POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: GiaB on June 23, 2007, 08:25:37 am
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I am writing to get an opinion of likely hood of exposure. I have read all of the information and I am aware that testing is the only sure method of determining status.
During the month of May I had encounters on the 14, 15, 16 & 29. All encounters were protected except on the 29, the withdrawal method was used.
On the 31st of May I visited a doctor because I had a sore throat and what I thought were swollen lymph nodes. I was given amoxicillin. It didn't work. The pain in my neck and sore throat did not go away. I visited the emergency room for shortness of breath & sore throat & swollen lymph nodes, they said my lymph nodes were not swollen and diagnosed me with pharyngitis. Medicine did not work. I visited my primary care physican who said that I had a eustachian tube blockage and that the pain was not swollen lymph nodes. I gargles with warm salt water and the sore throat went away. Antibiotic spectracef has not eliminated my pain. I have a negative HIV test on June 18. I am still having pain on the right side of my neck under my chin and sometime behind my hear. There is a knot behind my right ear. Yesterday when I woke up I was tired and experience fatigue that did not subside until 8 pm. I also feel pressure in my head and ears daily. I took a PCR test and I am awaiting the results. I am concerned because I have had these symptoms ranging from sore throat, neck & head pain, pressure in ears for almost 30 days now without any sneezing, running nose, coughing and no fever but occasional clear phlegm and sometimes loss of voice. Is is possible to have one swollen lymph node on the right side of my neck. It is very painful. I have palpated my neck but don't feel any large lumps. There have been other changes in my physiology. I sweat profusely when I work out and previously hardly ever sweated during working out. There are bumps on my face that are not pimples, but doesn't appeart to be a rash. I just started on a decongestant and have to clear my throat frequently.
I realize that symptoms can not diagnose an infection, but I am wondering what your opinions are about how soon ARS symptoms appear. I have read on the internet that it can be in as little as two days after an encounter. Has anyone ever had pain on one side of their neck with pain behind the ear?
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Gia,
You don't tell us enough about yourself or your unprotected incident for us to give you more than a general answer. You wasted you time talking about symptoms because their presense or absence means nothing when it comes to hiv. We don't discuss symptoms here, we discuss risk factors.
Were you the insertive or the receptive partner?
Along with reading the Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0) and following the link to the Transmission lesson, here's what else you need to know:
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. 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.
Ann
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I was the receptive partner. I am a female and had intercourse with a heterosexual male. What else should I list?
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GiaB, withdraw method is only good for pregnancy and that isn't fallable. It doesn't apply for HIV or STDs.
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Gia,
Being the receptive partner in unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse is much more risky than being the unprotected insertive partner. The fact that ejaculation did not take place inside makes it slightly less risky - but NOT without risk. You do need to test and if you haven't already, a full panel of tests for other STIs would also be needed.
You need to know that DNA PCR tests have a high rate of false positive results. No matter what the result of this test might be, it will have to be confirmed with a standard ELISA test and Western Blot where indicated.
The vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive on the standard ELISA by six weeks. A negative result at six weeks must be confirmed at the end of the three month window period.
Ann
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I went to an Urgen Care Center today to speak with a physican. He said he didn't think I was experiencing ARS but I know only a test is a diagnosis. He checked my sore and painful neck and said that I only have one swollen lymph node. He checked under my arms, groin, spleen and abdomen. Is it possible to have one swollen painful neck lymph node during ARS?
Also, can people have breathing problems during ARS.
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Gia,
I've already told you that we do not discuss symptoms here - but I will tell you this much, your symptoms came on way too quickly for it to have an hiv connection to your unprotected intercourse.
Symptoms - or even the lack of symptoms - means nothing. Would you have come here if it weren't for your sore throat?
Even if you had no symptoms you still had a risk and you would still need to test.
Symptoms, when they do happen, can vary so much from person to person that there is no point in discussing them at all. So forget about long explanations of symptoms, our responses regarding them are not going to change.
Test at the appropriate time. It's the only way to know your hiv status.
Ann