Aa
I need help!!!!
On Dec 2nd I had brief unprotected vaginal sex with a csw. A week or so later I got real nauseus which lasted for 2 weeks. Right when the nausea went away I started to get severe muscle pains but I did not eat hardly anything for 2 weeks and lost about 10 pds. I had a dry cough, pain in my hip,sensitive eyes and on Dec 22 My fever started which was 99.5 until about march 20th. One week after exposure I had sex with my girlfriend and 5 and a half weeks later she got a sore throat, one ulcer on her soft palate and a slight fever.Ive tested negative with rapid tests at 3,4,5,8.5 and 10.4 weeks and also had a blood draw at 12 weeks and 5 days all negative. For the last few weeks under my right arm has been sore and there is a lump..1. Could my lymph node be swollen under my right arm from poking it many times a day?2. I tested negative for hep b and c at 12.5 weeks could those be false negatives and thats why I have delayed seroconversion?3. . My hands are peeling all over, could HIV be the reason its been worse.4. My mouth was sore for 5 months and just recently started feeling better is this hiv related?5. Have you seen anyone have all these ranges of sickness ( swollen lymph nodes etc...) and still test negative.6. I never had a rash or a sore throat is that a good sign?7. Would I have a higher fever than 99.5 and would it last for a few months.I've been feeling better as of late, Ive been with a therapist and pchyciatrst and I'm on seroquel because I ended up in a mixed state over this but my underarm is swollen and I can't think of anything else but hiv. Its worse now because of the underarm swelling. My life since mid December has been consumed with this. I google all day and every little thing that happens to me or my gf I relate to HIV. How does everyone who responds to me be so certain that I don't have it but my true gut and symptoms tell me I do?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Glad to help. Take care. EWH
Doc my six month test came back negative. Thanks again for your help.
Dr please wish me luck!! My wife made me take my over 6 month test today due to my anxiety. I will post my results when I get them. I have a bad feeling that it will be +.
Thanks!!!!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Yes. EWH
Sorry I didnt see your reply before I wrote that last one. Please disregard. Dr. in a one word answer am I HIV negative?
Dr can I move on?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Last answer, as I said in my original reply -"Further testing for HIV serves no purpose and the sooner you can move beyond your current state of anxiety and concern, the better it will be for you."
This will end the thread. EWH
This will end the thread. EWH
Last question can I move on or do I need to test again. Thanks in advance for the answer. I will not bother you any longer.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
You are being silly, trying to use a test for something it is not designed for. I'll have nothing more to say. EWH
Not good
That isn't good news!!! I thought that the cd8 rises with HIV infection and that my low number was a good sign that indeed I wasn't infected. Now my anxiety has come back ten fold.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I thought I was clear- no! I think you are over reading things EWH
last question please answer
I know my cd8 is fine but if I was infected it would have been higher than that correct?
I know my cd8 is fine but if I was infected it would have been higher than that correct?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
CD 4 and CD 8 count determinations are not recommended in the absence of HIV as they tend to fluctuate in most people on a day to day basis and can be influenced by lots of the sorts of factors we tend to encounter on a daily basis, including colds, sore throats and perhaps even anxiety. Your CD8 count is fine.
We get many questions about when results are defintive. We typically tell people that all results to standard antibody tests after 8 weeks are totally reliable. I have pasted in a comment made in the past to another client below:
"We get many questions about the meaning of HIV test results at different time points. This is now confused by the availability of a variety of different types of tests. The traditional and most widely used tests for HIV are tests for antibodies to HIV which are available both as so-called "rapid" or point of care tests which can be done in the clinic and laboratory based antibody tests. For all practical purposes both of these types of test perform comparably and provide accurate information on the presence or absence of HIV infection in virtually everyone at 8 weeks following exposure. The recommendations for testing at 3 and even 6 months are the result of two factors- data from older tests no longer used (you really do not need to worry about which generation of tests you were tested with, at this time virtually all tests are far more sensitive that they were even 2-3 years ago when the 3 month recommendation was made) and secondly, the fact that some, mostly governmental agencies which have to provide recommendations for virtually everyone without the sort of interactions such as those you get with your doctor or on personalized sites such as this one, feel they cannot "afford" to be wrong and therefore make recommendations and guidelines which leave most people unnecessarily nervous for 4-6 weeks longer than the 6-8 weeks it takes virtually everyone to develop HIV antibodies. "
There are many possbile causes of numbness and HIV is a rare one. When this occurs in HIV, it is in people who have been infected for years.
There is NO evidience that you acquired HIV from the exposure you mention. EWH
We get many questions about when results are defintive. We typically tell people that all results to standard antibody tests after 8 weeks are totally reliable. I have pasted in a comment made in the past to another client below:
"We get many questions about the meaning of HIV test results at different time points. This is now confused by the availability of a variety of different types of tests. The traditional and most widely used tests for HIV are tests for antibodies to HIV which are available both as so-called "rapid" or point of care tests which can be done in the clinic and laboratory based antibody tests. For all practical purposes both of these types of test perform comparably and provide accurate information on the presence or absence of HIV infection in virtually everyone at 8 weeks following exposure. The recommendations for testing at 3 and even 6 months are the result of two factors- data from older tests no longer used (you really do not need to worry about which generation of tests you were tested with, at this time virtually all tests are far more sensitive that they were even 2-3 years ago when the 3 month recommendation was made) and secondly, the fact that some, mostly governmental agencies which have to provide recommendations for virtually everyone without the sort of interactions such as those you get with your doctor or on personalized sites such as this one, feel they cannot "afford" to be wrong and therefore make recommendations and guidelines which leave most people unnecessarily nervous for 4-6 weeks longer than the 6-8 weeks it takes virtually everyone to develop HIV antibodies. "
There are many possbile causes of numbness and HIV is a rare one. When this occurs in HIV, it is in people who have been infected for years.
There is NO evidience that you acquired HIV from the exposure you mention. EWH
Please answer Dr
Dr. Hook 3 questions and I won't keep bothering you. At my 10.4 week test they did a cd4 cd8 count my cd4 was 739 46% and my cd8 was 320 ratio 2.31.
Wouldn't my cd8 be higher if I was indeed HIV positive? Please please answer my question.
You state that I tested way beyond, How so 12.5 weeks is still in the window period of 3 months.
Why do I have numb feelings in jaw,chin,groin and under arms? Isnt it strange top have these feelings in the lymph node area?
Is there anyway that I'm HIV Positive?
Please I beg you to answer my specific questions
Wouldn't my cd8 be higher if I was indeed HIV positive? Please please answer my question.
You state that I tested way beyond, How so 12.5 weeks is still in the window period of 3 months.
Why do I have numb feelings in jaw,chin,groin and under arms? Isnt it strange top have these feelings in the lymph node area?
Is there anyway that I'm HIV Positive?
Please I beg you to answer my specific questions
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome back to the Forum. I'm sorry you are having trouble accepting that you did not get HIV from the encounter that you have described. The fact is however, when symptoms such as the ones you mention and test results do not agree, the test results are always correct. Each of the symptoms you describe has many other possible causes. Had you had some of these symptoms and not been tested, an HIV test would have been warranted to make sure that HV was not the cause. In your case however, with multiple tests well beyond the time when test results are completely reliable, there is no need for further testing and no reason at all to be concerned that your symptoms might be due to your exposure over 6 months ago. I urge you to continue to work with your therapists to put these concerns behind you. Further testing for HIV serves no purpose and the sooner you can move beyond your current state of anxiety and concern, the better it will be for you.
In answer to your specific questions, briefly-
1. Could my lymph node be swollen under my right arm from poking it many times a day?
Yes, this could irritated and inflame most any part of the body.
2. I tested negative for hep b and c at 12.5 weeks could those be false negatives and thats why I have delayed seroconversion?
The idea of "delayed seroconversion" is an urban myth. Your hepatitis results show that you do not have those infections, ether.
3. . My hands are peeling all over, could HIV be the reason its been worse.
This is a dermatological problem, perhaps related to anxiety, not HIV.
4. My mouth was sore for 5 months and just recently started feeling better is this hiv related?
No.
5. Have you seen anyone have all these ranges of sickness ( swollen lymph nodes etc...) and still test negative.
Yes, I have seen many cases such as yours. In all cases the tests were correct –no such person turned out to have HIV.
6. I never had a rash or a sore throat is that a good sign?
Yes, but your test results are far more meaningful. You do not have HIV.
7. Would I have a higher fever than 99.5 and would it last for a few months.
Irrelevant question.
Please, continue to work with your therapist. I wish you well. EWH
In answer to your specific questions, briefly-
1. Could my lymph node be swollen under my right arm from poking it many times a day?
Yes, this could irritated and inflame most any part of the body.
2. I tested negative for hep b and c at 12.5 weeks could those be false negatives and thats why I have delayed seroconversion?
The idea of "delayed seroconversion" is an urban myth. Your hepatitis results show that you do not have those infections, ether.
3. . My hands are peeling all over, could HIV be the reason its been worse.
This is a dermatological problem, perhaps related to anxiety, not HIV.
4. My mouth was sore for 5 months and just recently started feeling better is this hiv related?
No.
5. Have you seen anyone have all these ranges of sickness ( swollen lymph nodes etc...) and still test negative.
Yes, I have seen many cases such as yours. In all cases the tests were correct –no such person turned out to have HIV.
6. I never had a rash or a sore throat is that a good sign?
Yes, but your test results are far more meaningful. You do not have HIV.
7. Would I have a higher fever than 99.5 and would it last for a few months.
Irrelevant question.
Please, continue to work with your therapist. I wish you well. EWH
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