chance of hiv?

[egbrcd1913]

Hello, so here is my story. Im a 24 year old female from the US. I was seeing a guy that I worked with for about three years. We never once had unprotected sex in the three years until last july. It was only for a minute with no ejaculation. I never thought about hiv or stds because he always said he never had sex without a condom. I believed him. Anyways two weeks later I got really sick and freaked out that I now had hiv. I told him and he told me he was clean . I was tested 12 weeks later and it came back negative. In Sept, we had unprotected sex again for only a minute with no ejaculation. It's been six months and now I'm a little freaked out. Im a nursing student and we were going over some things about lymph nodes. I can feel a node near my elbow it feels a little smaller than a pea. However I remember reading that an epitrochlear node isn't normally palpable and was a way tovdetermine hiv infections in Africa. I have no other symptoms but when i thinking back the past six months I've had a lot of headaches. Is it possible I have hiv? What are my chances? Does that lymph node mean I have hiv? My friend has crohns disease and had blood transfusions. Maybe he's not aware he has hiv. Over the summer he had these lesions that he got for years but these weren't healing.he's always around drs and sometimes hospitalized . Could they be mistaken hiv for complications of crohns disease?? I can't eat or sleep I'm so scared.Thank you.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

This will need to be the last answer.

I would believe you test results.  You are being overly fearful from a very, very low risk exposure.  EWH

[egbrcd1913]

Hi Doctor, I have one more question. I went for my results 2 weeks ago and my doctor said it was negative. Of course I'm still paranoid because of swollen lymph nodes. So its in the back of my head that she might have read an old result. Well today I got the bill for the lab and it says in the test description viral ab confirmation?? Now I'm worried. Do you have any advice?

[egbrcd1913]

My test was negative. Thank you!! I hope to never be back on this forum again!!:)

[Edward W Hook, MD]

No change in my opinion.  Your risk is VERY low.  EWH

[egbrcd1913]

My doctor Will only give hiv results in person. I really hope you're right about my results. The lymph node in my armpit and behind the ear aren't alarming? If someone has a potential risk and doesn't show signs of ars does that make the belief of a negative test more confident. And I just wanted to thank you for helping me through this stressful time.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

I am confident ti will be negative.  (and I bet the doctor's office might tell you the results if you call.  You shouldn't need to hear from him). EWH

[egbrcd1913]

I was tested yesterday. I can't get my results until Monday. My doctor is out of the office the rest of the week.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

None of this changes my opinion whatsoever.  You told me you were going to be tested on the 25th. If so, you should have a result by now and I predict it is negative.  Was it?  EWH

[egbrcd1913]

Just found a painless marble size lump in my right armpit. I have a very bad feeling my test results are going to be positive.

[egbrcd1913]

This has been the most stressful couple weeks of my life. I will get my results next monday. I dnt know how much longer I can take the anxiety. Last week I notices a lump behind my boyfriends ear. He was hiv negative before me now i can't stop thinking, I infected him. This lump is tiny but is on top of a bone making it visual. Not sure if its a lymph node. There isn't one on the other side. As for me, I've been having a lot of problems that symptoms suggest pid but have been blowing it off for months. Also have recurring yeast infections And this lump under my arm or what feels like a lump is scaring me! I had this discomfort feeling in my armpit  on and off for months but can't remember if it was before or after my unprotected incidence. I just never thought any about my problems bc I never thought I was at risk for hiv.  Would any of this signs change ur assessment?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

No I don't think your test will be positive.  In fact, I am confident that it will not be.  While you are waiting for your test, my advice woul be to stay off of the internet. While there is much good information available on the internet, there is also a huge amount of anxiety producing mis-information as well andf figuring out which is which  difficult.  The internet is not the place for you.  EWH.  

[egbrcd1913]

Dr Hook, I was getting pretty confident that I was hiv negative but scheduled for a test to ease my mind. I go Monday. In the meantime I've talked to my friend, who gets frustrated when I ask him about his hiv status. He thinks of it like I think he's dirty.  He said he tested last year. Since he wasn't reassuring I went on the internet. Now in march he was hospitalized with a " stomach flu'' and in Sept he had boils on the back of his legs and arm that wouldn't heal. There are similar stories on the internet where ppl had the Same thing and found out they had hiv. I'm terrified they are over looking everything thinking its due to crohns. I have possibly the swollen lymph node in my elbow n a feeli.ng like something is swollen under my arm. Do you think my hiv test will be positive?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

No, HIV does not change the menstrual cycle.  EWH

[egbrcd1913]

Thank you Doctor. I appreciate you answering my questions. Nursing school will definitely be the death of me, I'm sure. I had one more question, maybe a foolish one, would hiv cause change in menstrual cycles after 6 months. Make them more frequent?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to our Forum.  Your situation is a familiar one.  As a health care professional we sometimes have too much knowledge about what might have happened.  I know that in medical school when there is teaching about brain tumors it is not uncommon for persons to wonder if that is what is causing their headaches – your concerns remind me of this rather common occurrence.  Let's examine this objectively.

Your partner is low risk. the occurrence of HIV among heterosexual men in the U.S. is less than 1 in 1,000 and actually closer to 1 in 10,000.   Further, the mathematical risk of HIV transmission, if he did have HIV is only 1 infection in every 1000 acts of unprotected intercourse.  Then you had a negative HIV test in September and have only had a single exposure since that time. Putting these figures together, your risk of HIV is something less than 1 in 10 million.  Put another way, you are more likely to get hit by lightening than to have gotten HIV from your single unprotected exposure since you were tested.  That your partner has had blood transfusions does not change this assessment.

As for the lump n the elbow, my guess is that it is not an epitrochlear lymph node as these are very difficult to feel on one's self.  Even if it is however, this is a non-specific finding which could be ue to many things.  

My advice is to not worry, to get tested if you wish to gain peace of mind or, even better yet, to ask your partner to get infected since if he is negative there is no risk for infection.  Please do not worry.  I am confident that you do not have HIV.  EWH