"No risk"--how to deal with "symptoms" when you have HIV anxiety?

Hi,

Does anyone have suggestions of how to deal with HIV anxiety symptoms, even when you are told that your exposure is "no risk"?

I keep on thinking that every tiny change in my body is a symptom, especially because I've been suffering from frequent mouth ulcers for the past two months, got geographic tongue for the first time ever a few months ago, and feel like my dandruff/seborrheic dermatitis is getting worse, even though that's probably just due to dryness in the winter. I even got a rash from tight clothing a few months ago, which I freaked out about even though it went away within a few days and that the original "HIV rash" would have occurred much closer to the exposure (It's been over a year now).
I, like many, fall victim to excess googling, and whenever I read symptoms of complications of HIV, half of the time I seem to have them.
I know that in general these symptoms are not indicative of HIV, but together I keep thinking that somehow they only point to one thing.

Any thoughts or help for the weary who are hoping to move on with their lives?

[freemefromworry]

Also, a few weeks after my incident occurred, I came down with something--cough, headache, a bit of a sore throat, horrible congestion--that led me to go to the doctor. I was diagnosed with a sinus infection, and everything cleared up in a few days. To my knowledge, I did not have a fever or a rash, but I still keep wondering if I or the doctors somehow didn't notice something. I remember feeling awful, couldn't even go to class because my headaches were so bad. And I keep thinking this was ARS! My rational mind tells me that it was due to me being a first-semester college freshman in a new state under new stress and exposed to new germs, but every once in a while the bad side gets the best of me...
Can someone please confirm that I should not be concerned about this?

[stoll1]

Go visit a Dr that will help you with your anxiety
this is HIV prevention forum we don't deal with anxiety related issues, stop looking for symptoms if you didnt have a exposure to HIV thats my suggestion my friend

[LIZZIE LOU]

A lot of people have been writing questions about early symptoms of HIV infection. Many of these people do not seem to have any risk for HIV, but may be having some kind of anxiety related to an encounter with a sex worker (or as in the case of question one, a strip club). Most have tested negative for HIV and are beyond the window period. They report a wide array of symptoms, some of them are very severe. I think it is also significant that many of them appear to have been reading a lot about HIV since the incident which caused them to worry. Since these people are HIV negative, it seems logical to see a connection between their anxiety and their learning about HIV symptoms. Some of these correspondents report this connection after reflecting on it. For example, they develop diarrhea the day they read about that particular symptom.

The history of psychoanalysis is full of cases of people with severe physical symptoms which appear to have no organic cause (i.e. their labs are all negative), and which persist until some psychological movement is attained. Some people (called hypochondriacs) have this illness their whole life. They become obsessed with every symptom and continually shop for a doctor who will take their illnesses seriously. The saddest part about this pattern is that, for people who invest a great deal of their identity in being sick (and, as a result, sacrifice a lot of their relationships, time, and emotional energy), it can become very difficult to accept that they are not sick.

[Nebraska2]

My advice since I'm going through the same thing is quite simple. Remind yourself that your situation was a no risk. Also it helps to talk to someone like a Psychologist even thou its embarrassing it feels good to talk about it and they will recommend certain things you can do to calm yourself down. The mind is very powerful and you can make yourself Mimic symptoms by yourself.

[nursegirl6572]

* Any member who creates a second nickname will immediately be banned and have any subsequent nicknames banned.