My risk story, symptoms, and worries. Help please

[ForgiveMe321]

Well, Hello everyone. I am a heterosexual male, just graduated college, who is dealing with quite the demon at the moment. I had unprotected vaginal sex with a female from my school on the 21st of October. Not the smartest idea I've ever made, also being that I was/am in a great relationship already. Anyways, about 2 weeks after I noticed a discharge when I woke up one morning, got tested Immediately, and had Chlamydia. I had my girlfriend go get tested at her GP and she came back negative for everything. I guess I found it as a relief and plus I got treated so I just thought it was over with and move on and learn from it, never cheat again.

After about 6 weeks from the incident, It finally hit me, What if she had something more than Chlamydia ? What if she has HIV ? I had been tested the 2 weeks after the incident and again at 4 weeks to make sure I had gotten rid of the Chlamydia and really paid no mind to the HIV tests.. So I ended up asking her (already knowing she gave me Chlamydia) if she had any STD history. She surprisingly admitted she had Herpes for a year but was on Meds to suppress it. I hadn't had any Herpes type outbreak so I was more shocked, and surprised that she didn't even know she had Chlamydia yet she had Herpes.. So I told her about me testing positive for Chlamydia so she went and got tested. This was 6 weeks after our encounter. She ended up testing positive for Chlamydia (of course) and negative for HIV. This would put some peoples mind at ease right ? Not me .

Her not even knowing she had Chlamydia, and already having herpes just worries me. I asked about 1,000 questions about her risk for having HIV and she denies any chances and actually got angrier as I asked. So I decided to leave her alone about it. Here comes the symptoms..

1. Started with night sweats, though I was sleeping on suede couch in my gma's hot apartment with the window open. Lasted about the 5-6 nights I stayed there.

2. Swollen right tonsil, and Swollen glands in my neck, right behind my jaw under my ear. I was driving home one night and it just felt like my mouth started salivating like my saliva glands were swelling. Node under my left ear was swollen and soft for a few days. Went to the doctor he diagnosed me with Lymphadenopathy and gave me a 10 day Amoxicillin treatment. I finished that a week ago, and the right tonsil remains swollen. Throat doesn't really hurt at all.
Right tonsil is still swollen today.

3. Floater in eye vision. It sounds foolish I know but it literally came out of nowhere and is still there. And when I would look across any lit area it would appear like a film was glaring across the lighting after I already focused in (Sounds weird I know). I actually saw an eye specialist about it and she didn't really find anything which made me feel a little crazy. But I never had it before the worry so I felt it could be related.

4. Rash . Now, this is the weird one. My girlfriend has eczema, she had these weird hive like breakouts for a while, but the day after I first had sex with her after the Chlamydia girl, like the very next day after, she broke out again. This was in the two weeks before I even knew I had Chalmydia, which my gf never got. It since has gotten worse, she would break out for a week, then not break out for a week, then break out again. They started off looking like Hives in different spots, then they started to be bigger like bumps that were actually warm to the touch. She saw a dermatologist and ended up being diagnosed as an Idiopathic case of Urticarial Vasculitis. Didn't strike me much .. until now , Im breaking out with the same things !! It started on the back of my neck behind my right ear, then I got a few on my arms, and now its 3 on my right thigh. Its weird I even take my girlfriends Prednisone and Benadryl to fight them. They go down for a while but they come back, its been about a week now. There aren't any on my face or chest but the ones on my thigh and arm are there and they often irritate. They are like red patches, slightly raised, and they itch sometimes. I wouldnt say they are "maculopapular" because they aren't made up of small bumps, but still.. This is really the main thing concerning me as I never break out with these, I've had my problems before with bumps but never these hive-like patches.

5. I haven't had any fever (I check about 10 times a day) , No flu-like feeling , and haven't vomited or had any Diarrhea . I have had a slight appetite change but It may be due to my stress and anxiety about this HIV phobia .

6. I have tested so many times up until now its crazy. I tested about 3 times in that 6th week alone. 2 mouth swabs and once finger pricked, All negative. In the 7th, almost 8th week I took a HIV DNA PCR test combined with the Antibody test .. took about 4 days , results were negative and non-reactive for everything. If these hives didn't start showing I wouldn't even question that test, but they honestly have put a incredulous fear in me. My dad just says "You're fine you don't need to test" ..

I have prayed so hard, the scenes of me praying or even telling my father of my worries have played in my mind almost as many times as the careless and foolish encounter that haunts me. Everytime my girlfriend complains of something wrong with her I immediately hit the internet to see if it could be related. Her period came late, she thought she was pregnant but she wasn't , and she wants a baby so bad, but she wasn't pregnant. Could that be effected by HIV? Anyone out there does my symptoms sound like I have been infected ? I know my risk is there, even with her testing negative 6 weeks prior to our own encounter. Im just severely worried and need to hear any insight. I know that was a lot to read.

Rick

[Andy Velez]

OK buddy, take a nice deep slow breath and let it out. I mean it. Right now. And then do that a second time. And do it everytime you find yourself tensing up.

With your various negative results it is very unlikely you will get other than another negative HIV test result when you test at 3 months after the incident. And you should re-test at 3 months for a conclusive result. The average time to seroconversion is 22 days. And all but the very smallest of those who are infected will test negative at 6 weeks.

So you are almost out of the woods on this one. All of your symptoms are something to discuss with your doctor if any of them persist. None of them are in anyway HIV specific.

In the future to avoid this kind of mess again, if you have intercourse outside of your monogamous relationship you need to always wear a condom for vaginal and anal intercourse. And actually you should use condoms with your gf unless you and your she are committed to monogamy and have tested negative together at a reliable point.

I expect you to come out of this one ok.

[ForgiveMe321]

Ok, I took the deep breaths. I know symptoms don't indicate its just scary you know? Like today my gf started complaining of throat pain and seeing a little swelling and she doesn't even have her tonsils anymore . & It's only on her right side too . Has 7 week negative DNA PCR tests ever changed positive before ? I'm def taking your advice on all of the monogamous stuff for sure, I just hope I get that chance man . Most stressful period of my life by far .

[Ann]

321,

You are highly unlikely to go on to test hiv positive following all those negative results.

You need to understand that up to 80% of people who have an infection such as chlamydia have no symptoms, so it's no surprise that this woman had no idea she had it. It's good she found out eventually, because untreated chlamydia infections in women is one of the leading causes of female infertility.

Gonorrhea and syphilis are also STIs that can go unnoticed due to a lack of obvious symptoms. The ONLY way to know the true state of your sexual health is to have regular check-ups and tests.

You also need to wise up and start using condoms every time, no exceptions.

Here's what you need to know in order to avoid hiv infection:

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 without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

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. Some of the other STIs can be present with no obvious symptoms, so the only way to know for sure is to test.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!

Ann

[ForgiveMe321]

Thanks a lot for the response Ann . I have a few questions for you and any of the other users .

1. I know the DNA PCR Test is not FDA approved for diagnostics but the doctors who did the test assured me that if taken after 28 days it would identify an infection 99% of the time . I took it at 7 weeks . How reliable are their words ?

2. I've read symptoms can't indicate , but this right tonsil that remains swollen even after antibiotics worry me . & now my gf has white spots and a very sore right tonsil as well that only recently appeared and she had her tonsils removed as a kid .

3. The last one is my eyes . I had an eye exam & she found nothing wrong yet I still have a constant floater and this other problem with lights I can't even describe . It's like if I look across lighting a second film always slides over it after I focus in. Very weird and I've never had eye disturbances . Have you heard of eye problems in early infection .

[Ann]

321,

1. If you'd actually been infected, your VL would likely have been in the tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands at seven weeks. However, some people are what's called "elite controllers" and they might not have a detectable viral load despite being infected. This is (only) one of the reasons the PCR tests are NOT stand-alone diagnostic tests. They can only confirm hiv; they cannot rule hiv out.

2. Darn tootin' "symptoms can't indicate". I scrolled right past your irrelevant list of symptoms because they don't mean a thing. Neither the presence nor the absence of symptoms will ever tell you a single thing about your hiv status. ONLY testing at the appropriate time will. If you and/or your gf have tonsil problems or feel otherwise unwell, go see a doctor. We cannot help you with that here.

3. ^^ See #2. ^^

The vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks - and I don't expect your results to change when you confirm at three months. If all this stuff going on with you physically had anything to do with hiv, you would have tested positive by now.

You're just going to have to hang tight until you can have your confirmatory negative result at three months. Rather than micro-examining everything and anything going on with your body, I suggest your time would be better spent practicing condom usage.

Ann

PS - your gf will have needed to be checked out for chlamydia at least ten days to two weeks after your last incident of unprotected intercourse with her. If you were having unprotected intercourse with her after your bit on the side, she may have been checked out too early. Also, you can get infections like gonorrhea and chlamydia in your throat as well. (Syphilis too.) Get your sore throats checked out by a professional instead of looking for a diagnosis online. NOBODY can diagnose you over the internet and you certainly cannot diagnose yourself. Get thee to a doctor.

Hiv isn't your problem here, but on-going chlamydia might be.