Aa
Possible seroconversion/ Acute HIV?
Hello,
A little over a 7 weeks ago I had a risky encounter as a receptive partner during anal sex. We used a condom, however, the condom had somehow come off and my partner didn't realize right away, probably about a minute of unprotected exposure. Once he realized he stopped and told me what happened and we made sure to find it and put another one on. I didn't think much about it during the moment but the following days I began to worry.
Fast forward to a week later and I start to notice swollen lymph nodes in my neck which caused a lot of anxiety for me (I suffer from health anxiety). A little over a week after I noticed this I began to feel very achy in my joints. This lasted for about a week and resolved as I tried to stop thinking about it and being so anxious. A week after the incident I began, and to this day, check my temperature twice a day with no noticeable fever noted. The swollen lymph nodes have been pretty consistently noticeable but I also have been checking them roughly 10-20 times a day since the week after the incident, which my doctor told me to not do. Could this be irritating them?
About 6 weeks after the incident I started having really bad tension-type headaches consistently all day every day until now, but they are getting better. I have not tested yet as it has only been 7 going on 8 weeks after the incident and I keep seeing 12 weeks everywhere. I went to my doctor and told him what was going on and for now he ordered a CBC w/ differential and some typical viral blood tests. Everything on the CBC came back in normal ranges, many similar to a previous blood work I had about 6 months ago. He went over absolutely everything with me/what it meant and said he is optimistic I don't have any type of infection going on but that I'm not out of the woods yet. He said we'll an HIV test at 12 weeks post-exposure for a near-conclusive result.
As of now I still feel some nodes in my neck and have mild headache symptoms at 7 going on 8 weeks. My question is, is this common for a seroconversion? I haven't tested yet due to the timing being a bit early from what I've read. Since about 2-3 days after the accident I have been very panicked / anxiety-ridden about the possibility of HIV here. I have not once done anything that has put me at risk in the past, and obviously didn't intend to with this incident, but things happen.
Thanks for all that you do.
A little over a 7 weeks ago I had a risky encounter as a receptive partner during anal sex. We used a condom, however, the condom had somehow come off and my partner didn't realize right away, probably about a minute of unprotected exposure. Once he realized he stopped and told me what happened and we made sure to find it and put another one on. I didn't think much about it during the moment but the following days I began to worry.
Fast forward to a week later and I start to notice swollen lymph nodes in my neck which caused a lot of anxiety for me (I suffer from health anxiety). A little over a week after I noticed this I began to feel very achy in my joints. This lasted for about a week and resolved as I tried to stop thinking about it and being so anxious. A week after the incident I began, and to this day, check my temperature twice a day with no noticeable fever noted. The swollen lymph nodes have been pretty consistently noticeable but I also have been checking them roughly 10-20 times a day since the week after the incident, which my doctor told me to not do. Could this be irritating them?
About 6 weeks after the incident I started having really bad tension-type headaches consistently all day every day until now, but they are getting better. I have not tested yet as it has only been 7 going on 8 weeks after the incident and I keep seeing 12 weeks everywhere. I went to my doctor and told him what was going on and for now he ordered a CBC w/ differential and some typical viral blood tests. Everything on the CBC came back in normal ranges, many similar to a previous blood work I had about 6 months ago. He went over absolutely everything with me/what it meant and said he is optimistic I don't have any type of infection going on but that I'm not out of the woods yet. He said we'll an HIV test at 12 weeks post-exposure for a near-conclusive result.
As of now I still feel some nodes in my neck and have mild headache symptoms at 7 going on 8 weeks. My question is, is this common for a seroconversion? I haven't tested yet due to the timing being a bit early from what I've read. Since about 2-3 days after the accident I have been very panicked / anxiety-ridden about the possibility of HIV here. I have not once done anything that has put me at risk in the past, and obviously didn't intend to with this incident, but things happen.
Thanks for all that you do.
Your symptoms don't seem like ARS. The fever is quite often associated with ARS and a rash. U don't mention fever and also not the rash. Nonetheless, even these symptoms are not reliable.
If you are worried, you can have a 4th gen test now. 4th gen tests are considered 95% accurate at 4 weeks and 99% accurate at 6 weeks. Or you can test only once at 12 week / 3 month mark.
If you are worried, you can have a 4th gen test now. 4th gen tests are considered 95% accurate at 4 weeks and 99% accurate at 6 weeks. Or you can test only once at 12 week / 3 month mark.
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