Hello
I am glad this sort of forum exists. Thanks!
I will write my story line here. Hopefully it could help for any advice and general knowledge for all readers. I have included all symptoms and contributory events (sorry if I am graphic).
I broke up with a boyfriend and went crazy meeting other guys. I had unprotected receptive anal sex with guy 1 but w/o ejaculation on the 3rd week of October/09. Couple of days after ward I had protected insertive anal sex with guy 2. I come to develop diarrhea the last week of October. A week later I have receptive and insertive unprotected sex with guy 3 w/o ejaculation.
Early Dec I developed a mild sore throat and felt SOB. Early Dec I have protected receptive anal sex with guy 2 ( he started going in bare with precum, but then took it out and wore protection) and a week later I had unprotected receptive anal sex with guy 1 without ejaculation. NOTES: There was never inside ejaculation even when using protection, I always asked their status and they said negative (in retrospection, they didn’t act assuring) and diarrhea started late October.
Mid Dec, I went to get an HIV test, and it came back negative. ( I am not sure which test they did, but the drew blood, ELISA? or WESTERN?)
Mid Dec, I go on a beach camping trip and one night I woke up drenched in sweat, a fever and vomited. I had felt weird while eating those s’mores. The diarrhea persisted and actually worsen, rushing to the bathroom after meals and going right after ice cream.
Jan 1st , I leave to Europe and right before coming back on the 10th, I developed a cold. My sinuses were plugged, mucous, another sore throat, nightsweats, but no fever that I could tell (never measured it). A week later I found 4 submandibular lymph nodes (Doc said less than 1 cm). I later find more that the doc didn’t find… 1 submental, 1 post cervical, 1 on each clavicle, and hard masses over my parotids. The doc ordered some tests. Stool comes back positive for occult blood and leukocytes, and no P/O. CBC shows high albumin, high Hct, high Hg, no thrombocytopenia and WBC on the lower margin but still within range.
Throughout the month of January I had horrible headaches, really bad posterior right eye pain especially when I moved my eyes up, neck pain, SOB, transient pink marks on chest, nightmares, woke up every morning at 5:30 for no reason with strong chest pain, felt hot but no fever (walgreens thermometer marked highest 99 deg F for sublingual and 99.9 deg F for rectal. Each symptom lasted for about a week. I had lost appetite and lost around 10 lbs. The whole month of January was horrible. I felt depressed stressing this whole time about HIV.
I consult a gastro and go in for a colonoscopy first week of Feb. He found nodules on the sigmoid-rectal area. Biopsy comes back showing infiltrate on the basal lamina suggestive but not conclusive of IBD. They start me on mesalamine but the diarrhea hasn’t resolved.
Mid February I go in for another HIV test (blood drawn) and comes back negative. This was 2 months and 1 week (total 9 wks) after my last high risk sexual encounter ( and last encounter for a while).
My questions and thoughts are… I get this diarrhea in Oct and no other symptoms. With Feb test, I can tell that Oct diarrhea is prob not HIV related?
Ok, then I have an IBS or IBD (although no one in my fam has this). Does acute HIV infection show a similar picture as an IBD? Considering my ARS like symptoms in Jan, does my neg result in Feb conclude that Dec events were not contributory for HIV infection? …or should I keep on stressing? If not conclusive.. at this moment, are there any other specific tests I can do? Which test did they prob use if they drew blood and what is the specificity and sensitivity of it? Can having IBD put me more at risk of contracting HIV if anally receptive? Is there a thing as a slow progressor, could I be one considering my symptoms flu-like and associates symptoms presented a month after and a test 9 wks after exposure is negative?
Thank you for all your input. I hope this will help others with questions. I have been surfing this forum since early January! This has completely been affecting my life. Your help is greatly appreciated and I appreciate your time.
Yes, I do use a lot of medical terminology here, as I am a student in the health field but the physicians I visited seem not to care much about asking me about risks or even considered HIV. They were hesitant to ask me about my sexual life. It was frustrating. HIV tests were done at local LGBT clinic.