hiv anxiety, please help.

[gozzy100]

Hi guys I was wondering if anyone could offer advice, about a year ago I had unprotected oral sex
Where I received from a male friend, it lasted between 10-20 seconds and he is healthy as far as I'm aware and does a very active job, but I do not know of his hiv status. I did ask him and he said he gets checked every 6 months and has never had anything. He seems a trustworthy person and had always been honest but iv not known him that long. Thing is I'm now suffering terrible anxiety and have looked up symptoms online which has scarred me to death. I'm often quite tired but iv put this down to night shift work that I do, it does not stop me from anything physical, only when I sit for a time, I have developed some sort of contact dermatitis but there are quite a few things that could cause this at work, oil, strong soaps etc. But the scary thing is that I have a small white patch on either side of my tongue, iv had it for as long as I can remember and always thought it was where my tongue rubs against my teeth, it just looks like dead skin, but the internet suggests it could be leukoplakia, if I cleaned my tongue 90% comes off, like dead skin, no pain or irritation. No other symptoms apart from occasional loose stool, Please help does this sound serious? Apologies for the long question.

[anthrokid]

Hey Gozzy,

It sounds like it is worrying you a lot so why not pop into a clinic and get tested. There are plenty of clinics that offer free HIV and other STI/STD testing. It'd definitely eaae your mind to hve this certainty.

It doesn't sound like you have contracted anything, but if you're worried about it do go nd get tested, just for your peace of mind :)

[enoughofthisnonsense]

Hi Gozzy,

Maybe if I share my experience with you, it can be of some kind of consolation/help.

I suffer quite badly with general anxiety disorder, as well as health anxiety. Prior to the experience which I will recount, I had convinced myself I had every serious ailment going: leukaemia, ovarian cancer, cervical cancer etc. Around two years ago, I had a low risk sexual encounter with someone whose sexual history I was not aware of. Around four months after this, I got flu like symptoms for about a week. Shortly after that, I noticed several lymph nodes in my neck were enlarged. I didn't think too much of it but went to the doctor who did full blood tests. Nothing came back abnormal. I put it down to an infection and stopped worrying about it. I felt fine for nearly two years, apart from the odd cold and sore throat etc. However, in the beginning of March this year, I started to feel unwell again. The lymph nodes on one side had gone down but had come up on the other side. I went to the doctor again, who saw no point in repeating the blood tests, and asked about my sexual history. It had never occured to me that it could be an STD, and in my mind I started to try to work out how I could have been exposed to something. I then started to (very regretfully) google my symptoms. I became convinced that I was HIV positive and became depressed and suicidal, I even wrote a suicide note. Every ache and pain I had I attributed to HIV. I had a perpetually sore throat, sores on my groin and a spiking fever for days on end (all POSSIBLE symptoms of HIV). I was beside myself with worry. So, last friday (27th May) I bit the bullet and got tested for HIV. I got the results back today and they were negative. It was the happiest moment of my life and I cried with relief.

What I'm trying to say to you, is that symptoms are clearly not indicative of an HIV infection. I made myself ill with worry over NOTHING. Like you said, there is an explanation for each of the physical symptoms you are displaying. Your tiredness is most probably a combination of your work and the amount of stress you're under worrying about this.

You need to get tested. It's the only way you'll know and the only thing that will put your mind at rest. Once you get the results, which I'm sure will be negative, you need to try and work on your anxiety, as it's clearly very bad for your health to be this stressed. I am a prime example of this!

Take care. :)

[josparks]

i spent yrs thinkin i had all symptoms of hiv infact i was so convinced i had it i spent yrs making myself ill i to went to get tested and every symptom i had was manefested by anxiety i tested negative so after yrs of being ill it turned out my anxiety caused all the symptoms in the end

[gozzy100]

I'm really worried about these slightly white patches on the sides if my tongue, could this be leukoplakia from hiv? Has anyone else had this, could it just have always been there and is where my teeth catch my tongue?

[josparks]

r u a teeth grinder in ur sleep cos i got those from grindidng and i didnt know i did it till i was told

[gabsq]

re white patches try anti fungal oral gel from any phamacy could be oral thrush from being so run down worrying!!!!!!!!!!!! ps im sure u wouldnt have contracted hiv that time so dont worry !! but its a great idea to get a test just to put your mind at ease ! i wasted yrs thinking the same thing as you ! i tortured my self over it and many other illnesses ive convinced my self i have , U WILL BE OK xxx