HIV Concern or Just Anxiety?

[Kev77]

17 days ago, I gave and received unprotected oral sex to a guy I just started dating. The encounter was brief (1-2 minutes of giving and about the same for receiving) and neither of us had an orgasm. This was all we did, other than kissing/making out. 2 days after this, I came down with a horrible sore throat. I thought it may just be seasonal allergies as I had sinus congestion, headache and some fatigue as well. I took an OTC allergy med and ibuprofen and felt a little better, but my throat was still sore. After 2 days of this, I finally took a flashlight and looked at my throat and found two small white spots. Also had a swollen lymph node on the right side of my neck. So, I went to the ER as I thought it could be strep. They did the strep test and it was negative. Doc thought it was just an irritated throat from post nasal drip. So, I continued to take the allergy meds and ibuprofen and felt a little better. I've been feeling a little concerned cuz the person I was with told me he has ocular herpes. I know really nothing about this, but feared I could have become infected in another part of my body with it...so that was on my mind. A few days later, I started experiencing this tingling, slightly burning type sensation at first on my chest and groin area, but then noticed it under my arms, around my mouth, on my arms, legs, scalp, back...kinda all over. So, I decided to see my doctor to get tested for herpes and any other stds he might have thought I should be tested for (including hiv). Doc told me he didn't see a point in testing for herpes as I didn't have (and still don't have) any sores or lesions anywhere. He recommended a chlamydia test as chlamydia can be asymptomatic and is very prevalent in my city right now. I told him I wanted to have the hiv test as well...knowing full well it would not cover this latest sexual encounter, but would give me some peace of mind about my last encounter which was 7 months ago. I asked the man I had been with to please get an hiv test as well and he agreed. I had my test done 11 days after I had been with him. It came back negative (HIV 1/2 AB test). He went to a community clinic and had a rapid oral test, which came back reactive (test reacted in approx. 4 minutes) they then drew blood and sent it to the lab for additional testing. He should have those results by the end of this week. Obviously, I am freaking out now. There is a very small chance his test was a false positive and could be something else (like the herpes perhaps), but knowing I could have been directly exposed has thrown me into a tailspin. My neck is extremely stiff, tight painful feeling in my jaw, skin on my neck and face feel hot (but no fever) bad headache, the burning/tingling feeling continues to pop up periodically all over. I'm stressing because I have to wait until AT LEAST until the 28 day mark, but then will need to get retested again at the 2 month, 3 month and 6 month marks as well...and each time could possibly be a positive result and I just don't know how I would handle that. Sorry for being so long winded, but I have no one really to talk to about all this. Just looking for some peace of mind. Are the symptoms I'm talking about a combo of seasonal allergies, stress and anxiety or do I really have a legit cause for concern here? Your thoughts would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for reading.

[Cuddly]

Are any of the things you're feeling considered to be symptoms of HIV (are there any symptoms of HIV?) or AIDS?
Can HIV even become AIDS in 11 days?

Also, calm down and use protection next time! Whatever is wrong, worrying and fussing will not fix it or make it go away. Obviously, that's not really helpful, but what else can you do?

[meridannight]

the chances of HIV infection from oral sex are pretty much next to nothing. this is due to the fact that HIV virus does not survive human G.I. tract. of course, if you have some intestinal disease, especially ulcers, that would increase the risk of infection from oral sex.

herpes however is a completely different story. just touching an infected person's sores will infect you, and it's not curable. however, i do not know if ocular herpes manifests only in the eye or also elsewhere on his body. if someone tells you they have herpes i'd do a thorough inspection of the parts i'll be touching before touching them, and you definitely should steer clear when they're having an outbreak at all. herpes isn't fatal but it's nasty shit.

Doc thought it was just an irritated throat from post nasal drip.

i'd say the doc is right. or it could be that he had some bacteria on the surface of his dick, or in his bodily fluids, and when you were giving him oral you just picked that up and it infected your throat. that's the most logical explanation.

[MisterLove]

Sweetie, relax! This is not HIV, it doesn't work like that. And the chances of being infected in a case like yours (oral sex, no ejaculation) are minimal, almost zero.

I've had oral sex with thousands of men in the past and I am HIV-.

I believe you are being paranoid and all this stress is doing you no good. Anxiety may trigger all sorts of reactions and this could explain the stiffness, pain, etc. I remember I went through a similar situation many years ago: I had this persistent pain in my testicles that turned out to be purely psychological. It was just nerves.

So RELAX! It's a good thing to be vigilant and do some research on the subject of STIs (e.g. consult your doctor regularly, read books). Panic and anxiety, by the contrary, never help.

[BlueStar]

I've never had full oral sex with my bf but we sucked each others' several times without protection, nor orgasms. I haven't felt any weird symptoms ever, or not yet because our most recent was last week. So I mostly think what you're listing are allergy issues, but be careful dude...

-----------

However now I'm wondering (aside question)... are all STDs concentrated inside the genital organs, or could they be outside too?

[Iceblink]

Okay, I had to read this carefully, and I think a lot of people might be thinking what I first thought- that the OP is worried he might have been infected by hiv from this incident and was worried about the symptoms he now has. The OP knows it is not possible for symptoms of hiv to manifest that quickly after an infection, he is worried about infection from an earlier sexual experience and that he may have passed on infection to someone. It is very unlikely that hiv infection could have occurred from oral sex, and it is even more extremely unlikely since neither of you had an orgasm. If this person tests positive, it is almost certainly from another sexual experience, not the one he had with you. If he has a positive test, do not link it to you possibly being infected, because his positive is very unlikely to be related to you.

[Yume]

Well... HIV/AIDS is very hard to get through oral, and it's rare to get an infection through oral to begin with, ESPECIALLY if neither of you had an orgasm... I would be a bit paranoid myself, but I would pass this off as something that is probably just a coincidence that it happened right after your boyfriend and you had some oral sex. Basically, what I'm saying is not to worry about it, but if these symptoms are on-going or keep getting worse, I'd get a blood test and see what's wrong.

But don't freak out about it, please. ^^ There is a time for panic and now is not the time X3 I was actually at one point sick with a sore throat with symptoms similar to yours, and it was just something that happened to me, no reason, I don't have allergies or anything.

^^

[LJay]

OP, you need to sit down with your doctor and carefully list the things ou have mentioned in your post. You should tell him that you have health concerns both physical and psychological and that you want them all dealt with. Be honest and don't hold back information. Be sure you tell him about your partner's test.

The knowledge you will gain after talking with the doctor will help with your anxiety, but of course you need to follow through with testing and perhaps some counseling.

I suspect that you will be just fine, but whatever the result of your consultation is you will be in much better shape to deal with yourself when you really know what is going on. Good luck. Be sure to let us know what you find out.

[Bowyn Aerrow]

Well 11 days does fall within the two week to four week acute infection stage:

http://www.aids.gov/hiv-aids-basics/just...es-of-hiv/

2 days after though is what kills this thing you got as being HIV related.

HIV doesn't like oral. In the cases where oral sex is the conduit by which HIV passes, the receiver has sores, open wounds in their mouth, in other cases ulcers lower down the GI track. Swallowed semen ends up getting an acid bath which pretty much kills the poor defenseless HIV virus (the poor thing never stood a change).

IF you are this worried about HIV, then I strongly suggest you get the new RNA test done. Its more expensive, but it tests for the RNA of the virus itself, the other cheaper test tests for antibodies, and has a rather high false positive/false negative rate and requires this long period between tests and long term testing.

Mind HIV has stages, stage one, acute stage, takes place 2-4 weeks after contracting the virus. Most people do NOT present symptoms, which are flu like.

The earliest that one can get the RNA test and have accuracy is when the virus hits this stage.

Antigen tests (RNA tests) — show a positive result based on the presence of the virus. These tests are more expensive than anitbody tests, so are not offered in as many places.

• 1-3 weeks after infection, there will be enough viral material for a positive result
  

Source: http://www.sfaf.org/hiv-info/testing/hiv...riods.html

Mind there are currently several other diseases out there which are slamming your species pretty hard.

One is the summer flu. I just had that last month and it was nasty as all hell.

There is another virus hitting the human enterovirus 68 which is killing trillions of people right - no just kidding, its emerging and affecting many kids in Colorado. And it is spreading:

"Missouri, Kansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Iowa, Colorado, Ohio, Oklahoma, North Carolina, and Georgia -- have reported suspected outbreaks of human enterovirus 68 and requested CDC support. "

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/respiratory...d=25317407

Then there is Ebola to worry about, currently the worst outbreak in all of history of this pretty pet is stomping West Africa hard with the CDC getting more and more concerned that it will arrive in the UK and States soonish.

Links: https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Ebola&tbm=nws

Then in the USA West Nile Virus, hantavirus....

My point, you are more likely to contract another more interesting virus than HIV.

If you are going to worry about a disease right now, I would say that this new strain of Ebola is the one to really worry about.

Unlike all of the others, we still have very little understanding of this Ebola, its currently out of control, and as time wears on the CDC, WHO and others have become a bit more uncertain about its spread and have recently said it will hit the West (UK, USA, etc) and are preparing hospitals.

Further more, the President took it so seriously he has declared war, and has sent troops to fight Ebola on the battle field:

I'm not trying to scare you, I'm just trying to put this in perspective for you, there are far many more diseases that can kill you out there that you could have beyond HIV.


You are clearly ill, see a doctor, let Doctor do his job.

STOP reading up on HIV/AIDS and stop thinking that that is what you have.


Psychosomatic illnesses can produce very real physical symptoms. Meaning you can think yourself sick. It is the same sort of thing as the placebo effect, people take a sugar pill thinking its a treatment and they get better. The mind is a powerful health instrument, you can literally think yourself sick, or healthy.

If you didn't slit your tongue prior to going down on that guy, or have bleeding gums, your chances of having gotten HIV from oral with him are astronomically low, so low as to be a near certainty you do not have HIV.

Even if he blew 12 loads in your mouth and you swallowed every drop, the increased risk is so slightly increased that its still astronomically low that you got HIV from him.

At the three week mark (21 days) go and get the RNA test. It may have to be paid out of pocket, its a bit expensive, however you will have the most accurate answer to your question at the soonest possible time.

[Kev77]

Thank you all so much for the encouraging words. I have to admit, I am feeling better. The other part of this that is upsetting me is what to do about this guy now. We've only been dating for a few weeks, but I was already having doubts about pursuing a relationship because of several reasons, but one of the main ones is him not having protected sex with others (conveniently found this out after our brief encounter). Now, I'm afraid if I break things off, I'll be seen as a royal asshole because he will think (as well as his friends) that I'm ending things because of his diagnosis. We sat down and talked about things the other night, and I think I made it clear that we need to back off for a bit until all the tests have been done. I still feel just awful about the whole thing. And for the record, I have no qualms about dating or being in a relationship with someone who is positive. I just need to know that up front so I know if he's taking meds, what his viral load/T-cell count is so I can take the proper precautions. I don't know. Everything just seems like such a mess right now.