need advice

[namesarehard]

So a few days ago i had sex with a sex worker. I used a condom but i had a small cut on my lower penis, right where the hair starts from shaving. A day later I got a hot flash at work. two days later I got a small little rash like thing below my right eye, maybe an inch by a half inch. It is now four days later since possible infection and my stool has been getting less and less solid, its very loose now. I have also had a headache and some stomach cramping. Last night i was also suffering from shortness of breath so I went to the hospital. I told them all of this and they did a lot of tests but sent me home saying if they found anything that they would call me. Part of me believes that since this is the first time I have ever done anything like this it may just be anxiety, but if you look at the signs for HIV I seem to fit the criteria almost perfectly.This seems like what the hospital thought but I am getting strong physical effects and im not someone who suffers from anxiety. I was wondering two things; one is that I know signs for HIV don't usually show up for a few weeks, but i got them almost immediately. Is it possible to get these symptoms immediately like i did from HIV getting into the small cut I had? 2. Is there any std other than HIV that this may be?  Any other advice is welcome. Also i should note that i am having a really hard time thinking about anything else especially when I keep getting hot flashes all the time. I bought a thermometer and have been testing it but it doesn't seem to ever go above 99 and usually below that. Also I just weighed myself and I'm about 5 pounds lighter than my average. its usual difficult for me to loose weight and it hasn't been this low in a year or two. I am also experiencing more stomach cramping. Thanks

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Please feel free to post your results when you have been seen.  I am confident they will be negative and that you did not get HIV from the exposure you have described.  EWH

[namesarehard]

I am sorry to keep bothering you. I have set up an appointment for Thursday. I have felt nasua all day and now my knee is acking. Am I crazy? I can check off almost almost every sign for the disease. If you could give me a percentage of how sure you are that I'm OK that would do a lot for me. Thanks again, I hope this will all just go away but obviously I will get tested like crazy for the next few months. Thanks again, sorry for the insecurity.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

No change in my assessment or advice.  If this is troubling you , you should seek evaluation by a health care provider.  eWH

[namesarehard]

Thanks for your response. I wish I was as confident as you are about this but as the days go on it seems more and more likely. Today (day 5) I was woken up by intense stomach cramping. At about ten o'clock today my throat started to be soar. It was first a tickle and now its as if I can feel my Adams apple all the time. With the symptoms piling up I just can't help but ask if your still fairly certain I'm not infected. Also there is a small cut on the inside of my gums that wasn't there yesterday and isn't from eating. Thanks again.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to our Forum.  I'll be pleased to comment.  I think your fears are misplaced.  The condom protected exposure you describe was no risk for HIV.  You already know what I am about to tell back to you but you are having trouble accepting it.

Even when HIV is injected deep into tissue it take at least two weeks for symptoms to appear.  This is a biological fact and relates to the time it takes for the body to produce antibodies, nothing more.  The symptoms you have experienced actually no not sound like those of early HIV (the rash is not as you suggest, you do not have a meaningful fever, you do not mention muscle or joint aches) and even if you have all of these findings, it, the fact it that this is almost 100 times more likely to be due to the sort of community acquired virus that most people acquire from time to time that no be due to HIV.  

I suspect your weight loss is due to your GI symptoms, nothing more.  

HIV is not acquired by touching someone's genitals with your finger, even if the finger had a cut on it.

Your exposure was no risk and your symptoms are not suggestive of HIV.  I urge you not to worry.  EWH

[namesarehard]

Also I was wondering if the disease can survive under your finger nail. I touched her clit with my finger for a few seconds and later that night, about an hour later, I scratched this thing on my knee and it bled. thanks