Don't really know which thread to write this in../Thoughts about HIV.

[freja]

So for the past few months (or years, really) I have been having thoughts about HIV. For a few years I only got them maybe once every 6 months but I told myself that there's no way that I could have it, because I was never at risk. They weren't really affecting my life. But for the past few months it's been pretty bad and I can't really focus on anything because of the recurrent thoughts of HIV. I actually went and had a test done 19 days ago and it was negative. I was relieved for a while, but then a few days after I started thinking that what if the nurse reused a needle/syringe and I got infected? And on top of that I now have an unexplained, random fever/cold flashes and it says on the internet that acute HIV symptoms appear 2-4 weeks after exposure and one of the main symptoms is fever.

I am posting this in the OCD thread just because people keep telling me that I'm just being paranoid and irrational. They say that a nurse would never reuse a needle or a syringe. But what if she did it on accident?


So..what do you think? Are these thought completely irrational or might there be an actual cause for concern?

[charlotte83]

Hi,

I've had OCD for 11 years so I know how it works, this is OCD. You initially took the test to try and overcome you fears of having HIV, but like you said, you weren't even at risk for it. The OCD is never satisfied, and because it can no longer worry you about having HIV since the test, its just finding a new way to get back into your head. Nurses are trained professionals, and especially where dealing with needles. They wouldn't have reused a needle by accident, and anyway, I'm sure most of the needles these days are single use, ie they wouldn't even be possible to use a second time. Everything is fine, you need to accept these doubts and let them wash over you and the less time you give to them, the more they will fade. People have blood tests etc everyday and if nurses were that slack about safety procedures, a huge number of people would have contracted illnesses by now.

[freja]

Thank you for your comforting words.