oh no please help me

[LisaLisa]

I cant handle this i feel so sick im so scared can someone please speak to me becuase i cant handle this


i have been worrying for such a long time about having hiv and my tests being wrong , i had five done. I worried becuase i have some sort of weird swollen thing in my saliva gland in my cheek and little nodes swollen up around in and becuase i have so many symptoms of being not well as well


i kind of settled down when in thought about the tests being accurate and then out of the blue today I got edgee

and started to look in the net again and found this horrible thing about the way the nhs test for HIV and it said ,.....oh my god i can handle this

it said if a person test negative but they have signs or symtpoms of hiv then a sample of their blood should be sent to specialist testing!!!

I can t beleive this what does that mean? Doe it mean that the tests arent good enough? Oh my go what am i going to do, does this mean that my baby has this as well?

wjhy is this happening to me i cant take anymore of this

someone please help me

xxxxx

[miggymoggy]

HIya
So sorry you are suffering.
I have to say it's highly unlikely, near on impossible, that 5 tests would be wrong! One maybe, not 5!
Please try to keep calm. It's probably something really routine and nothing at all to do with HIV.

[Blueeyed87]

Is it a ulcer? The glands around swelling is perfectly normal especially if it's irritated, I agree 5 test would pick something up. It's probs stress related my mouth goes bad if I'm very anxious ulcers everywhere and swollen gums where my wisdom teeth. U might b lacking zinc and vitamin c.. Hope u feel better soon

[Blueeyed87]

P. S your baby will be fine even if u did have HIV which the tests show u don't it's circulatory system is seperate from yours therefore not having the disease :)

[cinny]

I get bumps and lumps all the time in my cheeks etc. Normal stuff. The more you inspect them with your tongue or fingers the bigger they seem to become. Totally normal stuff. When I was in the Navy, and in the Fire Service, I was tested every 6 months or so. Seemed like every time a test came up, I would be sweating bullets. For no reason actually, just the stress of the tests, and I often had contact with blood from accident patients, etc. If you have had 5 tests odds are you don't have it. You have to take the tests for value. Reading off the internet is a habit that you NEED to break.. If 5 tests say you are clear, than you cannot let a web page through all of that out. Relax as best as you can, deep breathing, meditate, what ever you find that works for you, and stay off Dr. Google! I am sure that you and your baby will be with us a long time.. :)

[LisaLisa]

Thanks so much for your support guys.

Does the thing that I have read make you think that the tests are not reliable or is it just the way that I am reading it? Is it just cos im so sensitive to all this that im taking it to mean that?

Does anyone think that im blowing my sympstoms out of proportion or am i just being too optimistic?

I just dont know what to do, i hat ethis so much.

[cinny]

I haven't read it. But I probably wouldn't have. I had to learn to take what the dr.s say and the tests say. They are the Dr.s after all, and there are literally thousands of symptoms. You can turn just about any symptom into death if you are untrained. A dr. takes ALL of it into account... If you read a report or web page, it may have one symptom that you have. But it cannot see the rest of the story, that is you. I once thought that I had Nasal "C". I was driving down the road once and just started a nose bleed out of now where. I made the mistake of looking that up.. I was sure I was a goner. I dragged myself to the dr, waiting for the bad news.. After my exam, she gave me some moisturizer for my nose. When I told her what I thought I had, she just shook her head, and said the same thing.. "stay off google".. I spent a week thinking I was dying, and all it was was my nose had dried out and chapped inside. Started bleeding.. Re hydrated, and all was fine, and has been for years. My point is that you may have one or two or sometimes even more symptoms that line up with something, but unless you have 8 years or more of university behind you, don't try to self-diagnose. Stay off the web, and find support in here. I do too! I have issues that I find, and I get spun up about them. Then I will speak with some one here that has had what ever I have, and it was nothing or they are still kicking with it 30 years later. Reassuring to me also! :)

[LisaLisa]

Cinny

Thanks so much for your amazing reply. Its really helped me a lot. The points you make are sooooooooooooo true. Its the whole general symptoms thing that could be so many other things, your right, i just homed in on my symptoms sooooooo much that I cant see where they actually fit in anymore. And what you say about the the dr having the whole picture. Totally! Its soooooo ignorant and crazy of me to think I know it all coz THE INTERNET says so. Your right and i am so glad you took the time to answer me

thanks a lot sweetie and I will help you if I ever can too

Lisa
xxxx:hugs:

[calm]

oh lisa, thinking of you.....i too am worrying about a health problem i had four years ago....we need to be strong - we are all here together giving our support.
i keep on saying "i want to be healthy in mind and body"......it does help......when you get a negative thought try and say "i recognise this thought but it is silly" and then swap it with a positive thought, say "i am healthy in both mind and body"....its hard and exhausting but do try. do keep in touch xxxx we will be ok xxxxx

[gracesophia]

Hey, I have HIV anxiety as well so I completely understand. The way I understand what it says on the website relates to when they do the test within the 'window period'. I have read that the only time they would test someone again after the standard 3 months, is if they have symptoms, and that would be full-on unmistakeable symptoms I think. When was it that you think you were exposed? Five tests are not going to be wrong (I've had 4..) but you really really have to stop getting tested. I'm sure you know this, but it's a form of seeking reassurance, and reassurance only ever provides short-term relief, and then you'll go googling again or go for more testing.

I speak as someone who has just got back from the GUM clinic worrying about warts, and I managed to resist the temptation to ask for an HIV test (as I've had 4 since the only time I had unprotected sex!) and I'm really proud of myself! Hang on in there - it will get better xxx

[sugarpuff]

Hi Lisa
I too have have HA about HIV and have done for 1 year now, in that time i have had 3 tests, and feel like i have wasted a year of my life and continue to do so worrying about it, also at great expensive as i went to a private doctor in london, I have to say they were great and very knowledgeable in this area, and did help for a few days at least, but as gracesophia says its a short term relief.
5 tests will not be wrong, even if the first was within the window period, the 2nd 3rd 4th and 5th would have picked something up,the tests that are used now are very sensitive and accurate, privately you can actually test 10 days after exposure now. costs alot of money though, i have actually considered this in recent weeks but have stopped my myself so far from putting yet another dent in my credit card.
I like you settle down for a while, never goes away completely then i get edgee and anxiety and panic soon follow,but i have to stay away from Google!
I know exactly how you feel and hope someday i can get over this, feel free to PM me at anytime and i will always try and help
xx:)

[Drummer]

HIV test are usually a P24 antigen and antibody tests they are now called 4th generation tests. They are accurate at 28 days after exposure... conclusive. The P24 antigen will show up on all (ALL) cases od HIV this is produced prior to the HIV antibody, It is produced between 10 and 16 days after exposure. Then the antibodies will start to be produced with 99% at six weeks. So all in all the 4 th generation Combi tests as I say will pick up either the P24 up to the the point the anti bodies are produced. If you test negative at 28 days you are negative. It does'nt matter how many times you are going to test its not going to change after this period... no way...defo...

If you are not in the Uk and and a country that has third generation test you are conclusive at 12 weeks thats it. ( the third generation antibody test only test) but it is highly unlikely a test will change after 8 weeks tops.

I hope this helps

Most HIV web sites are from the USA they only started using the newer test from June this year and alot of medical centres stick to the older three month test as conclusive.

People also get very upset when they read the ARS symptoms of onset HIV post exposure.... ok .... all the symptoms that are posted on sites are the same as common virus infections for just about every one known to mankind... so the ONLY way to know for sure is get tested .. dont even bother with the symptoms. If you have had what youn think was a possible exposure then pop along to the NHS GUM clinic and get tested. Its confidential yoiu dont even hav eto give yiur real name or details ... but dont forget to remember what you told them as you will be asked every time you conatct them.

HIV is very difficult to get its is a very fragile virus and has to have the right environment to cross infect, along with this the % of actually getting infected can range from 1 in 55% for the very highest risk right along the scale to 1 in 10,000 chance and that risk is based on if the person you knew had the virus so the chances are low at the onset, but are real.....

If people are sexually active everyone should get a general health screen test every six to 12 months.


You are more likely to get a STD which are totally fixable now a days.

best wishes



Philx