May God Protect

[S.C.R.E.A.M]

I am an Afriacn American woman 23 yrs of age and one month ago I had unprotected sex. The man I had sex with explained that he was tested at the end of February 2005 and has only been with one person. They stopped sleeping together at the beginning of August and we got together at the end of september. He and his ex-girlfriend fought alot and she left often.She could have been sleeping with the whole block. I am frightened because a week after we had sex, I began to come down with an ear ache, sinus pressure, and swollen nodes. My skin began itch and I started to lose sleep. I began looking on the internet and it said that those symptoms were linked to HIV. Ever since I have been stuck on the internet looking up information, reading stories about people who became infected, and statistics on African American women. It said that 1 out of 3 will contract this disease in their lifetime. I am scared because I think I am dying right now of HIV. My friends told me to stay of the internet, and my guy friend said he keeps a good eye on his health and gets checked every six months, but I am so scared right now. I am also being treated for an ear infection right now and a noticed a dark spot behind the last lower molar in my mouth yesterday. God Help me.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Thanks for the thanks. You're welcome.  Reasonable questions from reasonable people never are a waste of my time.

Stay safe--  HHH, MD

[S.C.R.E.A.M]

Thank you doctor and to the other person, God bless both of you. I realize you do get many inquiries about STD's and HIV exposure and I pray that I did not waste your time.
             Thank you,
                   S.C.R.E.A.M

[tfe]

Hi there.

First... take a deep breath, OK? Ready... go!

OK, Having done that... your chance of contracting HIV is very low. If the guy is attentive enough to his sexual health to get tested regularly, chances are that he's generally careful.

Assume that he isn't... there's a very VERY low (check the archives for figures, as they've been posted by Dr. HHH several times) risk that you contracted HIV from a single unprotected exposure (from your post, it appears as though it's a single exposure).

Your friends are right to tell you to stay off the Internet... The bottom line: You can't use the presence (or absence) of symptoms to determine HIV status. Only an HIV test at or after 6 weeks will provide that.

Odds are TREMENDOUSLY in your favor that you're OK -- but get tested for your own sake at 6 weeks and get on with your life and just remember this VERY valuable lesson!

Good luck!

(PS, I'm not the Dr. here, but I'm assuming his responses will be similar in terms of your low risk.)

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

I doubt that one in 3 African American women will acquire HIV, although as a generalization the risk is higher than in whites.  I cannot comment on your particular risks, and you are in a much better position than I am to judge whether your partner is being truthful with you about his risks, health checkups, etc.  A dark spot in your mouth and the other symptoms you descrribe do not sound alarming for HIV or any STD.

You need to take responsibility for your own protection:  talk to your parnter(s), use condoms if in doubt, and so on.  If uncertain about it all, have an HIV test periodiclally (e.g., once a year); and bring your partner with you to be tested at the same time.  (If he won't go along with that, perhaps it is an indicator of his commitment to you and the relationship.)  Periodic STD testing (gonorrhea, chlamydial infection, syphilis) also is a good idea.  But you don't describe anything that sounds super-risky right now.

Good luck-- HHH, MD