Aa
HIV sorry think I'm asking in the wrong area by mistake
Hello im 20 year old male living in Manchester UK about 8 weeks ago i had contact on my hand with some still wet blood on the street i dont think i had a cut but i did have a red mark that may have been a cut a while before. At 5 weeks i had a hiv duo test which came back negative. From 4 weeks i noticed my arms and upper torso would go patchy red and fade in and out (this is still going on) my doctor put this down to it being very cold and my type of skin (very pasty white). However, at week 7 i noticed i had palpable lymph nodes all over my body particularly upper under arms, groin and abdomen (which really worries me). I also have a slight soar throat, i smoke and drink quite alot. I have also been touching these lymph nodes a lot especially under arms. I can feel very bumpy under arms but unless i pinch them i cant isolate a single lymph node very easily i have no idea if they are big or small but they are noticable to other people who touch my arms. Am i being stupid to worry so much about this so much i had a similar incident of all consuming worry two years ago where i had panic attacks and thought i had oesophagus cancer. As a health anxiety suffer i have as you can imagine done a lot of googling about the subject. I have not had a fever (well not a tempreature above 37.5 that lasted more then 1hr).
Thanks for the help
Thanks for the help
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the Forum and yes, you are correct, you did post on the wrong Forum. I will go on and address your question and feel that with my response there should be no need for follow-up.
Had you asked me about your street exposure to blood when it happened, I would have told you that you were not at risk from HIV even if the blood was from an infected person. This is both because the virus does not live long outside of the body and therefore such exposures are not infectious, as well as the fact that surface contamination, even with a cut, does not lead to infection. HIV must be injected deep into tissue to cause infection.
Your DUO test at 5 weeks proves me right. Results from the DUO tests at 4 weeks are definitive.
Finally comments from prior posts about lymph nodes and the internet.
First the lymph nodes. Detection of swollen glands is a medical "art form". Clinicians train hard to detect subtle abnormalities and to try to detect them in yourself is fraught with error, both because you might miss them and, if they are present, interpretation of why they are present is difficult. This is because "glands" are lymph nodes which can swell due to any of a large number of infections both viral and bacterial, as well as due to allergic reactions, due to autoimmune disorders and other problems. For this reason we encourage clients who are concerned about swollen glands to check with their own health care providers rather than try to diagnose themselves. My advice to you is to have your own doctor confirm the presence or absence of swollen nodes and whether of not he/she feels they are clinically significant (not all swollen glands are of importance to your health).
Finally, the internet. Your situation, like that of many of our clients represents a great example of the power of the internet not only to inform but also to mislead. While there is much useful information available on the internet, much of it is also taken out of context or a bit unbalanced and some of it is just plain wrong.
I hope my comments are helpful to you. You can move forward from here with confidence that your blood exposure did not give you HIV. EWH
Had you asked me about your street exposure to blood when it happened, I would have told you that you were not at risk from HIV even if the blood was from an infected person. This is both because the virus does not live long outside of the body and therefore such exposures are not infectious, as well as the fact that surface contamination, even with a cut, does not lead to infection. HIV must be injected deep into tissue to cause infection.
Your DUO test at 5 weeks proves me right. Results from the DUO tests at 4 weeks are definitive.
Finally comments from prior posts about lymph nodes and the internet.
First the lymph nodes. Detection of swollen glands is a medical "art form". Clinicians train hard to detect subtle abnormalities and to try to detect them in yourself is fraught with error, both because you might miss them and, if they are present, interpretation of why they are present is difficult. This is because "glands" are lymph nodes which can swell due to any of a large number of infections both viral and bacterial, as well as due to allergic reactions, due to autoimmune disorders and other problems. For this reason we encourage clients who are concerned about swollen glands to check with their own health care providers rather than try to diagnose themselves. My advice to you is to have your own doctor confirm the presence or absence of swollen nodes and whether of not he/she feels they are clinically significant (not all swollen glands are of importance to your health).
Finally, the internet. Your situation, like that of many of our clients represents a great example of the power of the internet not only to inform but also to mislead. While there is much useful information available on the internet, much of it is also taken out of context or a bit unbalanced and some of it is just plain wrong.
I hope my comments are helpful to you. You can move forward from here with confidence that your blood exposure did not give you HIV. EWH
thanks I have seen my doctor who has suggested I have CBT. Thank you
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