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Still scared

Nwo
I posted a while ago about fear of getting infected during testing as I didnt see the nurse open a new syringe in front of me. That was 12 days ago. yesterday evening I had a sore throat..I woke up today feeling better and the soreness is almost gone...could this be ARS??!?! Am I seroconverting !!? I am going nuts over this...I cannot wait any longer for testing !
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Avatar universal

>1- HIV can survive for days inside a syringe and stay infectious...Not a few >seconds

It does not matter how long HIV may remain infectious in a syringe, because, in your case, this is a non-issue, and it is not something that you need to worry about. You say the nurse had a "wierd way". What exactly does that mean? In your case, the nurse drew the blood, capped the hypodermic and then threw it in the bin. What is so odd about that? It seems to me that the correct protocols were being followed. That should prove comforting right there.

>2- I am sure the nurse didnt inject any blood because it was a blood draw...but >couldnt some residual blood from the syringe have mixed up with my blood during >the blood draw??

Absolutely not. The event you are describing would be a monumental breach of testing protocols. It is unheard of in a professional setting. You are manufacturing the possibility of this happening out of whole cloth. You did not see it happen, you just didn't see the nurse fetch a new syringe. It is a huge leap to then assume that he or she used a previously used syringe to draw your blood. A monumental leap.

>I am aware that most of this may be just in my head, but your answers really DO >help

I do hope so, and I hope that you read them, understand them, and that it is slowly dawning on you that your fears are baseless and unfounded.
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Avatar universal
I second that.
I understand that you think you had a risk. But take it from EVERYONE here. You did not. You're being extremely paranoid.
In order to have been infected in the way you describe, certain things would have had to happen that did not:
1. The syringe would have had to have been used on a Hiv positive person sitting beside you SECONDS before it was used on you.
2. The nurse would have had to DRAWN blood from another patient and INJECTED it directly into your bloodstream. And EVEN if that did happen, which it did not, the odds of transmission would be 300/1.

HIV is an extremely fragile virus, and transmission is difficult. Even if the nurse had used the syringe twice, which I'm CERTAIN he did not, HIV does not last more than a moment or two in the environment. That's a fact. You say the nurse was acting weird because he wrapped the syringe before disposing of it. I'm not a medical professional, but I would consider that to be good practice.

Bottom line, there is NO way you could have become infected in the manner you describe. NO WAY. Please seek professional help to deal with your irrational anxiety.
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Avatar universal
Nwo, you didn't have a risk, that's a fact. It's sore throat season! And Worried, drenching night sweats and swollen lymph nodes have a million other causes. It doesn't help to say something like that as the first thing Nwo is going to do is try and convince himself that he's suffering these symptoms.

Nwo, be rational, why would the nurse not use a clean syringe? You're being paranoid and you need to let this go.
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Avatar universal
Nwo
I am afraid he might have reused the syringe by mistake...

This lab guy who drew my blood had a very wierd way...when he finished drawing my blood, he recapped the syringe and put it back in the plastic wrapper and then disposed it in the bin..I am wondering that maybe with the patient before me, he might have put the syringe with the plastic wrapper on the table and then reused it on me by mistake !

and the soar throat made my anxiety skyrocket ! I am not able to work or to do anything
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79258 tn?1190630410
Oh come on. You have to be kidding me. There is no way he reused the syringe.

Therapy. And meds. That's my only advice to you.
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Avatar universal
Nwo
I only had a sore throat
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Avatar universal
Nwo
I understand that I am being paranoid and that most probably I didnt have a risk, but isnt this the case with almost all the members that are posting on this forum ??

Anyway, dobber, I truly appreciate ur comments...reading them made me feel better...although I have some points I would like to clarify

1- HIV can survive for days inside a syringe and stay infectious...Not a few seconds

2- I am sure the nurse didnt inject any blood because it was a blood draw...but couldnt some residual blood from the syringe have mixed up with my blood during the blood draw??

I am aware that most of this may be just in my head, but your answers really DO help

Thanks to all, u r all very understanding
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Avatar universal
There is no way that happened. If that is how you are thinking, it's time for you to get some professional help.
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Avatar universal
There is only one way to say this; you did not have a risk. Seek professional help.
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Avatar universal
what was the transmission? drenching night sweats and swollen lymph nodes are classic symptoms.
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