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HIV? ARS? OR ANXIETY?
I've been told by people that my exposure was of 0 risk. But I realised that I've been falling sick often and I'm extremely worried and anxious. 8 weeks post exposure, I developed sore throat, body ache, slight fever and then dry cough that went on for a week. I recovered after that. Last week (13th week) I had slight body aches and mild fever and now (14th week), I'm having slight fever and sore throat. Are these symptoms of ARS? I've been gravely worried that I've lost interest in life. My initial exposure to HIV was 14 weeks ago, I touched the panty of a suspected female contact, then with the same finger, 10 mins later, touched water and then my penis head while urinating. Is it a risk? Am I just over worrying? Am I having ARS? Does 0 risk means 0 risk, no chance at all?
If these thoughts continue, then your best bet is to seek professional mental help. It has been thoroughly explained to you why you are not at risk. No more comments, this thread is over.
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Yeah but sometimes things happening around gives me an impression that i may have had an exposure. I fell sick on wednesday with a sore throat and slight fever and recovered on thursday itself but now, since yesterday i'm sneezing and having a runny nose. i'm really afraid that my immune system is down due to HIV. or maybe all this are symptoms of ARS. it's been 14 weeks since exposure and this is the second time, i had once had a dry cough and sore throat on the 8th week. I'm not sure why I'm falling sick quite often and I'm gravely worried over this situation. Also, the female contact whose panty I had touched is back in my country, that means she did not have her permit cancelled due to HIV, because if she did, she would not have been able to enter my country again. However she goes through a 6 monthy HIV test and I'm afraid that she is yet to take her blood test and maybe she was indeed infected when I touched her panty. So many thoughts are running and I am trying my best to avoid these illogical and unnecessary thoughts.
I thought kev advised you very clearly on this but I will try to repeat it once more: indirect contact with fluids outside the body NEVER results in HIV transmission. The virus is extremely fragile and requires direct inoculation INSIDE a human body to transmit, such as a bare penis inside a vagina or rectum (i.e. unprotected vaginal or anal sex). The virus "dies" so to speak once it has left the confines of the human body and there is no possibility of infection whatsoever once this has happened. What you did was completely innocent and inconsequential and you should not waste emotional energy worrying about it.
Many more thanks Kevin. i'm starting to feel more confident that i'm indeed normal and not suffering from HIV. last few days, especially Tuesday and Wednesday were so bad, i was crying to sleep that I've not much time left in this world. i'm starting to adapt but whenever i do some research online or come across HIV/AIDS campaign where they state '' you never know you're infected'' and stuff, it freaks me out. i start to get into that mood where i just start thinking of all the possibilities that could have happened to indeed infect me with HIV. some websites talk about a theoretical risk and stuff even for the slightest of situations like massage parlor and stripper's club, mine was a casual situation but still it really freaks me out when i think that i might have indeed touched INDIRECTLY some infected fluid from the lady. can you help me to tackle out this confusions? appreciate your caring attitude.
"does it sound anything like a risk scenario?"
Hi there,
No absolutely and 100% no. There is absolutely no risk. I am at greater risk of getting HIV through your activities than you and my risk is zero.
Buddy, it is clear from your posts you are sexually immature and as such I would like to give you some advise. HIV is extremely difficult to transmit even under ideal circumstances. It is only ever transmitted, sexually, through unprotected vaginal and anal intercourse. There is no other way. HIV is very much an indoor virus, it cannot survive outside the human body, so touching somebody, even some bodies private parts carries zero risk of an infection. HIV cannot grow legs and suddenly jump from one person to another, it needs to remain within a very specific environment to survive ( inside the body).
You have not made a stupid mistake buddy, you touched somebody, you experimented sexually for the first time. Buddy this is not a crime. Even if the lady involved had HIV , which you don't know for sure you could not possibly have contracted HIV from this. It is literally impossible and on a planet where anything is possible that is saying something.
The golden rule is never have unprotected vaginal or anal sex with anybody unless you are absolutely certain of their HIV status. Please remember this and you will never have any HIV worries in future. To date you have adhered to this rule, so you have no worries now. Buddy, this is an HIV forum, if I or anybody here thought for one second you were at risk it would be stated. You were not.
Your fears really are founded on a basic misconception about HIV and I am guessing a feeling of guilt. If talking to a doctor or even somebody close to you would help, please do so, because to be honest with you I don't think actually contracting HIV is your issue, it really is an unfounded fear of contracting it.
Take care Kevin.
Hi there,
No absolutely and 100% no. There is absolutely no risk. I am at greater risk of getting HIV through your activities than you and my risk is zero.
Buddy, it is clear from your posts you are sexually immature and as such I would like to give you some advise. HIV is extremely difficult to transmit even under ideal circumstances. It is only ever transmitted, sexually, through unprotected vaginal and anal intercourse. There is no other way. HIV is very much an indoor virus, it cannot survive outside the human body, so touching somebody, even some bodies private parts carries zero risk of an infection. HIV cannot grow legs and suddenly jump from one person to another, it needs to remain within a very specific environment to survive ( inside the body).
You have not made a stupid mistake buddy, you touched somebody, you experimented sexually for the first time. Buddy this is not a crime. Even if the lady involved had HIV , which you don't know for sure you could not possibly have contracted HIV from this. It is literally impossible and on a planet where anything is possible that is saying something.
The golden rule is never have unprotected vaginal or anal sex with anybody unless you are absolutely certain of their HIV status. Please remember this and you will never have any HIV worries in future. To date you have adhered to this rule, so you have no worries now. Buddy, this is an HIV forum, if I or anybody here thought for one second you were at risk it would be stated. You were not.
Your fears really are founded on a basic misconception about HIV and I am guessing a feeling of guilt. If talking to a doctor or even somebody close to you would help, please do so, because to be honest with you I don't think actually contracting HIV is your issue, it really is an unfounded fear of contracting it.
Take care Kevin.
thanks kevin, actually i'm kinda adapting myself back to the real world again. but the thing is, what freaks me out is, the panty of whom i touched, the woman, she was just a casual online friend. she works in my county, i dont know much about her (just online), and now she has apparently left my country, and she doesn't appear online anymore at all. i've got this bad feeling that she was HIV+ and that's why she has been kicked out of the country, her permit cancelled and stuff. but i didn't have sex with her, no oral sex, not even mouth to mouth kissing. we met up in a shopping centre, we hugged, i was touching her around and then while touching her thighs, i went higher up and touched her panty (this kills me day and night). i'm not even sure if i touched her vagina or what(i've not seen one in real, i'm still a virgin), the part of the panty just felt bumpy and dry. after that we just left. but 3 months later(now), i've got alot of thoughts coming up, what if her panty was wet, what if i touched the wet part, and what if while on the way back from shopping centre, if i had decided to urinate, wet finger touch my genita, HIV this, HIV that, keeps on running on my head. but you guys have done a great deal in cooling my anxiety down. from what i've written here, does it sound anything like a risk scenario? i swear this is the closest stuff i've done, i've never had sex, no oral sex, no mouth to mouth kissing, i dont want this stupid mistake of mine to ruin my entire life.
Hi there,
Buddy you need to start living in the real world. When you are told continually that you were not at risk, that there is not a chance you could have contracted HIV from what you did, that the risk was nonexistent, you are faced with very simple choices. The logical choice is simply say “ ok maybe I didn’t really understand anything at all about HIV and how it is transmitted, thanks for clarifying it for me guys” and move on with your life. Or you can continue doing what you are doing, looking all around the net, trying to convince yourself that despite every single thing that is known about HIV, the impossible really did happen and you against all the odds have made medical history.
There is no chance, absolutely zero chance; none whatsoever you could possibly contracted HIV from the circumstances you have described. Really, buddy, let this go and get on with your life. It really is far too short to worry endlessly and pointlessly over nothing.
If you cannot accept this, go see a doctor and ask to be checked out. Your status will be negative.
Kevin.
Buddy you need to start living in the real world. When you are told continually that you were not at risk, that there is not a chance you could have contracted HIV from what you did, that the risk was nonexistent, you are faced with very simple choices. The logical choice is simply say “ ok maybe I didn’t really understand anything at all about HIV and how it is transmitted, thanks for clarifying it for me guys” and move on with your life. Or you can continue doing what you are doing, looking all around the net, trying to convince yourself that despite every single thing that is known about HIV, the impossible really did happen and you against all the odds have made medical history.
There is no chance, absolutely zero chance; none whatsoever you could possibly contracted HIV from the circumstances you have described. Really, buddy, let this go and get on with your life. It really is far too short to worry endlessly and pointlessly over nothing.
If you cannot accept this, go see a doctor and ask to be checked out. Your status will be negative.
Kevin.
thanks once again. on repeatedly reading over positive comments, my mood is starting to improve. perviously, i would tend to behave as though i'm indeed HIV + and as though this whole world has come to an end. i can see myself coming out of this disastrous thoughts but sometimes, some HIV risk situations and some expert advice tend to put me into depression mood again. for example, yes my questions include alot of WHAT IFs, if the contact of mine had indeed wet her panty, and i touched it, and about 10 mins later, if i had touched my urethra/penis, am i put into risk? it's nice that you guys say that it's NO RISK, but certain websites, especially the body.com where DR Robert assesses various risk situations. in certain cases similar to mine, he calls the risk non-existent. BUT, in another similar case ( a case whereby a guy gets showered by a female CSW, she puts her finger into her vagina, it's wet and then she touches that guys urethra/penis), DR Roberts put the risk to be essentially non-existent. this kind of comments rather keep on waking the undesirable thoughts in my mind that actually i might have indeed been infected by the slightest possible risk in this world. i would really appreciate if you guys can clear these thoughts spinning through my head.
Hi there,
You seem to ave entered the area of what if's. Please you need to withdraw from this place and start to come back to reality. The reality is that in the entire 30 years of the HIV outbreak it as never been transmitted the way you describe, not once. IF HIV was transmitted the way you describe far more people would have it, the fact is that it not.
Having a weird feeling that you will test positive will have absolutely zero bearing on any HIV test you may wish to take, because it will certainly be negative. You were safe, 100% safe and you can categorically move on with your life.
These are just words on a forum, which hopefully you will take comfort from. Naturally if you cannot or need further reassurance then medical science is your best option. It will say to you exactly what I have just said. You were not at risk, you could not possibly have contracted HIV from the way you describe.
Regards Kevin.
You seem to ave entered the area of what if's. Please you need to withdraw from this place and start to come back to reality. The reality is that in the entire 30 years of the HIV outbreak it as never been transmitted the way you describe, not once. IF HIV was transmitted the way you describe far more people would have it, the fact is that it not.
Having a weird feeling that you will test positive will have absolutely zero bearing on any HIV test you may wish to take, because it will certainly be negative. You were safe, 100% safe and you can categorically move on with your life.
These are just words on a forum, which hopefully you will take comfort from. Naturally if you cannot or need further reassurance then medical science is your best option. It will say to you exactly what I have just said. You were not at risk, you could not possibly have contracted HIV from the way you describe.
Regards Kevin.
I've been in that place too where you think you're going to test positive even though you've been told otherwise. That is the anxiety. You are safe, no need to worry anymore.
Remember the genuine risks of HIV sexually are unprotected anal and vaginal sex. Re-read the threat at the top of the forum "The biology of no/low risk". It helps understand the reasoning behind your assessment.
If you still feel uneasy, talk to a HIV/AIDS therapist. This concern is more common than you think.
Remember the genuine risks of HIV sexually are unprotected anal and vaginal sex. Re-read the threat at the top of the forum "The biology of no/low risk". It helps understand the reasoning behind your assessment.
If you still feel uneasy, talk to a HIV/AIDS therapist. This concern is more common than you think.
Thanks for those calming words. My main concern was IF her panty was wet, and I touched the wet panty, and then 10 mins later IF i went to a toilet and while urinating, held my penis and touched it, then I might be in danger. This is the scenario that keeps running in my mind but yeah I've been repeatedly told there is NO RISK. Even then, I'm afraid to take a blood test, I got this wierd feeling that i might test POSITIVE even when I had no risk. I really like what you said, how the internet fuels up your anxiety. So I am safe right? Can I just forget this and move on with my life? I really pray things look bright soon.
I also wanted to add, from my own experience.
The more I read other peoples experiences the cloudier it may my own judgement in to thinking no risk situations were actually risk situations. The majority of the people that post here are in very low or no risks situations. But sometimes I found that other people's anxiety fed my own.
Therefore keep the internet browsing on HIV to a minimum or none at all. There is too much misinformation out there and irrational minds are easily misled.
The more I read other peoples experiences the cloudier it may my own judgement in to thinking no risk situations were actually risk situations. The majority of the people that post here are in very low or no risks situations. But sometimes I found that other people's anxiety fed my own.
Therefore keep the internet browsing on HIV to a minimum or none at all. There is too much misinformation out there and irrational minds are easily misled.
If your risk was just touching a panty then you had no risk. HIV cannot by contracted by inanimate objects.
Second of all, symptoms mean nothing when it comes to HIV as a percentage of people get no symptoms at all.
Third, say you had a risk in the first place if you were having symptoms they would start between 2-4 weeks post exposure. 8 weeks past is way too long.
No chance at all for you. Luckily, we have all pretty much been here in this worried boat with you. If you have lost interest in life I recommend talking to a therapist. Most AIDS charities have persons that are willing to speak to concerned people about there situation no matter what it is. If you feel you can get over it on your own maybe getting a negative test would be an option too. Although you didn't do anything that warrants testing in the first place, sometimes a negative test result ends anxiety on the spot.
Second of all, symptoms mean nothing when it comes to HIV as a percentage of people get no symptoms at all.
Third, say you had a risk in the first place if you were having symptoms they would start between 2-4 weeks post exposure. 8 weeks past is way too long.
No chance at all for you. Luckily, we have all pretty much been here in this worried boat with you. If you have lost interest in life I recommend talking to a therapist. Most AIDS charities have persons that are willing to speak to concerned people about there situation no matter what it is. If you feel you can get over it on your own maybe getting a negative test would be an option too. Although you didn't do anything that warrants testing in the first place, sometimes a negative test result ends anxiety on the spot.
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