risk and symptoms

Hello doctor,

20 days ago i consider i had a risk and might have been exposed to hiv virus. 14 days after i sytarted to develope a sore throat, headache, green phlem when i breath hard, and cough. I  did not have fever, runny nose, or sneezing.

I had unprotected sex with my girlfriend and 6 days after, she started to have the same symptoms. Sore throat, cough, and green phlem. No fever either.

I want to know if my symptoms and my girfriends sound like ars to you.

I also want to know if ars symptomas can come as soon as 6 days. Or this is evidence that my girlfriends symptoms are not ars?

Thank you doctor!

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the Forum.  Indeed SOME of your symptoms do resemble the ARS however, fever is an important part of the ARS, as are a rash and muscle and/or joint aches.  Thus your symptoms do not really resemble the ARS. Further that your GF came up with similar symptoms so soon after an exposure is also inconsistent with HIV as well.  I am confident that what you have is the flu or some other sort of non-HIV viral illness that you acquired in the course of yoru normal activities.  As we have said again and again and again, trying to assess risk for HIV from symptoms is a waste of time.

If your exposure was unprotected, I suggest you go get tested for common STDs, i.e. gonorrhea, chlamydia.  IN the future you may wish to get tested for HIV as well but there is little in your current description that makes me worry about HIV.  Take care.  EWH

[bigmistake16]

Thank you doctor.

I got a little confused with your reply because first you say my symptoms resemble the ars and then yoou say they dont resemble since i did not have fever, muscle and joint aches, and a rash.

I read a post of another doctor in this forum and he said that ars can NOT cause sore throat without fever. Do you agree with this statement.

It was also a little unclear wether ars can come as early as 6 days in the case of my girlfriend.

Finaly i want to know if green phlem (mocus) is one of the symptoms of ars.

I want to clarify that i had sore throat for 3 days, and felt the symptoms of tirednes for another 5 days after the sore throat. My symptoms were not very severe and went away by themselves. Are ars symptoms veryy severe?

Thank you once again doctor!

[Edward W Hook, MD]

You appear have missed the point.  The ARS is a NONSPECFIC syndrome which has characteristics which are shared by many other illnesses including common community acquired viral illnesses.  Your symptoms did not include all of the symptoms characteristic of the ARS.  

Your GF's symptoms also occurred too early to be typical of ARS.

Your anxiety/guilt is affecting your interpretation of my statements.

Bottom line- your symptoms do not meet criteria for the ARS.  I repeat from above- "As we have said again and again and again, trying to assess risk for HIV from symptoms is a waste of time."  EWH

[bigmistake16]

Ok doctor, i understand.

I will tell you my situatuon so that you can asess my risk based on th facts.

I had sex with a sex worker. During this i heard a pop which i guess was the condom breaking. I did not stop since didnt think anything weird at the moment. When i finished the lady removed my condom and it apparently was ok ( i did not take a close look at it or examined it to see if it might have broken). So i am guessing the condom might have failed. Please help me ***** my risk based on the facts.

Thank you. You do a great job helping out those in need!

[Edward W Hook, MD]

You are not at risk.

First, your condom worked- if the condom had broken it would have torn wide open.  Condoms do not fail with "leakage"- they break wide open.

Second-most commericial sex workers do not have HIV.

Third, even without a condom, the risk of gettting infected, if your partner had HIV is only one infection per 1000 acts of intercourse.  EWH

[bigmistake16]

Thank you very much for you words doctor, i really appreciate them.

One las thing.

With all your experince in this field, do youu personally think that i should test? Or should i just forget this whole episode and go back to my normal life?

Thank you, you rock!!!!

[Edward W Hook, MD]

I see no reason for testing related to the exposure you describe.  I would just move forward and put this all behind you.  EWH

[bigmistake16]

Ok doctor, i will take your advice. Just for knowledge and future situations i want to know something.

Condoms dont get wholes or little cracks by stretching them or even if you hear them pop UNLESS they break wide open? They are designed that way? If you finish sex and your condom is not obviously broken then you can be confident that it did not break? I think this answer will be very helpful for a lot of people in future situations.

Thanks doctor!!!

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Correct.  If the condom is not obviously broken, it did not fail.  When condoms fail, they break wide open.  EWH