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any symptoms a year after exposure?
Dear Doctor,
This was my second time ever having unprotected. I am white female & had sex with a white male. I am American. I was tested for HIV-1 a little under the 3 month mark (about 11 and a half weeks). It has been almost a year after. I know that you're going to say I'm fine but after I got a very irritated and painful sore throat yesterday that left a small white dot, I'm starting to get nervous again. Weird things happen to me every now and then that I have not noticed before my whole HIV scare. I notice that I have one pea sized (also hard) lymph node in my left groin thats been there for a month or so.
1.) Did I get tested for the right thing? Was HIV-1 test all I needed at the 3 month mark? b/c hearing about all the HIV-2 talk in the forums is scaring me.
2.) I'm afraid the sore in my throat is a canker sore. I heard that's a possible sign of HIV. Is that true?
3.) My right side hurts every now and then and I heard that could be a sign of Hepatitis, but I was vaccinated for A and B and when I was tested for C it was negative, but maybe I did not test out far enough? Is Hep C sexually transmitted?
4.)If someone was infected twice within a few months by the same person, could that person have ARS twice?
Please help doc. I am very worried about the lymph node in groin and sore in my throat, even after my negative (almost 12 week post exposure) test. Could I have HIV?
This was my second time ever having unprotected. I am white female & had sex with a white male. I am American. I was tested for HIV-1 a little under the 3 month mark (about 11 and a half weeks). It has been almost a year after. I know that you're going to say I'm fine but after I got a very irritated and painful sore throat yesterday that left a small white dot, I'm starting to get nervous again. Weird things happen to me every now and then that I have not noticed before my whole HIV scare. I notice that I have one pea sized (also hard) lymph node in my left groin thats been there for a month or so.
1.) Did I get tested for the right thing? Was HIV-1 test all I needed at the 3 month mark? b/c hearing about all the HIV-2 talk in the forums is scaring me.
2.) I'm afraid the sore in my throat is a canker sore. I heard that's a possible sign of HIV. Is that true?
3.) My right side hurts every now and then and I heard that could be a sign of Hepatitis, but I was vaccinated for A and B and when I was tested for C it was negative, but maybe I did not test out far enough? Is Hep C sexually transmitted?
4.)If someone was infected twice within a few months by the same person, could that person have ARS twice?
Please help doc. I am very worried about the lymph node in groin and sore in my throat, even after my negative (almost 12 week post exposure) test. Could I have HIV?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
As I have said innumerable times on this forum, sympoms rarely are reliable indicators of HIV infection; and test results are virtually always reliable, especially more than 6-8 weeks after exposure. So before I even read beyond the first couple of sentence of your question, here is no realistic chance your symptoms are due to HIV that your acquired during the sexual exposure a year earlier--no matter what those symptoms are. In other words, your negative test result proves they are not due to HIV (unless of course you have had a more recent exposure you don't mention).
It also is obvious you have a typically inlfated perspective of how common heterosexually transmitted HIV is in the US. It remains rare and the odds that 1) your partner was infected and 2) if he was, you were infected are astronomically low.
1) HIV-2 is vanishingly rare in the US. There is no basis for worry about it. Anyway, many labs' routine tests now check for HIV-2. 2,3) Canker sores, sore throats, enlarged lymph nodes, and various aches and pains are extremely common symptoms in people without HIV. HIV never causes a single lymph node to be enlarged; it only causes widespread lymph node inflammation. Your symptoms do not even hint at HIV. 4) No, you cannot get ARS twice. It is rare to get super-infected with a second HIV strain.
I have 3 bits of advice for you. First, clearly your anxieties are such that my advice alone will not be sufficient to calm you fears, so have another HIV test to help convince yourself. 2) See a health care provider about your symptoms if they continue to concern you. 3) When you see the provider, ask about the possible value of referral for counseling. Your concerns really are not rational and suggest the potential of an underlying emotional condition. I suggest it out of compassion, not criticism.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
It also is obvious you have a typically inlfated perspective of how common heterosexually transmitted HIV is in the US. It remains rare and the odds that 1) your partner was infected and 2) if he was, you were infected are astronomically low.
1) HIV-2 is vanishingly rare in the US. There is no basis for worry about it. Anyway, many labs' routine tests now check for HIV-2. 2,3) Canker sores, sore throats, enlarged lymph nodes, and various aches and pains are extremely common symptoms in people without HIV. HIV never causes a single lymph node to be enlarged; it only causes widespread lymph node inflammation. Your symptoms do not even hint at HIV. 4) No, you cannot get ARS twice. It is rare to get super-infected with a second HIV strain.
I have 3 bits of advice for you. First, clearly your anxieties are such that my advice alone will not be sufficient to calm you fears, so have another HIV test to help convince yourself. 2) See a health care provider about your symptoms if they continue to concern you. 3) When you see the provider, ask about the possible value of referral for counseling. Your concerns really are not rational and suggest the potential of an underlying emotional condition. I suggest it out of compassion, not criticism.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
A related discussion, do i have hiv was started.
A related discussion, quick question was started.
A related discussion, Possible systoms after a year and 6 months of exposed was started.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
HIV-2 is so rare in the US that most likely there are no reliable data on frequency in one population group compared with any other (whether defined racially, economically, or otherwise). If such data exist, I am unaware of it. Most of the rare cases of HIV-2 are in immigrants, and I'm not sure whether there have been any documented sexual transmissions in the United States. If so, I imagine it might have occurred between two white people, but I doubt there are any data one way or the other. Just forget HIV-2; it's not a realistic issue for you.
This really is my last comment.
This really is my last comment.
might i add that the sores on the roof of my mouth started out as red dots then turned into small painless white dots. What type of infection could that be? I don't have a fever or any other known symptoms. Strep? mono? Please, I need to know. Is this something a person exposed after 1 year might experience? Thanks
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Neither HCV nor any other medical condition changes the results or reliability of HIV testing. Of course HIV transmissions have occurred between white men and women. So what? That you even ask that question is further evidence that you are not thinking objectively about your HIV risks.
I won't have any further comments.
I won't have any further comments.
Thank you for your very rapid response. I sometimes think about what you said. If he was infected, if he infected me, and the chance my tests did not pick it up by 3 months are pretty rare. I can assume you agree with me. I just cannot seem to get over the fact that after this incident I notice every little change on my body. If you don't mind I wanted to add one or two more questions I hope you can answer.
1.) I told you I was tested for HCV also, but if the test did not detect it, what are the chances that HCV could delay my HIV test past 3 months?
2.) Have there ever been any reported cases where a white person in the U.S. had sex with another white and they then became infected with HIV-2?
It would make me feel better if you could tell me your opinion on that, then I will look into getting counseling. Doctor, Please consider answering these for me. I greatly appreciate your kind words.
1.) I told you I was tested for HCV also, but if the test did not detect it, what are the chances that HCV could delay my HIV test past 3 months?
2.) Have there ever been any reported cases where a white person in the U.S. had sex with another white and they then became infected with HIV-2?
It would make me feel better if you could tell me your opinion on that, then I will look into getting counseling. Doctor, Please consider answering these for me. I greatly appreciate your kind words.
Sorry, I logged in under my old name...Not so hot shot is mine now. Thanks
Thank you for your very rapid response. I sometimes think about what you said. If he was infected, if he infected me, and the chance my tests did not pick it up by 3 months are pretty rare. I can assume you agree with me. I just cannot seem to get over the fact that after this incident I notice every little change on my body. If you don't mind I wanted to add one or two more questions I hope you can answer.
1.) I told you I was tested for HCV also, but if the test did not detect it, what are the chances that HCV could delay my HIV test past 3 months?
2.) Have there ever been any reported cases where a white person in the U.S. had sex with another white and they then became infected with HIV-2?
It would make me feel better if you could tell me your opinion on that, then I will look into getting counseling. Doctor, Please consider answering these for me. I greatly appreciate your kind words.
Thank you for your very rapid response. I sometimes think about what you said. If he was infected, if he infected me, and the chance my tests did not pick it up by 3 months are pretty rare. I can assume you agree with me. I just cannot seem to get over the fact that after this incident I notice every little change on my body. If you don't mind I wanted to add one or two more questions I hope you can answer.
1.) I told you I was tested for HCV also, but if the test did not detect it, what are the chances that HCV could delay my HIV test past 3 months?
2.) Have there ever been any reported cases where a white person in the U.S. had sex with another white and they then became infected with HIV-2?
It would make me feel better if you could tell me your opinion on that, then I will look into getting counseling. Doctor, Please consider answering these for me. I greatly appreciate your kind words.
I see you just said you won't have any further comments but I think you read my question wrong...I asked has there ever been a reported case where a white male and white female recieved HIV-2....i know HIV-1 is more common but i wanted to know if HIV-2 could happen, since it is more common in African Americans.
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