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Irrational Anxiety?
A little background: I am a 26 year old heterosexual male, was in a monogamous relationship for 8 years and each other's only partner during this time. We broke up a year ago and I have been abstinent since then.
Almost six weeks ago I had protected sex with a sex worker in Cancun. I was intoxicated and it was a poor decision that I immediately regretted the next morning. I am not 100% sure that the condom didn't break, but I know that's my anxiety speaking. It was protected oral and vaginal sex, lasting no longer than 10 minutes total, same condom, and no ejaculation. Like I said, when I took the condom off, it appeared intact, but I was quite drunk. Could there have been a hole in the top or on the side? I don't know...sounds doubtful from what I hear about other people's experiences with condom failure.
My anxiety and guilt continued and two weeks later I started experiencing flank pain on both sides, and frequent urination (like every half hour.) I went to the local urgent care thinking it was a uti and explained my situation to the doctor. After my urine showed no bacteria, he diagnosed me with chlamydia, and said that even though there was no discharge and that I used a condom that it was still possible and this was his diagnosis. This sent me into a panic. He did a urethral swab. I was treated appropriately with a shot and four pills. The test results came back negative after three agonizing days for common stds which was a huge relief.
Four weeks after the sexual encounter, my anxiety flared back up when I started thinking I was having ARS symptoms. Pain in legs, a couple of canker sores in my mouth, etc. I was spending way too much time on the internet trying to self diagnose. So, at 33 days past the encounter I took a Home Access Express HIV test which came back negative. Again, my anxiety was dulled and my symptoms faded.
My question is, at this point, would further testing be warranted other than to relieve my anxiety? I know some of the doctors on here say six weeks is conclusive and the cdc says 3 months for a conclusive test. It will be six weeks exactly this Thursday and it seems that I am just being consumed by my anxiety and fear of possible contraction of HIV even though this was a low to no risk situation.
Almost six weeks ago I had protected sex with a sex worker in Cancun. I was intoxicated and it was a poor decision that I immediately regretted the next morning. I am not 100% sure that the condom didn't break, but I know that's my anxiety speaking. It was protected oral and vaginal sex, lasting no longer than 10 minutes total, same condom, and no ejaculation. Like I said, when I took the condom off, it appeared intact, but I was quite drunk. Could there have been a hole in the top or on the side? I don't know...sounds doubtful from what I hear about other people's experiences with condom failure.
My anxiety and guilt continued and two weeks later I started experiencing flank pain on both sides, and frequent urination (like every half hour.) I went to the local urgent care thinking it was a uti and explained my situation to the doctor. After my urine showed no bacteria, he diagnosed me with chlamydia, and said that even though there was no discharge and that I used a condom that it was still possible and this was his diagnosis. This sent me into a panic. He did a urethral swab. I was treated appropriately with a shot and four pills. The test results came back negative after three agonizing days for common stds which was a huge relief.
Four weeks after the sexual encounter, my anxiety flared back up when I started thinking I was having ARS symptoms. Pain in legs, a couple of canker sores in my mouth, etc. I was spending way too much time on the internet trying to self diagnose. So, at 33 days past the encounter I took a Home Access Express HIV test which came back negative. Again, my anxiety was dulled and my symptoms faded.
My question is, at this point, would further testing be warranted other than to relieve my anxiety? I know some of the doctors on here say six weeks is conclusive and the cdc says 3 months for a conclusive test. It will be six weeks exactly this Thursday and it seems that I am just being consumed by my anxiety and fear of possible contraction of HIV even though this was a low to no risk situation.
Thank you for your quick response. You, Teak, the doctors, and other knowledgable members on this forum do a great job and should be commended for helping people on this site. Yea, as I typed out the whole situation, it felt like my anxious side was slowly losing a battle to my logical side. I will take your advice and take the steps to properly deal with my anxiety. Thanks again.
condom failure is CATASTROPHIC...you would have known.
the sex worker would have told you also. they have sex for a living...it's a job. they use condoms to protect THEMSELVES from YOU. she would have been upset.
you had NO risk...further testing is not needed.
the sex worker would have told you also. they have sex for a living...it's a job. they use condoms to protect THEMSELVES from YOU. she would have been upset.
you had NO risk...further testing is not needed.
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