Strange repeat / continous symptoms

[curious68]

A few years ago I had some sexual contact (protected) with a sex worker.

2 days later I started having several symptoms  like fatigue, sore throat, low fever, diarrhea, muscle & joint pains, swallen lymphs, night sweats, skin itch, occasioanl mild rashed.

These lasted in various severity for months and months (over a year!) then slowly disappeared.

Multiple (5-6) HIV tests during this time were all negative!
Other tests like mono were also negative at the time.

Recently I had another encounter in which I only recieved a hand job and very shalowly fingered her Vagina.

AGAIN, two days later, the same symptoms retunred!

Since that time i've had an exclusive partner for several years and we've been having unprotected sex all along these years.
My partner never experienced any symptoms or illness.

What can this illnes possibly be? STD? Syphilis? Other Viral infection?

Since this happened twice after such an encounter I cant think of anything else.

Please help.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

There is no chance you actquired HIV or any other STD from the exposures you describe.  The negative HIV tests are definitive with respect to your sex worker exposure a few years ago (and you had almost no chance of catching HIV then, since you used a condom).  As far as is know, HIV cannot be transmitted by hand-to-genital contact; certainly no such case has ever been documented.  Ditto for other STDs.  Finally, nothing you could have acquired from a sex partner, including HIV, can cause the symptoms you describe only 2 days later; for HIV, it always takes at least 7-10 days.

But as I have said many times, if you are unconvinced, have an HIV test in a few weeks.  It will be negative, which likely will be more reassuring than anything I can say.

Good luck--  HHH, MD

[AnswerMan]

As I'm sure Dr. H will tell you, you're chances of having acquired any STD from the single protected sexual encounter you explained are very, very low.  As your symptoms are recurring in nature, there's a slight possibility you could have acquired HSV2 from that encounter or another encounter given that about 25% of people have it.  While you probably didn't acquire HSV2 from the exposure you described, for peace of mind you should get a type-specific Herpes Select test and let that be decisive.  Your symptoms don't suggest any other STD.

Good Luck.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Recurrent or not, on the basis of the symptoms described and the apparent occurrence of only two "episodes", I'm not especially concerned about HSV-2.

HHH, MD