Is this a real concern or just OCD?

[pts234]

Hello everyone,

I suffer from extreme OCD and hypochondria. Here is my fear. I live in NYC and I was riding the train. As I was leaving, I felt a scrape on my hand. I was holding the handlebars and I might have scraped my hand on another person's watch or something. I don't know for sure. Anyways, I am terrified after reading that a man infected his wife with HIV through injection while she slept.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/newzealand/6752023/HIV-positive-man-infects-sleeping-wife-with-virus-in-needle-attack.html

This horrifying story triggered my anxiety which was well under control before this incident.

I am freaking out now! What if the man was a lunatic and had a needle and what if he stuck me with it?

1) THERE WAS NO BLOOD 2) THERE WAS NO OPEN WOUND 3) THERE WAS NO PIN SIZED MARK 4) IT FELT LIKE A SCRAPE

I am really freaked out after I read the story about the crazy man who infected his wife.

Should I be concerned because of this?

[RapidRod]

See your doctor for further treatment with your OCD.

[Andy Velez]

You weren't at risk and yes, this just more OCD. Get yourself some professional help.

This is absolutely NOT an HIV risk situation. Period. End of story.

[pts234]

I just had another panic attack over a terrifying situation.

I am a college student and I found a flash drive left on the library PC. I took it because I needed it
I am afraid that someone laced it with HIV tainted fluid and then relied on the sharp handle used to open it would cut the person. I did not see visible fluids on it and it must've been at least 30 minutes to an hour since the person left it. I did not suffer any cuts on my fingers when I was trying to open it but I had old scratch marks on my fingers which were at least a day old. They were very superficial scratch marks which were NOT OPEN WOUNDS. Also the handle that you have to slide to open it is rough
and it hurts your fingers. That is what I am afraid of.

I am totally losing my mind and losing all self control.

[RapidRod]

You never had a risk. HIV is not transmitted from environmental surfaces.

[Andy Velez]

You have absolutely no basis in HIV science to be concerned about this incident. None whatsoever.

But this epidemic is going to be around for a longtime to come so no one can afford to be ignorant about the basics of HIV. Read our lesson on Transmission. There's a link to it in the Welcome thread which opens this section.

Cheers.

[pts234]

I have a strange story. When I was 15, I went to a 3rd world country and contracted Hepatitis A. I am not sexually active or a drug user. 1-3 years afterwards, I started suffering from allergies which hadn't happened before. I was still under the age of 20. I have read that people infected with HIV tend to have allergies more than the general population. I don't remember any HIV risks. No sex or drugs of any kind. EVER. I am worried about either environmental transfer and/or criminal transfer. There is a small population of people infected with HIV who DO NOT HAVE ANY RISK FACTORS. They are most likely infected from other sources.

[Andy Velez]

I've merged your threads. Please follow our rule and keep all of your comments in this same thread.

Nothing you have reported is in anyway suggestive of your having HIV. As for your final remark about "a smiall population of people  infected with HIV who do not have any risk factors," I have no idea what you are talking about and frankly it's undocumented nonsense as far as I am concerned.

What I can say is that your having allergies is certainly not an HIV-specific happening. Nothing you have said leads me to think that HIV is your issue. I suggest you discuss your "symptoms" with your doctor. This is not an HIV situation. Period.

You need to know that if you continue to come back here with this kind of non-risk situation you are going to find yourself getting a Time Out from the site.  

[RapidRod]

Keep all your questions and concerns in your original thread.

[pts234]

You have absolutely no basis in HIV science to be concerned about this incident. None whatsoever.

But this epidemic is going to be around for a longtime to come so no one can afford to be ignorant about the basics of HIV. Read our lesson on Transmission. There's a link to it in the Welcome thread which opens this section.

Cheers.

No please don't block me. Let me explain myself.

I am worried about HIV after reading this........

http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/Meds/Archive/Thoughts/Q162866.html

HIV causes allergies. That is what the experts say. It scares me because my allergies started a few years after I came back from the 3rd world country.

http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/ma?f=102218726.html

http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/Meds/Archive/labmonitoring/Q174010.html

There are cases where virgins get HIV!!!

Both things have created a paranoia within me. The allergies I get sometimes, which clear up by themselves or with medication. I have a pathological fear of HIV. I fear it. I fear that people are trying to infect me. I fear that there is blood everywhere that has been removed of all moisture.

[RapidRod]

Anyone who continues to post excessively, questioning a conclusive negative result or no-risk situation, will be subject to a four week Time Out (a temporary ban from the Forums). If you continue to post excessively after one Time Out, you may be given a second Time Out which will last eight weeks. There is no third Time Out - it is a permanent ban. The purpose of a Time Out is to encourage you to seek the face-to-face help we cannot provide on this forum.

Seek professional help for your OCD.

[pts234]

Anyone who continues to post excessively, questioning a conclusive negative result or no-risk situation, will be subject to a four week Time Out (a temporary ban from the Forums). If you continue to post excessively after one Time Out, you may be given a second Time Out which will last eight weeks. There is no third Time Out - it is a permanent ban. The purpose of a Time Out is to encourage you to seek the face-to-face help we cannot provide on this forum.

Seek professional help for your OCD.

I will. I promise. But Andy and Rod, please just answer this last question with ONE WORD.

Is the appearance of allergies a few years after, lets say hypothetically a possible exposure, suggestive of HIV? Please one word answer and this will be the last time I bug you.

[Ann]

PTS,

NO. Allergies really have nothing to do with hiv, despite what you may have read.

Hiv is NOT transmitted from objects in the environment and nothing you have written has indicated ANY risk of infection on your part. What you're experiencing is nothing more than serious hiv paranoia. Please seek help for this. We cannot help you with that here and you WILL be given a time out if you continue to attempt to use this forum as a replacement for professional mental health care.

Ann