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Generalised thrush from receiving unprotected oral
On July 2 I received unprotected oral from a sex worker (first time in five years and only fourth time ever) and two days later I’d two red spots on my glans and an occasional burning sensation. No discharge or pain on urination. After reading what this might be I developed slight neck gland soreness two to three days later. July 9 after reading lots of scary stuff my neck felt really swollen and yet when I touched it all felt normal. This effect lasted six hours when I then had three hours of weird almost overwhelming spinning sensations inside my head. These neck symptoms calmed down a bit and by July 11 I was completely symptom free.
July 25 (23 days after encounter) I’d all the tests and was found negative for HIV, Hep B and C and all the bacterial infections. But they found the presence of thrush.
Two days after the tests and perhaps waiting anxiously for the results the neck gland symptoms returned all day every day joined once or twice a day by cramping pains in my abdomen and occasional but mild spinning sensations in my head.
August 1 I discovered one spot of cottage cheese like fungi towards the back of my mouth. Perhaps because I naturally have a low white blood cell count it’s normal for me to have a white tongue and areas milky white in my mouth and at the back of my throat but I’d never seen this before and there was definitely an increase in fungal production at the back of my throat.
August 2 I took a Fluconazole tablet. When I removed the spot of thrush on August 4 it came back the next day. When I removed it again on August 6 it didn’t return – at last Fluconazole was having some effect. The problem was it didn’t remove my symptoms completely. The neck gland tenderness continued but much less noticeably – no swelling of lymph nodes just tenderness. I also had occasional burning sensations on my tongue, roof of mouth and a scratchy feeling at the back of my throat. Mostly all very mild a bit like an allergic reaction to dust I’d a few years ago where the symptoms were localised to the neck and mouth.
Throughout this I’ve felt fine if at times highly anxious. There has been no fever, rash, fatigue or malaise.
Anxiety really returned on August 13 when another white spot of thrush appeared on the other side of the mouth to the previous spot. The burning sensation stepped up a bit and so on August 14 I took one Canesten tablet and started to apply Daktarin gel to various areas of my mouth. The white spot was found to have gone by today August 16.
Obviously the association between oral thrush and hiv is making me extremely fearful. How did the sex worker get it in her mouth? Why did my penile thrush eventually affect my mouth and possibly my gut? Why has Fluconazole failed to remove all of my symptoms? Is this just a different strain of thrush that Fluconazole cannot completely clear or is another pathogen involved yet to be detected? Adding to my stress is that July 2 was the last day that sex worker appeared at the parlour I went to. At the end of our session she happened to mention a cough she had recently been suffering from. I’ve asked the parlour about the sex worker but they have yet to come back to me about her.
On the hopeful side is there has yet to be a confirmed case of hiv infection from receiving oral sex in 30 years anywhere; maybe 85-90% of those exposed to hiv would show as such on a 23 day 4th generation test; I’ve not had the main symptoms of a viral infection such as fever and malaise and no where have I found neck gland symptoms to disappear and then reappear two weeks later; and finally the sex worker dribbled saliva onto me at one stage and I noticed it was clear – no blood.
July 25 (23 days after encounter) I’d all the tests and was found negative for HIV, Hep B and C and all the bacterial infections. But they found the presence of thrush.
Two days after the tests and perhaps waiting anxiously for the results the neck gland symptoms returned all day every day joined once or twice a day by cramping pains in my abdomen and occasional but mild spinning sensations in my head.
August 1 I discovered one spot of cottage cheese like fungi towards the back of my mouth. Perhaps because I naturally have a low white blood cell count it’s normal for me to have a white tongue and areas milky white in my mouth and at the back of my throat but I’d never seen this before and there was definitely an increase in fungal production at the back of my throat.
August 2 I took a Fluconazole tablet. When I removed the spot of thrush on August 4 it came back the next day. When I removed it again on August 6 it didn’t return – at last Fluconazole was having some effect. The problem was it didn’t remove my symptoms completely. The neck gland tenderness continued but much less noticeably – no swelling of lymph nodes just tenderness. I also had occasional burning sensations on my tongue, roof of mouth and a scratchy feeling at the back of my throat. Mostly all very mild a bit like an allergic reaction to dust I’d a few years ago where the symptoms were localised to the neck and mouth.
Throughout this I’ve felt fine if at times highly anxious. There has been no fever, rash, fatigue or malaise.
Anxiety really returned on August 13 when another white spot of thrush appeared on the other side of the mouth to the previous spot. The burning sensation stepped up a bit and so on August 14 I took one Canesten tablet and started to apply Daktarin gel to various areas of my mouth. The white spot was found to have gone by today August 16.
Obviously the association between oral thrush and hiv is making me extremely fearful. How did the sex worker get it in her mouth? Why did my penile thrush eventually affect my mouth and possibly my gut? Why has Fluconazole failed to remove all of my symptoms? Is this just a different strain of thrush that Fluconazole cannot completely clear or is another pathogen involved yet to be detected? Adding to my stress is that July 2 was the last day that sex worker appeared at the parlour I went to. At the end of our session she happened to mention a cough she had recently been suffering from. I’ve asked the parlour about the sex worker but they have yet to come back to me about her.
On the hopeful side is there has yet to be a confirmed case of hiv infection from receiving oral sex in 30 years anywhere; maybe 85-90% of those exposed to hiv would show as such on a 23 day 4th generation test; I’ve not had the main symptoms of a viral infection such as fever and malaise and no where have I found neck gland symptoms to disappear and then reappear two weeks later; and finally the sex worker dribbled saliva onto me at one stage and I noticed it was clear – no blood.
Worried again now despite receiving a negative hiv test result last October 2 - 93 days after receiving oral sex. Not had any further sexual encounters since last July 2. Late March penile thrush returned albeit only a very mild burning sensation. Decided to see if it would clear by itself and through regular washing. April 8, as before, my lower abdomen became sore as did the back of my neck. Took a Flucanazole the next day that soon cleared up the mild penile burning but had no effect on a fairly painful stomach that was most apparent when sitting down. Not taken anything further and here I am almost three weeks later still with stomach pains all day everyday. Neck soreness is not always apparent.
Although I could see an anxiety component last time I hardly feel anxious enough at all to be causing the severity of these symptoms or their 24/7 continuation. Could thrush have invaded my internal organs and this be my first opportunistic infection just over five months after a negative test result? But then if it was that why didn't the Flucanazole have any impact on these stomach symptoms?
Going to the clinic next week perhaps for another hiv test.
Although I could see an anxiety component last time I hardly feel anxious enough at all to be causing the severity of these symptoms or their 24/7 continuation. Could thrush have invaded my internal organs and this be my first opportunistic infection just over five months after a negative test result? But then if it was that why didn't the Flucanazole have any impact on these stomach symptoms?
Going to the clinic next week perhaps for another hiv test.
Thanks, Howard. I feel it’s important to report back for those in the future who might experience similar symptoms. I’d another blood test at 57 days post encounter and as you expected was negative for hiv, heps and syphilis.
There has been some note worthy instances since I last wrote August 16. The weekend before this August 28 test I was excited that a friend who I hadn’t seen for several years was to pay me a visit. My focus was no longer on my symptoms and for the first time in seven weeks I felt an in rush of endorphins as I prepared my home for her visit. For two days I hardly thought about my symptoms and when I did once or twice I realised all my symptoms had disappeared; even my neck glands were no longer sore. When she left and I realised my situation all my symptoms returned.
One symptom I forgot to mention was that I’d a dry, tickly cough but only two or three times a day. On the day that I read that a dry cough was a symptom of hiv I started coughing every five minutes but thankfully only for the remainder of that day.
I’d assumed that this cough was due to my oral thrush. Would you believe that when I started reading about oral thrush and how it would be serious if it got to my lungs the very next day I started getting pains in my lungs just like I once did some years ago when I’d a chest infection. Quite remarkable; thankfully the lung symptoms disappeared after two days when I dismissed them as having been psychosomatic.
I’ve to wonder if I hadn’t started googling obsessively whether I’d have had any of these symptoms other than a simple bit of penile thrush. I’d ask anyone what they had been reading one or two days before any symptom appeared. After two days of trying to determine what the red spots might be on my glans my neck glands became sore – when I’ve become anxious in the past it always affects my neck although then it was muscular rather than the glands it appears to now be. Whenever I read about hiv those neck glands felt as though they had swollen when in fact they hadn’t. After my neck gland symptoms disappeared for 14 days they reappeared within two days of waiting for my test results and reading that almost 90% of people exposed to hiv would show positive for a test at 23 days. When the results showed the presence of thrush I read obsessively about thrush and within two days I’d what I thought was oral thrush. When I read that thrush can affect the gut I got painful symptoms in my stomach.
Interestingly my doctor said that a dry cough was a common anxiety symptom especially for those like me that also reported stomach cramps and pains.
Anxiety increases stomach acid; this acid refluxes up into the back of the throat. Post nasal drip coats the throat to protect it from the acid, and a swelling also occurs around
the opening to the esophagus. That swelling tickles the vocal cords and causes a chronic dry cough. It’s all to do with the nerves in the esophagus being stimulated by the acid.
I’d post nasal drip a few years ago and my symptoms were exactly the same as that. Three days after getting the negative Aug 28 test results the stomach and cough symptoms that I’d for four weeks disappeared. The burning sensations in my mouth that I thought might be caused by oral thrush disappeared within a day. There is a burning mouth syndrome again caused by anxiety.
My doctor looked at my mouth and said it looked normal but was very dry and that I needed to drink more. She said that I’d not self-diagnose, self-medicate as it was very unlikely that I’d oral thrush. When I got home I realised myself how dry my mouth was and that I could barely raise any saliva. There is a dry mouth syndrome again caused by anxiety that affects the salivary glands. This might make your mouth an easier site for fungus to form or more likely make you think you are looking at a fungal infection when your tongue is only coated with thick white, dry saliva. Think of how white your tongue and elsewhere in your mouth looks if on a hot day you hardly take a drink and go for a five-mile run.
We know that anxiety causes the adrenal glands to pump out adrenaline and I’ve now read that your neck soreness/stiffness doesn’t have to be muscular tension; anxiety is known to affect and make the lymph glands sore, too, even all day as with mine.
One of the odd aspects of anxiety is that once you are in an anxiety state you only have to be fleetingly concerned about your symptoms once a day or so to keep those symptoms going. Such as why are all these symptoms continuing when I don’t feel anxious is enough to keep the symptoms going. Five days after receiving my test results when my neck gland symptoms had not quite disappeared doubts started to creep back in and here I am on day 72 still with the neck gland symptoms. I know now that these symptoms will still be with me when I go for my final test on October 3 even though I know that 98 maybe even 99% of those exposed to hiv would have shown as such on a 57 day test. Maybe if I make sure that I’ve something to look forward to the weekend after I get my results the two combined might be enough to shut off these symptoms once and for all. I reckon it must be anywhere from 300 million to 40 billion to one against me now having hiv from this encounter.
There has been some note worthy instances since I last wrote August 16. The weekend before this August 28 test I was excited that a friend who I hadn’t seen for several years was to pay me a visit. My focus was no longer on my symptoms and for the first time in seven weeks I felt an in rush of endorphins as I prepared my home for her visit. For two days I hardly thought about my symptoms and when I did once or twice I realised all my symptoms had disappeared; even my neck glands were no longer sore. When she left and I realised my situation all my symptoms returned.
One symptom I forgot to mention was that I’d a dry, tickly cough but only two or three times a day. On the day that I read that a dry cough was a symptom of hiv I started coughing every five minutes but thankfully only for the remainder of that day.
I’d assumed that this cough was due to my oral thrush. Would you believe that when I started reading about oral thrush and how it would be serious if it got to my lungs the very next day I started getting pains in my lungs just like I once did some years ago when I’d a chest infection. Quite remarkable; thankfully the lung symptoms disappeared after two days when I dismissed them as having been psychosomatic.
I’ve to wonder if I hadn’t started googling obsessively whether I’d have had any of these symptoms other than a simple bit of penile thrush. I’d ask anyone what they had been reading one or two days before any symptom appeared. After two days of trying to determine what the red spots might be on my glans my neck glands became sore – when I’ve become anxious in the past it always affects my neck although then it was muscular rather than the glands it appears to now be. Whenever I read about hiv those neck glands felt as though they had swollen when in fact they hadn’t. After my neck gland symptoms disappeared for 14 days they reappeared within two days of waiting for my test results and reading that almost 90% of people exposed to hiv would show positive for a test at 23 days. When the results showed the presence of thrush I read obsessively about thrush and within two days I’d what I thought was oral thrush. When I read that thrush can affect the gut I got painful symptoms in my stomach.
Interestingly my doctor said that a dry cough was a common anxiety symptom especially for those like me that also reported stomach cramps and pains.
Anxiety increases stomach acid; this acid refluxes up into the back of the throat. Post nasal drip coats the throat to protect it from the acid, and a swelling also occurs around
the opening to the esophagus. That swelling tickles the vocal cords and causes a chronic dry cough. It’s all to do with the nerves in the esophagus being stimulated by the acid.
I’d post nasal drip a few years ago and my symptoms were exactly the same as that. Three days after getting the negative Aug 28 test results the stomach and cough symptoms that I’d for four weeks disappeared. The burning sensations in my mouth that I thought might be caused by oral thrush disappeared within a day. There is a burning mouth syndrome again caused by anxiety.
My doctor looked at my mouth and said it looked normal but was very dry and that I needed to drink more. She said that I’d not self-diagnose, self-medicate as it was very unlikely that I’d oral thrush. When I got home I realised myself how dry my mouth was and that I could barely raise any saliva. There is a dry mouth syndrome again caused by anxiety that affects the salivary glands. This might make your mouth an easier site for fungus to form or more likely make you think you are looking at a fungal infection when your tongue is only coated with thick white, dry saliva. Think of how white your tongue and elsewhere in your mouth looks if on a hot day you hardly take a drink and go for a five-mile run.
We know that anxiety causes the adrenal glands to pump out adrenaline and I’ve now read that your neck soreness/stiffness doesn’t have to be muscular tension; anxiety is known to affect and make the lymph glands sore, too, even all day as with mine.
One of the odd aspects of anxiety is that once you are in an anxiety state you only have to be fleetingly concerned about your symptoms once a day or so to keep those symptoms going. Such as why are all these symptoms continuing when I don’t feel anxious is enough to keep the symptoms going. Five days after receiving my test results when my neck gland symptoms had not quite disappeared doubts started to creep back in and here I am on day 72 still with the neck gland symptoms. I know now that these symptoms will still be with me when I go for my final test on October 3 even though I know that 98 maybe even 99% of those exposed to hiv would have shown as such on a 57 day test. Maybe if I make sure that I’ve something to look forward to the weekend after I get my results the two combined might be enough to shut off these symptoms once and for all. I reckon it must be anywhere from 300 million to 40 billion to one against me now having hiv from this encounter.
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