Worried! Possible HIV exposure.

[uhohjoejoe1]

I'm going to make this as detailed as possible so you can paint the best possible picture from the scenario.  Thanks in advance for reading through all of what I'm about to type.  I am worried more than I've ever been before.

I had sex with a CSW, both oral and vaginal, 37 days ago. At one point while receiving oral sex from her, she inserted a finger anally in me for a minute before I told her to pull it out. A condom was used, but it broke during vaginal sex.  It was very poor judgment on my part to continue after the condom broke(even to be in that situation in the first place), but I was heavily intoxicated, and I did.  From that point until I ejaculated and pulled-out was no more than 2-3 minutes, then right after the woman left, I showered.  I used extra soap everywhere, then rinsed my genitals with running water for about 5-10 minutes.  I suppose I should also mention that I'm uncircumcised.  

That incident wore on my nerves and after 12 days I started to feel 'itchy' under my foreskin.  I also had been masturbating more than usual the few days before that too.  Then, the next day I began to see an almost circular area that was reddish in color on the head of my penis which covered an area about the diameter of the end of my pinky.  That's when I began to feel EXTRA fatigued too.  It reminded me of when I had 'mono' when I was a teen.  On top of that, my appetite had noticeably changed and I began to have diarrhea (lasting 4-5 days from there). I didn't notice any fever though.

A day after that (14 days after whatever exposure occurred) I noticed another reddish area that was a little larger in size than the first, on the other side of my penis under the head, yet not as apparent and more 'blotchy', and it covered maybe the size of my thumbnail.  Also, the layer of skin around the first area mentioned began to peel away(never turned into an 'ulcer' though, at least I don't think did...).  I've had candida balanitis before (male yeast infection), and this second 'rash' area reminded me of it so I began to apply hydrocortisone cream to all affected areas.  Because of the how the first rash looked and was peeling away I went to an urgent care center where I requested to be tested for both types of herpes (1&2).  

Before going to the doc I washed the hydrocortisone cream off and waited a few hours.

At the urgent care center, a physician gave me a visual diagnosis of herpes, saying it 'looked' like it, then took a couple swabs for cultures.  The doctor said there was a possibility of chlamydia  or gonorrhea, claiming she saw 'discharge', (although I couldn't see a thing dripping from my urethra aside from maybe a small residual amount of urine from peeing (and not fully shaking) 2 minutes prior to walking into the room to see the her. And during this whole 'outbreak' there was no pain either, zero, just itching.  The doctor recommended a shot because of the possibility of gonorrhea/chlamydia (I'm uncertain what the shot was) but it was administered on my hip/butt and hurt for day where they gave it to me.  The doc also prescribed acyclovir for 30 days and told me to take two 500mg pills of azithromycin one time.   (I didn't actually get either of these prescriptions for 2 more days because I couldn't afford them).

It was the next day when I began to feel a headache coming on and I was nauseous and began vomiting a little for a few days.  I also got a canker sore too, and I haven't had one of those in at least 15 years.  When I finally got the prescriptions, the 'rash' areas on my penis were already beginning to go away.  I'd say they were only there for 4-5 days total before they were totally gone.  I took the acyclovir for only two days, and took both of the azithromycin pills that were prescribed....

The following week I made a follow-up phone call to the urgent care center to find out the status of the herpes cultures.  I was informed that it was negative for both HSV-1 and HSV-2.  Since then though, I received the bill from the diagnostic company who performed the testing (not the urgent care center) and it only says 'HSV Type 2 DNA, QN, RT-PCR' on the bill, at an reasonable rate, so I'm assuming the ONLY test that was done was for hsv 2?  Am I right?!?!?! I'm actually pretty mad because when I first called the center they said that I could get a full STD panel done for just under 500 dollars.  Well, I couldn't afford that and agreed to get the herpes tests done with the office visit for 172.  After getting the additional shot from the office, it bumped that cost up to 230.  And now with the other bill from the diagnostic center that I wasn't expecting, I'm now furious! Sorry, I'll get off that rant and get back on track...

So because of now not knowing if I may still have herpes ( type 1) I decided to look online for symptoms when I stumbled on the acute symptoms of an HIV infection and have now REALLY started to freak out.-  Since it's been 37 days from the time of exposure, I decided to take an HIV test (both oral and blood) that I purchased online a few weeks ago.  The oral one is called ora-sure and the blood test was a 'bio' something......They both showed negative results...I'm still FREAKING out though because of the similarities in some of the things I'm reading about HIV infection and what I've experienced.

I know there is an increased risk of HIV infection because of who I had sex with and because it was unprotected.  Even if it was just for 3 minutes while being unprotected, I realize that IS long enough for infection of HIV...And I DO plan on going to a clinic to test again at the 3 month mark from exposure.

I guess my questions are.....Do the symptoms I described align with an acute episode of HIV infection? Are the risks here really high?  Am I being overly paranoid about all this or are you likely to say 'Uh oh, Joe'...? Could the shot I received at the doctor explain the vomiting, nausea, headaches?  Could anxiety and depression have lead me to such fatigue and loss of appetite?  

Thanks in advance....

[rica2000]

Is waiting the only thing to do?
Is there anything out there that can help before the HIV can get bigger and develop positive testing?

[uhohjoejoe1]

Thanks a bunch for your response diver. I'm going to do as you suggested and wait another 6 weeks and then re-rest......And I'll post an update here for anyone else who may have had the same experience.....Once again, thank you....

[diver58]

No, these symptoms do not look like ARS. However a person who actually got infected, may or may not see symptoms. Sizable infected polulation remains asymptomatic. Symptoms related to anxiety also often confuse people with ARS.

Risk is there, it is immaterial to gauge its level. Your protection failed during the intercourse, so it was an unprotected sex where time of penetration also not counts much.

Yes loss of apetite and fatigue could also be because of anxiety.

Now the best thing for you, to calm down, relax and wait for another month and a half and get yourself tested for HIV antibody test to conclusively know your status and moving on with your life. It is also a fact  that , not everyone catches HIV from a single act of sexual contact with a positive partner, therefore chances for your escape are pretty high, but those can be confirmed only by a test.