In mid-December, after a final exam, I went out to drink with some classmates. Didn't get drunk, got home and felt I needed to relieve some stress. I went to a Chinese brotherl (NYC) that I saw and ad for on television (late night sex channel). Well I went there around 4pm and did my thing (not proud of it). I had protected sex with a older chinese woman. Vaginal and Oral was protected. However, I had an open-cut on my penis AND THE CONDOM DID NOT cover this cut. Her vaginal fluids definitely got into the cut. I also fingered her for a second and I also had a cut on my finger.
Anyway, I went home after I was done and felt terrible about what I had done. The next morning, I woke up and felt extremely tired and ill. I managed to get out of bed but few hours later came back and vegged out all day. The day after that it was the same terrible feeling, maybe worse. I couldn't move. Well I managed to get to the library where I needed to study for an exam. But that wasn't happening. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I went to the ER and tolf a fib. I couldn't face up to the fact that I had done an illegal act of sleeping with a prostitute. I told them something else. They offered me Post-Exposure Prophylaxis for a month. I started taking the PEP meds approx. 48 hours after possible exposure.
I felt terrible for the next month. Excessive diarrhea, fatigue beyond belief and just all-around bad. I'm thinking that was due to the severe side-effects of the PEP medication. Well when I was done with PEP on the 14th of January I thought I'd feel much better. And for a day or two I did. However, sometime later (maybe 1 or 2 days) I started getting violent diarrhea, sore throat, red bumps and white film on the back of my tongue (it's never been there before and the red bumps are huge). There is something wrong with my throat/mouth, it just looks distgusting and feels weird however I've been told that it's not thrush. I've tested negative at the one-month mark (but people say PEP delays seroconversion).
I don't know what to do. I'm bugging out and I'm feeling all of the symptoms. Any opinions/thought would be most encouraging.
Thank You in Advance. :'(
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You didn't have a risk. Symptoms if you have them at all don't come on that quick. Your problem is in dealing with you own guilt, not HIV.
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#1. Great picture
#2. Thanks for the quick reply
#3. What makes you think I had no risk. Would have been a high-risk if she was definitely HIV+?
#4. I thought vaginal secretions on a open cut (the fluid got into the open cut while I was inside of her) was very high risk and near 100% of possible expsoure?
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The risk wouldn't have changed even if she was HIV+. You didn't have bleeding cut on your penis, so it wasn't open.
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Oh I didn't know active bleeding was a requisite. Is it because the vaginal fluid needs to travel into the bloodstream? Just curious since I don't know too much about the disease. If so, how come unprotected vaginal is high-risk?
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Tears in the mucus membrane inside the urethra from having sex and it's not exposed to air. HIV can not live outside the body of it's host.
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I concur with Rod on this one. I'd like to add that transmission from female to male is very difficult anyway as the virus is generally concentrated in the cervical mucus.
You did not have a risk of HIV infection on this one. Keep using condoms and you will be fine. Congrats on using them this time just keep doing it.
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Sorry, lost the password to my name so i had to create another one.
I wish I could believe you guys, and everyone else says the same thing. But is there any explanation for my violent diarrhea, horrible sore throat and huge scary bumps on my tongue?
I really am freaking out. Hope you are right!!
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It's not up to us to make you believe. You came for a risk assessment and you received it. Now you can take it or live it. You can go test in 13 weeks and collect your negative result if that is what you need to do. Other than that, it's the end of this discussion.
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Thanks for the response Rapid. I'm going to make an appointment with my Infectious Disease Doctor so he can tell me why I'm I have diarrhea, sore throat, etc. Hopefully he can find something or provide me with some closure.
Thanks
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Simply because you haven't gotten an explanation for your various symptoms doesn't by default mean the issue is HIV.
Because in your cause it isn't HIV. As you have been correctly told by both Rod and AC, you weren't at risk during this recent incident. Even IF the woman was HIV+, the condom provided you with appropriate protection. The secretions your penis would have come into contact would not have been from the cervical area.
It's always a red flag to me when someone has casual and impulsive sex where some drinking is involved. You mention that you weren't drunk. Nevertheless I'll just say that drinking and impulsive sex is a potentially dangerous combination which can affect your ability to follow safer sex guidelines and specifically to use a condom for intercourse. Avoid that in the future.
I wouldn't have considered PEP necessary in relation to this incident, but it's done now. You have to wait until 13 weeks after the completion of the PEP treatment and then you will collect what I certainly expect will be a negative test result.
Your doctor needs to find out what is going on in relation to your symptoms. Sounds to me like stress is certainly playing a part as well as perhaps a residual reaction to the powerful PEP meds.
Cheers,
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Thanks Mr. Velez, That did make me feel better. Quick question though, and this may sound extremely dumb but where exactly is the cervical area?
Thanks!!
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(http://www.aecom.yu.edu/cancer/outreach/images/cervix%20pinkbetter.jpg) Not a stupid question at all.
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Awesome, thank you. For a second I got a flashback to health class about two decades ago. So does that mean in order for a man to contract HIV through vaginal sex, the tip of the penis has to reach all the way to the cervix?
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After talking to some professionals and people on this board, I've come to the conclusion (without testing, but I will when in 2-monts) that I do not have HIV. Now I've been looking for an explanation to why my body is doing weird things. One weird thing is I have large bumps on the back of my tongue and more whitish film that usual. After searching the internet, I found out it's circumvallate papillae. I dont really know what that is however, it looks EXACTLY like this (it's pretty gross): http://www.doctorspiller.com/circumvallate_papillae.htm
Can someone tell me if that is normal?
Thanks
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Keep all your questions or thoughts in your orginal thread. Do not keep starting new threads.
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Don't,
I've merged your new thread into your original thread - where you should post all your additional thoughts or questions. It helps us to help you when you keep all your additional thoughts or questions in one thread.
If you need help finding your thread when you come here, click on the "Show own posts" link under your name in the left-hand column of any forum page.
Please also read through the Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0) so you can familiarize yourself with our Forum Posting Guidelines. Thank you for your cooperation.
You CANNOT diagnose yourself by looking at photos on the internet. If your tongue worries you, so see your doctor or dentist. It has nothing to do with hiv. You didn't have a risk.
Ann
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That may sound stupid but...now that I've confirmed from multiple people (although still MUST test!!) that I didn't have a risk or if I did, it was low...I've been feeling BETTER lately. Diarrhea is not as rampant and not feeling fatigued anymore. Feels like I'm back to normal. But that has me worried because I felt this way for a month AFTER i was done with PEP and now it has be believing I didnt have the ARS symptoms (which supposedly subside after a week or so).
I'm just venting because of it. Sorry.
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Since 4-6 weeks is somewhat conclusive and 3 months is definetly conclusive, would that be the same for someone who has taken PEP? Say I tested 4-6 weeks after I finished PEP, can I take that outcome to the bank? Or is only a 13 week posts PEP recommended?
Thanks
As a side Q, does anyone know the effectiveness of PEP for non-occupational exposures? They say Occupational is at 80% but does that mean 80% of people who were actually exposed to HIV+ fluids do not seroconvert or 80% who were exposed to unknown status fluid do not seroconvert?
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4-6 weeks is never conclusive the only conclusive test is 12/13 weeks.
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Don't,
I've had to merge your threads again - read the posting guidelines like you've been asked to and get with the program.
The testing window period starts after the last day of PEP. You're hardly going to test positive as you didn't have a real risk in the first place.
Ann
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I had intercourse with an HIV+ woman a month ago (protected) but was wondering what my chances of contracting HIV were if I had a open cut on my penis that was unprotected (condom was not covering the cut)? I've read they are quite high when infected vaginal secretions enter the cut while inside the vagina. Anyone have any info on this?
Thanks
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You were very smart to wear protection. You do NOT have a risk of HIV infection through what you described. For several reasons, one it is very hard to transmit HIV as it is fragile and even more difficult to transmit from female to male. The HIV virus is found mainly in the cervical mucus far inside the vagina and it needs to get into your urethra for a POSSIBLE infection. You were protected so this didnt happen. Your skin provides a very effective barrier even when healing a previous wound.
I would not test over this personally.
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Around,
Can I ask why you are using different usernames while posting to our forums? Thus far, you have also used DontKnowWhatToDo and DontKnowWhatToDo2 (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=8927.0)
Please realize that this kind of activity is disrespectful of other forum members, as well as our moderators. People spend a considerable amount of time helping others in these forums. Using multiple accounts is at the very least annoying, if not deceiving and disrespectful of others. It is also against our Terms of Membership (http://forums.poz.com/Terms.htm) which you agreed to when you became a member. This information is also contained within the Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0), which you should have read by now. So really, you have no excuse.
You must realize that the answers won't change, no matter how many names you post under.
I would appreciate a reply to this message, and I hope you will commit to using just one account - preferably your original one. If not, you will be banned from further access to the forums.
Ann
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Hello All,
I've got a question. I've had "hot-spots" on my neck and face (mainly neck). My neck gets extremely HOT!! sometimes yet I don't have a high temperature (normally below 99.5). Can this be due to ARS?
Thank You
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I've got a question for you too, mate.
Why did you never answer MY question when you posted as Around78 (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=9323.0)?
If you continue to ignore me on this issue, you will be permanently banned, no more questions asked by either one of us.
Ann
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Don't,
You PMd me with an explanation, but you owe the others here an explanation too. Don't PM them either, do it here.
Ann
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Forget it, just ban me