Aa
Is this Herpes?
Hi Doc
I am very scared right now. About 5 1/2 weeks ago i stupidly had unprotected sex with a girl i know who's 24. The next morning i found a rub mark on my penis which was actually bleeding. I later found out that she is very promiscuous and had been over to India around Christmas time to meet her boyfriend who had been living there for about a year (he's English). About a week after i started to get classic Herpes symptoms but no actual visible signs like sores. Pains in my legs and butt, and sore lymph nodes around my groin plus constipation. Now, 5 1/2 weeks later i am not sure if i am having a "reacurrance" or if there is something else far worse i should be worried about. 3 days ago i started to feel itches in my lymph nodes around my neck and under my arms they haven't swollen much if anything but every now and then i get an itch or pain in one particular one. The one on the right side of my neck is the one that is most irritating. I also experienced a burning sensation in my groin along with pains in my legs and general aches. I have not had a rash or a sore throat. I have a dry mouth and headaches but i think these may be my anxiety. The sensation in my groin has pretty much gone now but i still have a slightly swollen lymph gland on my neck. What i would like to know is does this sound like the first symptoms of HIV to you or another reccurance. I am going to get tested next week. Thank you.
I am very scared right now. About 5 1/2 weeks ago i stupidly had unprotected sex with a girl i know who's 24. The next morning i found a rub mark on my penis which was actually bleeding. I later found out that she is very promiscuous and had been over to India around Christmas time to meet her boyfriend who had been living there for about a year (he's English). About a week after i started to get classic Herpes symptoms but no actual visible signs like sores. Pains in my legs and butt, and sore lymph nodes around my groin plus constipation. Now, 5 1/2 weeks later i am not sure if i am having a "reacurrance" or if there is something else far worse i should be worried about. 3 days ago i started to feel itches in my lymph nodes around my neck and under my arms they haven't swollen much if anything but every now and then i get an itch or pain in one particular one. The one on the right side of my neck is the one that is most irritating. I also experienced a burning sensation in my groin along with pains in my legs and general aches. I have not had a rash or a sore throat. I have a dry mouth and headaches but i think these may be my anxiety. The sensation in my groin has pretty much gone now but i still have a slightly swollen lymph gland on my neck. What i would like to know is does this sound like the first symptoms of HIV to you or another reccurance. I am going to get tested next week. Thank you.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
You have posted on the wrong site. Questions about HIV belong on the HIV prevention site. I will do my best to answer your questions with this reply but, if you have additional questions or follow-up they must be on the HIV Prevention site with an additional charge. I feel confident in the answer I am about to give however and feel confident that my answer, along with searching the HIV Prevention site to see that the answer you are about to get has been given to many others in similar situations should suffice. Sorry
Regarding your concerns. You had a single exposure to a woman whom you consider to be "promiscuous", a word which means different things to different people. Your chances of having gotten HIV, or herpes, from this exposure are extraordinarily low. Here's why:
1. Chances are, your partner did not have HIV and while she, like over 1 in five adults, might have had herpes, you chances of getting it are quit low. Only a very few most "promiscuous" women have HIV.
2. Your chance of getting HIV, if she was infected is less than one in 1000 per exposure. Similarly, while the numbers are not as precise, most exposures to partners with herpes do not lead to infection.
3. An HIV test at 6 weeks will give you a result at a time when 95% of tests that are going to be positive will be. Thus you can have great confidence that a negative HIV test at six weeks is accurate for you.
4. Your swollen nodes and ARS "symptoms are meaningless. You appear to have missed our repeated statements that the symptoms of the ARS are TOTALLY non-specific and when people experience "ARS symptoms" they are much more likely to have something else, usually some other, more typical virus infection. When this has been studied in the US, less than 1% of persons seeking medical care for "ARS symptoms" are found to have HIV, the remainder having symptoms due to other processes. In contrast, over a given year, there is almost no one who has not had a viral illness, night sweats or both (sometimes on multiple occasions). In addition, it is also important to realize that many persons who acquire HIV do not experience the ARS. For a person to try to judge their HIV risk based on "ARS symptoms" is a waste of time.
When you put all of these facts together, your chance of being infected with HIV from the exposure you describe is far less than one 100th of 1%. Your six week test will be negative; I would not get further testing. As for your symptoms, they are likely to be due to some non-specific viral illness but neither HIV, nor HSV. If the symptoms continue to bother you, you should discuss them with your doctor when you go for your HIV test. Good luck. EWK
p.s. As mentioned above, further questions on this site will be deleted. EWH
Regarding your concerns. You had a single exposure to a woman whom you consider to be "promiscuous", a word which means different things to different people. Your chances of having gotten HIV, or herpes, from this exposure are extraordinarily low. Here's why:
1. Chances are, your partner did not have HIV and while she, like over 1 in five adults, might have had herpes, you chances of getting it are quit low. Only a very few most "promiscuous" women have HIV.
2. Your chance of getting HIV, if she was infected is less than one in 1000 per exposure. Similarly, while the numbers are not as precise, most exposures to partners with herpes do not lead to infection.
3. An HIV test at 6 weeks will give you a result at a time when 95% of tests that are going to be positive will be. Thus you can have great confidence that a negative HIV test at six weeks is accurate for you.
4. Your swollen nodes and ARS "symptoms are meaningless. You appear to have missed our repeated statements that the symptoms of the ARS are TOTALLY non-specific and when people experience "ARS symptoms" they are much more likely to have something else, usually some other, more typical virus infection. When this has been studied in the US, less than 1% of persons seeking medical care for "ARS symptoms" are found to have HIV, the remainder having symptoms due to other processes. In contrast, over a given year, there is almost no one who has not had a viral illness, night sweats or both (sometimes on multiple occasions). In addition, it is also important to realize that many persons who acquire HIV do not experience the ARS. For a person to try to judge their HIV risk based on "ARS symptoms" is a waste of time.
When you put all of these facts together, your chance of being infected with HIV from the exposure you describe is far less than one 100th of 1%. Your six week test will be negative; I would not get further testing. As for your symptoms, they are likely to be due to some non-specific viral illness but neither HIV, nor HSV. If the symptoms continue to bother you, you should discuss them with your doctor when you go for your HIV test. Good luck. EWK
p.s. As mentioned above, further questions on this site will be deleted. EWH
Sorry, if i have posted this in the wrong forum please feel free to move it.
You are reading content posted in the STDs Forum
Herpes spreads by oral, vaginal and anal sex.
Herpes sores blister, then burst, scab and heal.
STIs are the most common cause of genital sores.
Millions of people are diagnosed with STDs in the U.S. each year.
STDs can't be transmitted by casual contact, like hugging or touching.
Syphilis is an STD that is transmitted by oral, genital and anal sex.
