Please help me, im driving myself nuts.

[nowayjose]

Here is the back story. I had some white spots on my cheeks and tongue. I googled and of course HIV/AIDS. Clearly I'm paranoid beyond belief. I never had unprotected sex until my current GF. She is STD free she got tested before we started having unprotected sex. In the past I would say Nov 2007 I did have sexual intercourse with some questionable woman, I used a condom it didn't break. The scary part, one woman I noticed some blood after on the condom, condom did not break i was extremely careful removing it.

As I did more googling i got more nervous. i have spots on the side of my tongue it says oral hairy leukoplakia or thrush are signs of HIV. I was thinking back and have been biting my cheeks and picking at them since as far back as 2004 and for sure since 2006. I noticed that i bite my tongue also, This led me to believe i have oral frictional hyperkeratosis. I just stopped biting tongue and cheek and picking. Its now been 10 days cheeks and tongue are w/o a doubt are getting better. I read it takes 1-3 weeks maybe more to heal.

Today I google again i see some candida home test spit in water when you first wake up. if your saliva gets stringy and sinks to bottom you have thrush. guess what thats what my saliva did. I also read eating sugars/bread can cause this. I am a bread lover I eat it daily. its bread and pasta or atleaast 1 daily for me. I also breathe out my mouth, I think I sleep w/ my mouth open since wake up with dry mouth and whiteness in the AM. When I brush its mostly gone. I also prob chew a lil in my sleep and I have a habit of cracking my jaw.

I am just so paranoid do I have HIV. Of what I read these oral diseases are signs of full blown HIV. I am healthy feel fine and active.

[duster]

By coincidence I was on line at the same time as you the other night worrying about precisely the same set of symptoms. I wasn't signed up then so couldnt post.

The problem about ohl is that the photos on the web are so different. I look at some and think that's nothing like the lines i have on my tongue; others look frighteningly similar. I've visited 2 dentists in the past year (before I even had these anxieties) but neither mentioned anything amiss -but then I tell myself that maybe they are not obliged to - and so the doubt continues.

I'm currently taking comfort in the articles which point out that, although common, OHL is not automatically a determinant of HIV.

How are you doing at the moment? Maybe we can help each other?

[nowayjose]

By coincidence I was on line at the same time as you the other night worrying about precisely the same set of symptoms. I wasn't signed up then so couldnt post.

The problem about ohl is that the photos on the web are so different. I look at some and think that's nothing like the lines i have on my tongue; others look frighteningly similar. I've visited 2 dentists in the past year (before I even had these anxieties) but neither mentioned anything amiss -but then I tell myself that maybe they are not obliged to - and so the doubt continues.

I'm currently taking comfort in the articles which point out that, although common, OHL is not automatically a determinant of HIV.

How are you doing at the moment? Maybe we can help each other?

Do your bit the side of your tongue also. (should say used to) I have been to the dentist and they never say anything either. I am going again in 2 weeks. Also OHL from my research is a sign of Full blown advanced AIDS meaning you have maybe 2 years 2 live. Surely if that was the case you would have other side effects.

[cold]

I don't think that you need to worry about the dentist noticing anything HIV/AIDS suspect and not saying anything.

Considering that the virus could possibly be contagious through saliva/blood during treatment, don't you think he'd be extremely interested in pursuing any such suspicions immediately?

I promise you that no health care professional that even touches your skin, much less handles bodily fluids would ignore if there was even a remote risk that you were carrying HIV.

Don't take this the wrong way, I am not saying that everyday casual contact is in any way a risk of transmitting this particular disease, just that we are all human and it's terrifying to everyone. Noone will ignore or trivialize it. Everyone will much rather be 'safe than sorry'.