Aa
verry concerned about encounter and symptoms!
Hello Doctors I’ve always been very healthy no drugs no smoking no alcohol fit and uncircumcised. My only health issue is that I do have herpes 1 and 2, 1 I’ve had my entire life and 2 I got from an ex girlfriend over 12 years ago. March 22 I had intercourse with a young girl used to be a stripper and I suspect a CSW as well. During the intercourse the condom broke and I didn’t realize until around 30 to 60 seconds later after immediately washing myself I put on another condom and finished the intercourse. I asked her several times over the last few weeks and she tells me she does not have any stds. The next night I had to fly to Europe for 2 weeks Over the last 6 weeks these are my symptoms in the best possible order I can remember them appearing:
Day 2 sore throat, went away within 3-4 days
Day 7 began feeling extreme fatigue and had mild cold (runny nose, sneezing)
Day 9 saw a doctor in Europe who gave me antibiotics for 5 days
Day 10 1 bowel movement that was diarrhea
Day 14 nausea and loss of appetite and fatigue (lasted almost 3 weeks)
Day 15 1 bowel movement was diarrhea
Day 16 began having night sweats and hot flashes during the day (no fever that I can tell)
Day 20 noticed a possible rash on my back, 1 generalized reddish area about 3 x 2 inches with 2 or 3 small red dots/bumps in it
Day 23 had an hiv test came back negative
Day 24 started noticing red dots that resemble pimples appearing on my chest, back, arms, and legs. They disappear in 1 to 2 days
Day 32 began having headaches mostly at night and in the mornings
Day 37 another bowel movement that was diarrhea
I am now at day 39, the only symptoms I have now is periodic headaches, throat started feeling a little bit irritated, and seem to be developing a minor dry cough. 1) what is my risk of contracting hiv with my situation? 2) are my symptoms consistent with hiv infection? How much of my symptoms can be due to stress (I think I have already convinced myself that I’m infected!) Thank you!
Day 2 sore throat, went away within 3-4 days
Day 7 began feeling extreme fatigue and had mild cold (runny nose, sneezing)
Day 9 saw a doctor in Europe who gave me antibiotics for 5 days
Day 10 1 bowel movement that was diarrhea
Day 14 nausea and loss of appetite and fatigue (lasted almost 3 weeks)
Day 15 1 bowel movement was diarrhea
Day 16 began having night sweats and hot flashes during the day (no fever that I can tell)
Day 20 noticed a possible rash on my back, 1 generalized reddish area about 3 x 2 inches with 2 or 3 small red dots/bumps in it
Day 23 had an hiv test came back negative
Day 24 started noticing red dots that resemble pimples appearing on my chest, back, arms, and legs. They disappear in 1 to 2 days
Day 32 began having headaches mostly at night and in the mornings
Day 37 another bowel movement that was diarrhea
I am now at day 39, the only symptoms I have now is periodic headaches, throat started feeling a little bit irritated, and seem to be developing a minor dry cough. 1) what is my risk of contracting hiv with my situation? 2) are my symptoms consistent with hiv infection? How much of my symptoms can be due to stress (I think I have already convinced myself that I’m infected!) Thank you!
Dr. Handsfield,
Thank you for all your help and for everything you do for others on this forum!!
Take care and all the best to you.
Thank you for all your help and for everything you do for others on this forum!!
Take care and all the best to you.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
1) Yes. It is not possible to have HIV symptoms for more than a week or so and still have a negative test result.
2) Zero. Your doctor is being ultraconservative; I would not have recommended another test.
3) Everybody gets a white tongue from time to time, due to any number of minor viral infections, changes in diet, and other poorly understood factors. It probably will go away and I see no need for further evaluation.
That's all for this thread. It's time to move on, with 100% confidence you don't have HIV.
2) Zero. Your doctor is being ultraconservative; I would not have recommended another test.
3) Everybody gets a white tongue from time to time, due to any number of minor viral infections, changes in diet, and other poorly understood factors. It probably will go away and I see no need for further evaluation.
That's all for this thread. It's time to move on, with 100% confidence you don't have HIV.
Hello Dr. Handsfield,
I hope you are doing well.
I just received my results today from the doctor for my 6 week mark test; HIV 1 and 2 Negative!
Definitely a huge relief. The doctor did mention that it is highly unlikely that my negative result will change at 12 weeks but that I should still do a final test at the 12 weeks point.
1) I am assuming that if all or any of the symptoms I have experienced between week 1 to 5 were in any way due to HIV ARS, my 6 week test would have definitely produced a positive result?
2) What are the odds of my 6 week Negative result changing to a positive by week 12?
3) I am still concerned about my white tongue issue (although I'm not stressed over it anymore as I'm now confident it's not HIV related), the doctor doesn't seem to have a clue what's causing it. Would there be a specific type of doctor/specialist I can see that would know better about this?
Thank you again Dr. Handsfield!!!!
I hope you are doing well.
I just received my results today from the doctor for my 6 week mark test; HIV 1 and 2 Negative!
Definitely a huge relief. The doctor did mention that it is highly unlikely that my negative result will change at 12 weeks but that I should still do a final test at the 12 weeks point.
1) I am assuming that if all or any of the symptoms I have experienced between week 1 to 5 were in any way due to HIV ARS, my 6 week test would have definitely produced a positive result?
2) What are the odds of my 6 week Negative result changing to a positive by week 12?
3) I am still concerned about my white tongue issue (although I'm not stressed over it anymore as I'm now confident it's not HIV related), the doctor doesn't seem to have a clue what's causing it. Would there be a specific type of doctor/specialist I can see that would know better about this?
Thank you again Dr. Handsfield!!!!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
White coated tongue rarely means thrush; and anyway thrush can occur in people with normal immune systems. (I have had it myself.) But let's just deal with whether or not you have HIV, when your test result is available. AIf it is negative (as it certainly will be), all these additional questions will be moot, or at least not pertinent to your health.
Hello Dr. Handsfield,
I hope you are having a good day. My HIV blood test result will be in on either Monday or Tuesday. In the meantime, if you don't mind I was hoping you can help clarify something for me in relation to another test result I just recieved. Approx 2 days after starting the prescribed Azithromycin doses (9 days post possible exposure) , my tongue started turning white and it remaind white for over 5 weeks. A doctor prescribed liquid Nystatin for 6 days (1ml/day) and that didn't seem to do much at all, last week the same doctor that did my HIV test prescribed another dose of the liquid Nystatin, this time 5mls 4 times/day for 10 days. It's been 5 days now and there seems to be a significant decrease in the white growth on my tongue.
This doctor also did a culture swab on my tongue and the results came in today, the results said: No WBC, no yeast cells, mixed flora, heavy growth of mixed bacteria.
So I understand that I do not have oral thrush, is this correct?
Another Doctor I saw several weeks ago told me I did have oral thrush (based on his visual inspection alone, no culture swab). Naturally since my possible exposure I've been talking to several doctors all who have varying opinions.
One doctor told me that only 12% of people experiencing ARS will get oral thrush and in some of those cases the thrush may appear as a white tongue only looking like a bacterial infection and not all over the mouth, yet another told me that white tongue has absolutely nothing to do with ARS and that thrush only occurs in very late phases of HIV infection. One pharmacist told me that if my white tongue was due to the antibiotics I took, then it should go away on it's own within 2 to 3 days after stopping the antibiotics, while another pharmacist told me that if it was due to the anitbiotics, the white tongue would not go away on it's own but only with taking antibacterial medications, I'm very confused!!!
If you don't mind clarifying which of these statements is the most accurate I'd really appreciate it. Also, if a person does in fact get oral thrush due to ARS, would it be a yeast/fungal infection only or can it be bacterial as well making it dificult to diagnose from thrush or bacterial infection?
I have nothing but respect for every doctor I've seen, but it's clear that the majority of them simply do not have enough knoweldge or experience with HIV ( one asked ME what ARS meant, another told me there's no such thing as a conclusive test before 6 months!) and none of them could give me any answers to the thrush/white tongue questions. So I would greatly appreciate your knowledge and reply here!
Thank you Doctor!!
I hope you are having a good day. My HIV blood test result will be in on either Monday or Tuesday. In the meantime, if you don't mind I was hoping you can help clarify something for me in relation to another test result I just recieved. Approx 2 days after starting the prescribed Azithromycin doses (9 days post possible exposure) , my tongue started turning white and it remaind white for over 5 weeks. A doctor prescribed liquid Nystatin for 6 days (1ml/day) and that didn't seem to do much at all, last week the same doctor that did my HIV test prescribed another dose of the liquid Nystatin, this time 5mls 4 times/day for 10 days. It's been 5 days now and there seems to be a significant decrease in the white growth on my tongue.
This doctor also did a culture swab on my tongue and the results came in today, the results said: No WBC, no yeast cells, mixed flora, heavy growth of mixed bacteria.
So I understand that I do not have oral thrush, is this correct?
Another Doctor I saw several weeks ago told me I did have oral thrush (based on his visual inspection alone, no culture swab). Naturally since my possible exposure I've been talking to several doctors all who have varying opinions.
One doctor told me that only 12% of people experiencing ARS will get oral thrush and in some of those cases the thrush may appear as a white tongue only looking like a bacterial infection and not all over the mouth, yet another told me that white tongue has absolutely nothing to do with ARS and that thrush only occurs in very late phases of HIV infection. One pharmacist told me that if my white tongue was due to the antibiotics I took, then it should go away on it's own within 2 to 3 days after stopping the antibiotics, while another pharmacist told me that if it was due to the anitbiotics, the white tongue would not go away on it's own but only with taking antibacterial medications, I'm very confused!!!
If you don't mind clarifying which of these statements is the most accurate I'd really appreciate it. Also, if a person does in fact get oral thrush due to ARS, would it be a yeast/fungal infection only or can it be bacterial as well making it dificult to diagnose from thrush or bacterial infection?
I have nothing but respect for every doctor I've seen, but it's clear that the majority of them simply do not have enough knoweldge or experience with HIV ( one asked ME what ARS meant, another told me there's no such thing as a conclusive test before 6 months!) and none of them could give me any answers to the thrush/white tongue questions. So I would greatly appreciate your knowledge and reply here!
Thank you Doctor!!
Websites and forums don't impress me Sir. I have never spent so much time studying one single subject in my life as I have been doing so with HIV over the last several weeks, and I have been to several doctors, the majority of whom I can now certainly say don't really know anything about HIV. I guess I'm just pleased and relieved to at least get some reassuring feedback from someone who actually knows what their talking about!
I'm obviously still very anxious and nervous, but at least have some solid knowledge to counter balance that. Talk to you in a week or two!
I'm obviously still very anxious and nervous, but at least have some solid knowledge to counter balance that. Talk to you in a week or two!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Thanks for the thanks. It's not quite so amazing, however. My knowledge and experience probably aren't above average among STD/HIV prevention experts. Don't be wowed just because someone has a website or forum.
You need to understand that the vast majority of people with sexually acquired HIV were exposed again and again and again and again. Single one-off exposures rarely result in transmission. In 30+ years in this business, I have never seen anyone with a story like yours who turned out to have HIV. And in 6 years of doing this forum, not one questioner with a concern about his or her HIV risk turned out to catch HIV. You're not going to be the first.
You need to understand that the vast majority of people with sexually acquired HIV were exposed again and again and again and again. Single one-off exposures rarely result in transmission. In 30+ years in this business, I have never seen anyone with a story like yours who turned out to have HIV. And in 6 years of doing this forum, not one questioner with a concern about his or her HIV risk turned out to catch HIV. You're not going to be the first.
Thank you so very much doctor Handsfield!!
Wow, I'm shocked, and despite the fact that I'm still somewhat stressed and nervous about all this, I'm feeling alot more relief. I was so certainly sure that I had all the symptoms.
I'm going in for my next test on Monday, and although I do have some more questions, I'll respect your wishes to hold off until my results come in.
If you don't mind me just asking something not related to my symptoms or stress. I'm just quite amazed at how certain I am/was that I had a high risk situation and all the symptoms based on all the research I've done on the internet, and you've given me quite a secure statement saying that my result will be negative, have you ever had someone with a similar situation to mine in which you've stated to them that their result would also be negative but it in fact turned out to be positive? Please understand I'm not asking to undermine your knowledge and experience, on the contrary, I'm just amazed at your level of knowledge and experience and your response to me is allowing me to see that there is so much misinformation out there on this subject!
Thank you again, I look forward to your reply, and will update you with my results in a week or two when I get them!
Take care.
Wow, I'm shocked, and despite the fact that I'm still somewhat stressed and nervous about all this, I'm feeling alot more relief. I was so certainly sure that I had all the symptoms.
I'm going in for my next test on Monday, and although I do have some more questions, I'll respect your wishes to hold off until my results come in.
If you don't mind me just asking something not related to my symptoms or stress. I'm just quite amazed at how certain I am/was that I had a high risk situation and all the symptoms based on all the research I've done on the internet, and you've given me quite a secure statement saying that my result will be negative, have you ever had someone with a similar situation to mine in which you've stated to them that their result would also be negative but it in fact turned out to be positive? Please understand I'm not asking to undermine your knowledge and experience, on the contrary, I'm just amazed at your level of knowledge and experience and your response to me is allowing me to see that there is so much misinformation out there on this subject!
Thank you again, I look forward to your reply, and will update you with my results in a week or two when I get them!
Take care.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum. Essentially identical questions have been asked innumerable times so my replies are brief.
It is unlikely your partner had HIV, which remains rare in women in the US and other industrialized countries, including CSWs. If she was infected, the chance of transmission was under 1 in 2,000. And to answer your closing question: No, your symptoms are not consistent with HIV. Acute HIV symptoms cannot start sooner than 7-10 days after exposure and none of your symptoms suggests HIV anyway. New HIV infection does not cause gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and diarrhea, and doesn't cause head cold symptoms (runny/stuffy nose, for example). Further, about 70-80% of newly infected peole have positive blood tests by 23 days, so although your negative HIV antibody test result is not definitive, it is quite reassuring.
Since you're nervous about it, have another HIV test. You're just about at the 6 week mark, which is long enough for a definitive result. It will be negative. Feel free to return to post the result -- but let's hold off on follow-up comments until then.
Regards-- HHH, MD
It is unlikely your partner had HIV, which remains rare in women in the US and other industrialized countries, including CSWs. If she was infected, the chance of transmission was under 1 in 2,000. And to answer your closing question: No, your symptoms are not consistent with HIV. Acute HIV symptoms cannot start sooner than 7-10 days after exposure and none of your symptoms suggests HIV anyway. New HIV infection does not cause gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea and diarrhea, and doesn't cause head cold symptoms (runny/stuffy nose, for example). Further, about 70-80% of newly infected peole have positive blood tests by 23 days, so although your negative HIV antibody test result is not definitive, it is quite reassuring.
Since you're nervous about it, have another HIV test. You're just about at the 6 week mark, which is long enough for a definitive result. It will be negative. Feel free to return to post the result -- but let's hold off on follow-up comments until then.
Regards-- HHH, MD
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