Pretty scared

[Lutheran122]

I am a 42 year old male , for the last 2 years I have been visiting prostitutes about maybe 4 or 5 times a year. When it first started I did have intercourse 2 times with this one girl ( I wore a condom both times but I am not sure I had it on totally correct as portayed on this site ). Afterwards I had a lot of pain in my genitals and immediately my doctor gave me all the STD tests and an HIV test. It came back negative for everything. I knew it was way too quick to test for HIV as it was only a week or so after the incident. Anyway I put it out of my mind and never had a followup test. Since that time I have been with maybe 6 or 7 girls..all of the time since then its just been BJ's or a handjob and thats it. None with a condom as I read everywhere that you can't get Hiv from oral sex or a handjob. Cut to now , I just had a blood test and all my white cell counts are low. The doctor called me in concerned and asked me how I felt. I have been walking 2 miles a day and on a diet of mostly vegetables and fruit with the occasional chicken breast or turkey sandwhich. I went on that diet because I have 2 branches of veins in my heart that are narrowed by 30 percent so the doctor told me to exercise and lose weight and try and eat very little fat. In the last 2 months I have lost 20 pounds. I told her I feel fine. She asked me about my sex life again and she just took blood for an HIV test. I signed the consent form. The low white count is scaring the hell out of me. I feel so stupid for what I have done. I never got sick , never felt those flu like symptoms that you can get if you get infected with HIV but I know a lot of people don't get that and still test positive. Anyway I am pretty sure that this is going to come out positive. Weight loss , low white cell counts. I am scared to death and don't know who to turn to. If I am positive what will I do? Can the medicines make your white count get higher? I live alone , what would I tell my family? Do I have to tell them? What about my job? I know I am getting ahead of myself but I have had this feeling of dread for a long time now about this due to being with prostitutes ( they were street walking girls , not from an agency ). Of course I just blame myself for it all if I am positive. I don't blame them poor girls , they are stuck in a lifestyle that I am sure they don't want to be doing. I have gone down those roads and picked up a girl and many times gave them money and did not have a sexual encounter. I am rambling , i am sorry. I will know for sure in a day or 2 so. I will post again when I know either way. Thanks for listening , iif I come back positive I hope there are places where I can go to get counceling as I will desperately need it.

[Ann]

Luth,

Yes, you are getting ahead of yourself. Nothing you report is a risk for hiv infection and I'm fully expecting a negative result for you.

Low WBCs have no bearing on hiv infection. I've been positive for over ten years, yet my WBC always comes back in normal ranges. There are all sorts of things that can cause weight loss and/or lowered WBC, so keep working with your doctor after you receive your negative results.

Ann

[Andy Velez]

A low white blood cell count is absolutely NOT an HIV specific occurence. That happens for many reasons that have nothiing to do with HIV.

Given what you have described of your sexual activity it's a good idea that you've gotten tested. Nothing you have reported leads me to expect other than a negative test result. In general we recommend that anyone who's sexually active ought to get a full STD panel done regularly. Annually is good and every six months is even better.

It's good to eliminate HIV as a possibility. Then your doctor can narrow down what maybe causing your symptoms.

As I said I expect you to come out of this ok as far as HIV is concerned. Good luck and keep us posted.

Cheers,

[Lutheran122]

Thanks a lot for the quick replys and your wisdom on this issue. I will reply again when I get the results and take it from there. Thank you.

[Lutheran122]

Is it unusual for the test to take a long time to come back? Don't the labs usually fax over the results when they finish? I did the blood test in my doctors office on Wednesday morning and she said 2 days to recieve it back and today is 3 days now and no call from her. And the office is open today. I don't want to call her as I am sure if she got the results she would have called me. This waiting is making me nervous and that its taking so long even more so. I thought I would know by now and well now its a 3 day weekend here in the US so I won't know anything till Tuesday. Oh well...

[Ann]

Luth,

It's not unusual at all, especially near a holiday weekend. Labs usually test in batches as well and they'll wait until they've got enough samples to run. Anyway, no news is normally good news where labs are concerned. If there was a problem, they'd ring you.

Ann

[Lutheran122]

Thanks for all your help Ann , my test did come back negative thankfully though my WBC is still low it has rasied from 2.5 to 2.6 in a few days but is still low as is my absolute lymphocytes and the other neutroph something test..she says we will recheck it in a few weeks and to avoid infection..how the heck can I avoid infection? Anyway thanks again.

[Andy Velez]

How to avoid infection?

Just garden variety efforts can be helpful. Such as good nutrition, excercise in moderation and avoid large crowds or circumstances likely to bring you into contact with people with colds and other health issues likely to be not helpful to your immune system.