Your medical assessment Plz

[laracroft0910]

Dear Dr
I am a female who had a risky encounter in early March 2010.
In July 2010, I started itching on my feet first and on some other parts of my body too. I researched the net and saw a connection with HIV. I remembered my encounter (it was only one since I am not active at all) and freaked out. My annual mandatory health check up was coming up (test for HIV, Hypities, Syphilis, TB), and the results were Thank God negative.

My problem is that hhe itchiness on my feet and hands comes and goes, but I also have tingling almost all over my body, some pain and numbness in my hands and feet and I have lately developed a burning sensation that is mainly in my back and buttocks but it also moves around to my arms, shoulders, feet, fingers. Based on my understanding of the info on the net, what I have can be neuropathy caused by HIV? It comes and goes.

Is my ONE TIME test at 4.5 months conclusive? Should I test again based on my symptoms? Are my symptoms worrisome of HIV? Do you think this neuropathy? And if I test again what are my chances of being negative again?

Plz note that I have been going through sever anxity due to the my condition. Could this be a contributing factor.

Thank you

[Edward W Hook, MD]

I did not say that the sensations you are experiencing are not real.  If your problems are related to anxiety and knowing the you do not have HIV will relieve some of that anxiety they should improve.  If not, you should discuss them with your regular doctor.  EWH

[laracroft0910]

Thank you Dr.

I assure you that my skin issues are real and that I have never had them before.
What do you think I should do next in relation to these symptoms? If they are anxiety induced, how can I get rid of them?
Is there a chance there was a lab error with my test?

I am sorry Dr, I know this is obsessive!

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to our Forum.  Let's put both your exposure and your symptoms into perspective.  When all of what I am about to mention to you is considered, you really need to worry.

First your exposure.  No matter who your partner was, chances are that he was not HIV infected. Very few heterosexual men are, particularly if they do not use IV drugs.  Second,  even in the very unlikely circumstance that your partner had HIV, HIV is spread through heterosexual intercourse only once in every 1,000-2,000 exposures, thus your risk of infection from the encounter is mathematically very low (last than 1 in a million).


Second, the tests for HIV are excellent.  Believe the results- they prove what the statistics predict - you do not have HIV.

Finally, your symptoms.  The symptoms of HIV are very non-specific and not something for concern in the setting you describe.  Further, the symptoms of neuropathy do not typically come and go but persist or worsen.  Sometimes after an exposure that, in retrospect, one wishes they had not had, persons tend to examine themselves and be far more attuned to genital sensations than in periods when they are not concerned.  This in turn leads to noticing what turn out to be normal sensations that might have been not noticed or ignored at other times.  I suspect that this is a contributor to your situation.  

Try not to worry.  You did not get HIV from the exposure in March that you describe.  EWH