View Full Version : Worried sick - HIV
Hey folks
I had a sexual encounter about 4 weeks ago with a female during which we had vaginal and anal sex, both without protection. About 2 weeks later I went to the docs and they diagnosed me with an NSU (bacterial infection - my gonorrhea and chlamydia have sice shown up negative) for which they gave me a weeks course of antibiotics.
Straight away I'm thinking that I need an HIV test to be on the safe side, but I kind of know this girl through a friend and she said that she had an HIV test back in February, which was negative, and hasn't slept with anyone else (other than her husband!!!) I'm now worried that she was either, 1, lying, or 2, her husband has slept with someone.
So just about 2 and a half weeks after sleeping with her (about a week ago) I started to notice some pains in my fingers and had the odd pain at random locations (i.e. on side of knee, on side of ankle, on back of ankle) which would often disappear after about 5 minutes, plus some shooting pains under my arms and in my throat. I've read that anxiety can cause your body to experience these things, however, most of these have now pretty much disappeared and have been replaced with a burning sensation on my shoulder, but I still get the odd shooting pains under my arms. Yesterday it felt like my throat had closed up, but I could still swallow without pain. The day before that I had a sensation as if there was some sort of pressure on my sinusses just behind my nose.
I'm now really, really, really worried that I have something and I don't know if my body is finding new ways to extert this anxiety or if I do actually have something. I can't have an HIV test for another 8 weeks and I honestly don't think I can cope.
The other thing that's worrying me is that I still seem to have the symptoms of an NSU, and now have a small red rash round the end of my penis, but not directly on the uretha. I've asked her if I have anything to worry about and she said no that both her and her husband are clean and that I don't have anything to worry about.
Please please can someone help. I am litterally feeling depressed and on top of this feel stupid and guilty for not using protection :(
dont feel stupid whats done is done but learn from your mistakes-all of your symptons regarding throat shoulder etc do sound like anxiety probably caused by you worrying about hiv. I dont know the symptoms of hiv but i think it takes a long long time to start showing itself as oppossed to a few weeks but a test should be done to at least rule it out,she says she is clean but you caught something from her which if u still have you go back to your gp for stronger antibiotics. I know easier said than done but try and relax.
I hope all goes well for you
Thanks for your input Davey. Unforutnately about 60% of people suffer from symptoms from about 2 - 6 weeks after exposure. Symptoms are flu like... fever, inflamation of lymph glands, joint pain, muscle pain, vomiting and rashes. Apparently they can be quite mild which has me really worried because it's got me thinking that the symptoms I'm having are mild ones, and on top of that, why have they changed?
...I've had the sort of joint pain coming and going for about a week, which has now completely disappeared.... My question is, if they are the result of anxiety, then why have they disappeared, only to be replaced with new symptoms?!? I am quite scared :(
Please can someone help. I feel like I'm about to burst into tears!!!!
ladybird64
28-07-10, 20:52
Hi there :)
I'm not sure if you have been to the local GUM clinic (genito-urinary medicine) but if you haven't, it is probably a good idea to go along and speak to them, particularly as you now have a rash.
I think that you need to speak to someone who is an expert in this field anyway and even if you have been to see them before, hopefully they can offer support and advice.
Take care :flowers:
gracesophia
30-07-10, 13:25
Ok, first of all - try not to panic. It will only make the things that you think are symptoms worse.
Your chances of having caught HIV are incredibly, incredibly small. The chances of getting it from one instance of vaginal sex with an HIV positive woman are less than 1/1000. The chances that she has caught it since having a negative test are also incredibly small. The human brain is a wonderful thing and can create all kinds of 'what ifs' like 'what if her husband cheated..' I have managed to convince myself that everyone I have slept with is bi-sexual because that means the risk of them having HIV is much higher, even when I have no evidence that they are!
So it's about 3 1/2 weeks since you slept with her? If you are really honestly worried there is a risk, you could get an HIV Duo test done privately, and it would be 98.5% accurate at 4 weeks. Doctors don't recommend testing over specific incidents because of the anxiety it causes, and I don't either (I had 2 tests done over things that weren't even a risk, and now I freak out every time I have sexual contact with someone..)
Alos, try and separate the feelings of guilt from the anxiety. We all make mistakes. Don't beat yourself up.
Hello
Im the worlds worst for this worry. Please dont read my posts !!
NSU means that no specific organism was found as the cause of your infection but I did read that often NSU is caused by chlamydia bacteria which is super common in uk in young people. having NSU does not mean that you have slept with someone who is particulary risky for HIV!!
Also i dont mean to be gross but there are a lot of germs in our 'rears' that could cause iritation in there!!
You are being extremeist here. Of course there is always a possiblity that when you have unprotected sex you could catch hiv, but there is also always a possiblity that the earth will be hit by a meter and we will all be destroyed. But you have to put it in perspective with the likelyhood that it will happen not the fear that you feel that it might, if that makes any sense.
Your symptoms are so like anxiety. You are saying that they have changed but how many times before now have you worried this much about having caught HIV and how can you possibly say that this worry is not causing your out and out symptoms of anxiety and stress?? You just cant.
Further to that you have been diagnosed with a bacterial infection your body is dealing withthat infection and the antibiotics on top of that , all those things impact on all your body systems giving symptoms.
You can have a test done much sooner that that. They say 28 Days to definately rule it out. At most NHS clinics they can give you a same day result service. I have had that done 4 times cos im nuts and one anti natal test.
As far as im aware all NHS clinics are supposed to be using 4th generation tests which look for both antibodies and also the antigen which is part of the actual virus. Becuase of this the time that you need to wait is totally reduced becuase you dont need to wait for the antibodies to be made before testing.
Go and see them and get this off your chest so you can move on and put it behind you.
Lisa
xxxx
Okay, you need to take a deep breath and relax. Non-specific urethritis is extremely common and the normal course of treament is antibiotics for 5 to 7 days. This type of inflammation is most commonly due to lack of good hygeine, not unsafe sex. In other words, if you're going to engage in vaginal and anal intercourse, then you'd be extremely wise to use a condom and additionally clean your genitals using sufficient soap and water soon following the activity rather than waiting until the following morning or hours afterward. Bacteroides fragilis is a certain bacteria that often colonzies the intestines, consequently the colon. Unprotected sex can easily induce innoculation into the urethra where infection can become established. I will also mention here that you should never engage in vaginal sex following anal penetration. The consequences almost always produce infection to one or both participants, sometimes resulting in extremely aggressive bacterial complications.
You are also confusing the aspects of HIV with the subsequent AIDS syndrome that ensues, on the average of 10 years following initial infection. HIV infection has no symptoms other than patients complaining of flu-like symptoms within 6 months of the initial contact and acquisition of the virus. You also need to be aware that although safe sex is always recommended. the HIV virus is actually very difficult to contract and repetititve engagement with persons having the virus is necessary in order to transmission to become highly likely. This is why the disease initially spread so rapidly among the gay and prostitution groups, as well as certain sports figures who lead excessively promiscous lifestyles.
I single encounter would have odds so low that you'd have a better chance of getting struck by lightning.
The symptoms you are describing are more often encountered in persons with intense anxiety and apprehension, which sounds more applicable in your case and the sensation in your throat is consistent with Globus Hystericus, very common among persons experiencing panic threshold. If you are unable to place your concerns in the proper context, then for reassurance purposes you should simply undergo the test, which will turn out negative by the way.
The experience should, however, provide you with sufficient reason for avoiding unprotected sex.
Best regards,
Rutheford Rane, MD (ret.)
Thanks for your posts folks, makes me feel a little better. I have however had a recurrence now of the pressure behind my nose which i'm totally paranoid is my adenoids, which I understand to be part of the lymphatic system. I've now had it for 2 days. I will get a duo test but i'm still so worried... So much so i've broken down in tears a couple of times since. Has anyone ever heard of this happening? Pls help. I feel like my life is about to be destroyed!
Hey folks
I had a 28 Day Duo test done and the results came back, blood is normal. I immedately felt better, but still seem to be suffering from some symptoms like something at the back of my throat, pressure behind my nose, and now I think I have noticed that one of my lymph nodes is slightly swollen on the right hand side of my neck under my jaw (i.e it feels larger than the one on the other side of my jaw). Does this sound normal or is this something I should be concerned about... it's now got me panicing because I'm now thinking that because the tests are not 100% accurate I might be in the minority
Can someone help? Feeling desperate again :(
Oh, and I'm getting a tingling sensation in my feet that I've had for the past 5 days.
Your getting symptoms of anxiety hun and thats going to happen becuase you have been so upset worrying about all this. Gosh its a really big thing going for an hiv test! Have you got a friend or partner you can have a chat to and put this into persepctive? Om sure that getting all these feelings about what you have just been through out will really help you to see that the hiv thing is actually over and you dont have it and thats it. You know that absolutely nothing in life is 100% guaranteed but for the most part thats absolutely okay, we only need 100% guarantees when we are anxious and are having extreme thinking. If you try ur very best to refucuss your mind away from your body and your thoughts about hiv you will no longer need this 100% guarantee and will be suitable satisfied with the 99.8 - 100% that you acutally have.
The problem with the net and bits a bobs of information about hiv and forums about people who fear hiv blah blah is that a little knowledge is dangerous! The human body has many systems that have different functions and interact in different ways with each other causing different things. So many symptoms of anxiety overlap with just about every ilness going including HIV. We folk with HA think that we can feel a physical symptom go on net click a few times and diagnose ourselves perfectly without 5+ years of stressfull medical training and then several years in a hospital and then specialising in a subject to still learn something new all the time!!!
We just dont have a clue, thats why we have to stop at the negative result and realise that we are being mental to think that we know better just cos we are anxious!!
Sorry for going on but i feel strongle about this and am inthe same boat and dont want you to stay in it!!
Lisa
xxxxxx:hugs:
anxiousmumof4
05-08-10, 18:25
Well done you for getting the HIV test, quite right. We all do make mistakes and after any unprotected encounter, its best to check for all STI's.
Watch the gland under the jaw though...i developed glandular fever (dont panic it wont kill you!) after a one night stand when I was 18. It was about 3 weeks later I think. It started as feeling a bit flu like and glands in my jaw. xxx
Thanks for your help folks. I appreciate it, I really do. It seems like I'm in a vicious cycle. I went to the docs and he said the glands under my chin were fine.
The only thing is, and I forgot to mention before is that I noticed just over a week ago that I had geographical tongue (which I've never had before) because the back of my tongue was a little tender. It disappeared but has made a recurrence this week.... Could this be anxiety again?
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