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Joint Pain + other symptoms

Hi,

I have a bit of a question. I've read numerous posts about ARS symptoms, but I still can't find the answer I'm looking for.

About 4 weeks ago I had unprotected oral sex with someone (unknown HIV status). He didn't ejaculate inside of me, but I did get some pre *** in my mouth. Took me more than half an hour to get rid of it (maybe i did get rid of it, and the slimy thing left in my throat was just slime).

I know there is a risk from precum, but i always thought the risk was extremely low.

11 days after exposure I started having a sore throat. The soreness was only on the right side. Besides that i've felt slight pain under my armpit and groin area, but could not find any swollen lymph nodes. 4 days later the sore throat was almost over, but i started to feel feverish. I monitored my body temperature, but never came above 37.6. I had that during the evening, and an hour later is was less. The same was the evening after that, but i reached a temperature of 37.4. Now I don't know if those temperatures are considered as Fever. remeber, the sore throat at that point was almost gone.

Two days later, when i didnt feel feverish anymore, the sore throat came back and hurt me for like a week, before vanishing again. In the meantime i suffered from night sweats 2 or 3 nights in a row (my feet actually started sweating before falling asleep). Besides that I started developing a kind of rash on my chest (in the area between the nipples) that started out itchy, but stopped being itchy after half a day. While the night sweats disappeared i started noticing pain in one of my figers. the pain would be there for a minute, and go away...and came back, then went away etc...the pain was not constant, but i feel it periodelically. Besides that finger, more fingers started to hurt, my wirsts were mildly hurting and had 1 or two episodes or elbow pain. And of course the musles in my forearm (under the elbow) started huring.

To top it all of I felt abdominal pain in the bottow left and right quadrant.

I did a normal blood test (no hiv, cause i wasn't concerned at that moment), and the result was that my monocyte count was higher than normal, suggesting an infection.

So I have some question:

1. The sore throat began at day 11. And it hurt only my right side. Is an ARs sore throat painful on both sides, or can it also affect only 1 side.

2. 4 days after the sore throat began, is started feeling feverish. A few days after that came the night sweats. During the 2nd/3rd day of nigth sweats i developed pain in my joints. I've read that symptoms come and go all at once. Do you guys consider this an "all at once" situation, or is this more widespread?

3. Joint ache is so general. In ARS, do people have constant joint pains, or do they come and go through the day?

4. Does oral sex stimulate slime production in the throat? The way I've experienced it, it felt like i got tons of pre *** in my mounth, cause it took me ages to get rid of the slimy substance in my throat. Could it have been just slime, or a slimey something my body produces, or was it really the precum?

Thank you in advance!

12 Responses
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Avatar universal
wow, you're fast...compliments for that!:) i thought it was another name for some other known infection:)  thank you very much
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Avatar universal
Infections that have nothing to do with HIV.
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Avatar universal
just one more question...nursegirl mentioned garden variety infection....can someone explain to me what that is?
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Avatar universal
Hi nursegirl,

thank you. It is the timing thing actually. First you don't think much of it. Then you do a regular blood test...doctor says you have an infection because of a high monocyte count. You start symptom surfing, and the first thing you find is HIV/ARS. So the panic attack starts....


The mind is really an interesting thing. It can make you believe whatever it wants you to believe. I've read posts about people using protection and then freak out when they get symptoms. And then I'm thinking: RELAX, you had no risk whatsoever. At the same time I'm stressing myself out because I got precum in my mouth, and others are thinking: RELAX, you had no risk whatsoever.  If only i could have told myself that, I wouldnt have wasted days stressing out.

But I will get the HIV test, just in case...you never know who might be the exception to the rule, and it will easy my mind, i hope:)
Helpful - 0
480448 tn?1426948538
As teak and lizzie said...you didnt have a risk.  Most likely, you have a garden variety infection...or something like strep throat, which would cause every symptom you described.  Timing is everything...so many people happen to get harnless infections after a sexual encounter that causes them to spiral out of control, thinking the worst.

If you REALLY are having a hard time moving on, past this...then test for your own peace of mind.  But, realize that testing for HIV is in NO way necessary based on your encounter.  If this is the only "risk" you've had, your test will be unequivocably negative.

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Avatar universal
Hey guys,

thank you for clearing up the misinformation i got on pre *** (some articles even said that precum has high concentrations and that there was a risk, as big as getting semen in your mouth). So now i must find out what infection i do have, cause the doctor said i had one, but couldnt yet tell what:(
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Avatar universal
You have read incorrect information on oral sex.
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Avatar universal
Hey Lizzy Lou,

thanks for clearing that up, but I read almost everywhere that having pre *** in your mouth does carry a risk, that's why I'm worried. Before I read anything about pre *** I wasn't even stressed out. I thought I had a regular infection because of the throat ache. So my doctor did a simple blood test and stated that I indeed have an infection (but couldnt tell which one yet). So i started reading a noticed a lot of articles say pre *** does carry a risk, even orally. And so the stress began:(
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186166 tn?1385259382
YOU WERE NEVER AT RISK
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Avatar universal
the things i couldn't find an answer two were the 4 questions at the end of my post. I know about the symptoms and all, and I also know that some may be part due to anxiety. But the 4 questions in the end of my post are the ones that I don't have an answer to, and because of the lack of answers i feel very stressed out:(
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
You didn't look very hard or you would have read about a 1000 or more posts on oral sex.
Helpful - 0
186166 tn?1385259382
IF you've read numerous posts here, then you should know what we are going to say.

oral sex is not a risk.
Helpful - 0
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