panic mode

[daddypix]

Hello, Doctors my concerns are as follows............about 3.5 weeks ago i began to experience a leg cramp in my right leg............recently i ve urinating more frequently......and have had a few episodes of what feeels like pn in my feet sharp shock in right toe tingling in feet but it comes and goes.........im afraid i might have aids related myelopathy..........My last test was in 2008 at my doctors office........my possible exposures would be vaginal sex with a woman whom i had tested 6 months prior to not wearing a condom by a home access test it was negative and i never experienced any ars afterwards........and two oral exposures with two different women..........today i performed a rapid oral test on myself at home......im not sure i did it correcttly as i lost the instructions....i scraped the inside of my cheeks at first and thing i poured some of the solution onto the resivoir of the tip and let it sit for 2 minutes then i poured the mix into a small hole and waited 20 minutes thr results was one line in the c section not two lines indicating a positive result..my questions are 1. do you think i performed the procedure well enough to generate the right result........i repeated it scraping my gums only and same result...im afraid i didnt do it correctly...2 does myelopathy occur after only 2 years past infection......4 wouldnt i more than likely be suffering with a constellation of other symptoms along with myelopathy.....like fever weight loss severe diarhea..oral thrush.........etc........do to a severely weakened immune system......5.im thinking of calling a service that will come out 24/7 to give me an oral rapid test........costing about 150 dollars......do you think i need to go along with it.6. worst case scenario what would be my prognosis if it turns out to be aids related myelopathy......have seen any of your patients develope this and did they recover.......sorry about the long post........

[Edward W Hook, MD]

I answered your question.  If you do not feel confident in the results of the test you performed get another one.  As I also said -"even though the self- tests are quite reliable and easy to do, we typically recommend that clients have their tests done in a lab to be completely sure that the test is reliable."  EWH

[daddypix]

thx for the quick response dr. i believe that i just scraped the cheeks and not the gums with the device.........so i feel as if i didnt have any antibodies to mix with the solution that was poured into testing base........should i have another test performed given my symptoms or just move on and stop worrying.....

[Edward W Hook, MD]

,
Welcome to the Forum. the exposures you describe are very low risk. the chance that a heterosexual woman who had a negative test  6 months earlier has HIV are very, very low. There is no meaningful risk from oral sex.  Thus you are very low risk for HIV.  As far as your specific questions:

1.  I do not have the instructions in front of me but the procedure you followed sounds about right. In general, even though the self- tests are quite reliable and easy to do, we typically recommend that clients have their tests done in a lab to be completely sure that the test is reliable.  In your case, the negative result you got is further evidence that you do not have HIV>

2.  No, HIV myelopathy does not occur after two years of infection.  It is a late manifestation of HIV.

3.  I would not worry about the presence or absence of symptoms. If you are still worried about HIV (personally, I recommend that you not worry), I would get a test.  Believe the tests, not a bunch of non-specific questions.

4.  It depends how high your anxiety is.  If wasting $150 is worth it to relieve you anxiety, do it.  Again, personally I do not think your situation warrants it.


Hope these comments are helpful.  It is most unlikely that you have HIV form what you describe.  EWH