lingering symptoms. can I enjoy my vacation?

   My risk:  Unprotected vaginal with man of unknown status (who

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

I stopped reading after the first 3 sentences.  A negative ELISA almost 4 months after exposure (115 days) is rock-solid, 100% assurance you didn't catch HIV.  The rest of your question doesn't matter.  No matter what your symptoms are, they cannot be due to HIV--assuming, of course, there have been no other HIV exposure that you don't mention.  On top of all that, the odds your partner had HIV obviously were zero or close to it.

Now I have read the rest:  1) No medical condition changes the reliability of HIV testing.  That includes herpes and hepatitis.  2) I cannot guess at the cause of your oral problem, except as I said, it cannot be HIV.  3) The only thing that could change your test result in the future is to be exposed to HIV and get infected.  You cannot have HIV from your events 8 months ago.

'I am not writing this as an anxiety driven post.'  I disagree.  Undoubtedly the providers who did the HIV tests have told you exactly the same thing I have.  That you have not already 'put it behind you' despite such overwhelming evidence surely is a sign of anxiety or other emotional component.  Go on your vacation, relax and enjoy yourself; maybe the vacation itself is what you need.  If your unreasonable fears still persist, talk to your provider about the emotional aspects.  I suggest it out of compassion, not criticism.

Good luck--  HHH, MD

[Dove 7]

Thank you for your response.  I was actually going through some old threads and saw that you once wrote back to someone about their oral problems.

"Any traumatic lesions in the mouth would be immediately adjacent to your wisdom teeth, or at sites of other obvious injury. There are viral respiratory infections that cause sores in the mouth, notably a thing called Coxsackie virus, and others. In theory, I suppose it could be perrpes, but that sounds unlikely--but you say nothing about your sexual exposures, STD risk, etc.

Your school nurse may be a fine person, but if your symptoms persist I suggest you see a more experienced health care provider."

Actual thread   http://www.medhelp.org/forums/STD/messages/668.html

would you say the same for my "lesions" or canker sores?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

You don't provide enough information about your oral lesions for me to speculate about the cause.  Your own statement about wisdom teeth suggests that as a possibility.  I agree with whatever your own health care provider says about them.  They cannot be due to HIV.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Listen up everyone:

Do not post new questions on existing threads.  I deleted such an attempt.  You must use the the Post a Question link.

Do not ask me to repeat opinions and facts I have stated innumerable times.  It wastes my time and the time of other forum users.

[Dove 7]

I am just curious.  Is geographic tongue a strong symptom in people with HIV?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

No, of course not.  There is almost no symptom that is a "strong" indicator of HIV. Geographic tongue is extremely common with any viral infecion (infection), change in diet, or for no reason in particular. Everybody has it from time to time.

That's your last question. Enough is enough.  I will delete the entire thread if you post any more.