Onset of symptoms, body under stress?

[123xyz098]

27 year old male, 1-15-10  had vaginal intercourse w/ mexican sex worker, used a condom. Shaved pubic hair roughly 8 to 9 hours prior w/ no obvious cuts. In the hours before intercourse I drank a large enough amount of hard alchohol to where I almost vomited. During sex, vaginal fluid (but mostly lube) came into contact with about an inch of skin the condom wasn't covering. Went to sleep at 6 am for 2 hours then showered. That morning, and every morning since (7 days) I've had diarreah. Exactly 35.5 hours after intercourse I noticed a hard (not really visible) swollen painful lymph node on the left side below my ear next to my upper jaw line as well as one on the right side symetrically placed which was not painful. A doctor confirmed they are swollen upon examining. That morning I also had a bad headache which has been lessening to just "head pressure." My thermometer in the mornings say 97.6F and later in the day it's gotten as high as 98.7F but usually hangs around 98F to 98.4F. My normal body temperature in the past has usually stayed below 98.6 so I can't tell if it's a mild fever or a cheap thermometer (the battery is good.) My face is always hot though like I have a fever. I have continued nausea, and one of the worst symptoms outside the constant swollen nodes is it's really hard to eat. One day my tongue felt numb because I had a white fuzz on it but it's not as bad now. My stomach has had aches on both sides and feels sensitive if I step down too hard on my feet. I do feel incredible stress over this incident and shake occasionally from anxiety. I've stopped doing everything I used to do and can barely make it through work. I don't think I'm extra tired, but it's hard to bring myself to do anything and I'm not getting good sleep. Today I noticed both lymph nodes ached without touching just by turning my head in bed. They also feel like they've maintained their size. My hands have also felt like they have a weak grip for the past 5 or so days. * On a side note; 3 days after my incident I noticed what looks like a needle punture wound in my middle back. It hurt upon touch and was a little red around the edges. Today it's still visible but not as painful. I was in a dark clu, and I did turn my back and get a massage from the woman so maybe it's possible being that drunk I could've been stuck w/ needle w/out noticing. I understand that the only way to know is to get tested, but I'm on day 7, so I can't get a proper test yet right? Basically, I've looked up the statistics, even on needle pokes, and I'm just curious if all these symptoms could really be in my head? The alchohol maybe caused the lymphs, the stress caused the head pressure, the constant diarreah, the nasea, and the hot face, and the lack of exercise caused the weak hand and shakyness? Any opinions? What's the best way to test if I want a reasonable result sooner than later...should I do the standard one w/ the pcr at 28 days? Any input is appreciated.

[123xyz098]

final update: got a negative hiv 1/2 antibody test at 13 weeks and 3 days. negative mono test too.

if anybody else out there is scared right now over what they're going through, don't convince yourself until you find out for sure because i had symptoms that seemed like everything you read about. my lymph nodes became generalized etc etc. (they are even still up now)

goodbye to this forum. (if i'm smart, it'll be goodbye forever)

[123xyz098]

and you read all the description right? okay, i feel a bit less stressed reading that. anxiety isn't totally gone but this certainly helps, thank you.

[Vance2335]

You had protected sex...you did not have a risk. Your symptoms are unrelated to HIV.