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Brian

I wanted your opinion regarding my exposure. I was stuck by the needle works of an iv drug user. I do not use drugs or alchohol, ect, this just happened for reasons i can't understand. The police released this person and stated the individual was not hiv + even though an hiv test was not performed. This was determined because once arrested, meds for hvc / hiv were not requested.

  I was simply given an alchohol swab and band aid. The very next day i awoke to an infected wound and went to the emergency ward for treatment. I was given antbiotics & a tetnus shot, that's it. The next day i was feeling ill, fatigue / slight equalibrium anomilies / diareah / headache / frequent urination /swollen glands(under chin/ left groin / elbows / slight underarms) loss of appitite, weight loss began to occur even though i basically forced myself to eat the same amount of food i normally do. The symptoms never let up except the diareah did start to let up here and there, i also had some regualar bm's and then some pale colored stools (sorry for the graphic details).

The fatigue was the most debilitating aspect of the whole thing, the need to stay in and sleep. I missed two months of work! These are all of the symptoms that came afterwards- thurst / eyes-broken blood vessels, watering & crusting / wierd sensations running up/down my spine / tingling @ bottoms of my feet that progressed upwards to my shins / cold feet / stomach ache when taking food / white toungue / gingivitis / dry mouth / new moles cropping up (face / body) / change in appearance face / skin anomilies- blochy / change in muscle tone / sinus pressure / stiff neck / enlarged or swollen feel to my liver and spleen / sore feeling - kidneys / rapid heartbeat / fluctuating weight / insomnia.....

  I tested std / hiv- @ 30 days even though i felt awful and extremley fatigued, i went again @ 12 weeks and recieved the same results, neg for stds/ hiv, while still experiencing fatigue three months down the line. My doctor says strees / depression / anxiety which is true but the situation warrants. This happened on July 26th and i have not been my normal, healthy, athletic self every scince. I know i got hiv Brian, that's gotta be it man. I've been told by Teak / Rae1 / Lizzy Lou and read that even if coinfected my results would have registered during my tests if +. Dr.HHH and Hook also state so in various posts. On other sites the information varies.

What do you think?
I think i've had most of every symptom imaginable except fever / vomiting / naseau / rash. I've read that rash & fever usually occur in both infections sepratley, if i had both i would imagine i would more prone to have gone through these symptoms...

Sorry for the amount of reading required to get throught my post.


29 Responses
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Avatar universal
I told you i was going to wait until Friday, then leave the forum until, thats a good step right?
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186166 tn?1385259382
not trying very hard, are you?  i see that you are on the forum first thing this morning.
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Avatar universal
  Okay, thanks Dummy123.
I'm going to try harder...
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Avatar universal
There's something else fuelling your anxiety - HIV infection shouldn't be worrying you as your test results have been -ve. Your twelve week result is conclusive - what makes you think your biology is so different to that of the rest of us that would make your twelve week negative result different?

When you're in an anxiety state, for every answer someone gives, you'll find a fault with it and raise your anxiety further - which is what is coming across in your posts. You should seek out a good counsellor and get rid of these thoughts once and for all.
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Avatar universal
I don't want anyone to pity me. As for my family, i would never share this with them, espeially if my status changes. I'm completley sane, there is no ocd envolved as i was actually stuck with a syringe, i just can't get over it, my life had been potentially ruined and then i see other taking willful risks escaping w/o any stds/ hiv practically bug chasing and think to myself, what are the odds? I can't get over my exposure so  and yes i've been  meditating on these thoughts for a while but anyone would, given the circumstances. I'm going to apologize for loosing my grip, but i'm exhausted with worry, ect...sorry my friends, consider me a lost cause @ best.
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186166 tn?1385259382
i just dont know what to say to you chapeau.  everything that can be said has already been said over and over and over and over again.

i hope that you seek the mental help you sooooooooo desperately need.
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Avatar universal
Don't expect pity from me because I won't give you any. You need to seek professional mental help.
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Avatar universal
You state also "Worst thing i've done so far is google-hiv toungue."

you are clearly being counter-productive to yourself.
If anything, you should beseeking a pshychologist/psychyatrist that can deal with these acute fears and unneeded stress/anxiety that you are placing yourself in.  Instead of search engines dealing with HIV factors and symptoms, why don't you try searching for OCD/HIV phobia gudelines and symptoms....that seems more appropriate.
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Avatar universal
You state:
" I'm going to leave this forum for the momment @ the of this week (Fri) scince i've become obsessed , depressed and anxiety ridden from continuously searching the web".

Yes, that would BE best for you.

You state also:
"@ this point i want nothing more than just to end my life"

I think you best contact someone (a friend, family member or call 911) immediately if you indeed are feeling this way.

Your irrational fear of HIV has spiraled wayyyyy out of control.  It is controlling YOU.

B.
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Avatar universal
Worst thing i've done so far is google-hiv toungue. My toungue looks just like most of the images posted, plus i've been having ongoing mouth issues since the exposure. It's been hard to diffrentiate from my experienced symptoms and my test results. I appreciate all of the information and encouragement Rae1/ Teak / Lizzie Lou. I just still believe that given my heavy symptoms, high risk exposure and slight changes in my physical appearance that i will re-test as positive, in fact i've come to accept that this is my future. I'm going to leave this forum for the momment @ the of this week (Fri) scince i've become obsessed , depressed and anxiety ridden from continuously searching the web. I will wait until Feb to worry even more, i've decided that if i take a break now while i can, that i should take advantantage of this. I will try to think about what i would do if i tested negative in Feb for the time being, because after a positive result, those thoughts will not cross my mind again except in reflection. I gotta say that i never thought i'd find myself in the shoes i'm about to put on, i'm not even afraid to die @ this point i want nothing more than just to end my life after a few things i've always wanted to do, which i'm not even certain i really want to bother doing anyways, it won't be the same. it's more for me about what will i do, where should i do it , when should i do it , how...I think that i will truely loose what thread of sanity i have left if i'm +, after all the testing, all those odds, the circumstances of exposure , i'm not going to be strong enough to handle anymore mental burdons. Anything you want to relay to me, please do so by Friday. You guys have been wonderful to me, Teak, Liz, Rae1, i admire you for your strengths and advice.

C H A P E A U
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Avatar universal
20 yrs / 900,000 exposures / 157 seroconversions....this data is even better than i could hope for Teak / Lizzie Lou. Can i ask you if you could post any data that you know of regarding exposures similar to mine, were the person exposed did not use pep? If it's not convienient for you, i'll fully understand. Thank you for passing this info on to me guys.
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186166 tn?1385259382
yes chapeau...YOU ARE NEGATIVE
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Avatar universal
If you want to use occupational exposures as a guide then you should know. There have been over 900,000 occupational exposures in the US and less than 157 have seroconverted. That is the total in 20 something years.
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Avatar universal
  This makes things difficult because the reason i was using health care workers as a guide was due to the similarities we share in common-non-iv drug addicts exposed to iv drug users needle. I made the mistake of not factoring in that they were most likely taking pep after exposure which can in some, but not all cases can cause the exposed persons window period to extend beyond guidlines. So because there is no special caviat by the cdc regarding needle stick exposure and seroconversion times, then i should take my test results @ face value?
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Avatar universal
you have to realize the HCWs had an occupational exposure in which they were on PEP for 4-6 weeks afterwards. Hep C was never proven to delay the window period in these cases nor the most recent case reported in 2007 (in which PEP was used as well). Take into account nearly 30% of all HIV infected folks have Hep C as well and you get over 300k folks in the U.S.

3 cases out of over 300,000? I'll take my chances with the normal window period.
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186166 tn?1385259382
04/22/06 by Forum-M.D.-HHH


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Forum-M.D.-HHH
Seattle - WA  



Neither hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection nor any other medical condition delays HIV seroconversion or otherwise makes HIV testing any less reliable than normal, with the possible exception of profound immunodeficiency due to advanced cancer, potent chemotherapy, and the like--and probably not even those.

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Avatar universal
Heloo Rae1, Chapeau here. I could not retrieve the info you posted to me, if possible could you tell me what you found or paste it to the forum? I'm not the best with computers....Thanks again Rae1. Sorry, i'm having a really hard time with this, the facts are all over the map.
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Avatar universal
another: http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/Hepatitis/Current/Q187853.html
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Avatar universal
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Avatar universal
also, before the three HCWs are quoted -- it is stated in the article that HCV was not proven to be the cause of a delayed seroconversion.

I'm sure each of the HCWs took post exposure prophylaxis which delayed the window period.
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Avatar universal
where has it been proven that hep c delays seroconversion?
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Avatar universal
  So many symptoms have occured, plus you stated that Dr.Bob made a podcast statement regarding hiv/hcv co-infections taking longer than average to seroconvert, this was why i called on you to take a look @ my symptoms. I will be testing in Feb @ the 6 months/1 week mark of my possible exposure.
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Avatar universal
A 12 week test indicated lack of infection. If that were the case, you would have had numerous helth problems, which you state none. No less, none of your tests were indeterminate. At 12 weeks....SOMETHING would have shown. Therefore you were at no risk for this situation. Your mind is encaptured in a prison of HIV fear and worry. One that no person online can resolve but you and possibly a therapist at this point.
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Avatar universal
You stated that if a co-infection had occured it would indeed obscure someones test results, that's what triggered the post, i wanted to hear your take on this if you had something to add. Teak / Lizzy Lou / Dummy / Brian, i'm sane it's just that's an apauling amount of symptoms, it's not easy to just shirk them off regardless of my test results, but you don't think anything of them? No red flags in your eyes? I'm not feeling sorry for myself, i'm still very serioulsy concerned about my exposure and possible complications that may occur during testing, don't i sound rational? I'm not like these others on here, my risk was very high, the highest in fact. I've also read that even a preconteaneous skin ***** can transmit the virus, it doesn't have to be localized to a vein, as many health care workers have seroconverted from just such an incedent. Please don't just write me off as mental, there must be another explanation envolved here. Why did my symptoms start so early and so strong yet were not picked up during exam is puzzling, please help me figure this one out, hiv is still a possibility....
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