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Paranoia/Confirmation bias about HIV
Hey fellows. I wanted to ask you a question regarding feelings of anxiety and paranoia most people who believe they may have had an exposure to STDs/HIV feel.
For the record: I'm not a supersticious person.
I had what I believe may have been an exposure event a little over a month ago. You guys disagree, and I hope you are right.
Long story short: fingered a girl and touched my penis shortly after, and days later another girl performed unprotected fellatio on me for a second before I could stop her. I've been told by anyone I tell this -- friends, doctors I've seen since-- that I have no reason for concern. I've also had a blood test done, but since it was too soon after the possible exposure (around 3 weeks), it's obviously not conclusive.
Over the last few weeks it seems like I'm seeing AIDS references all over the place. Be it a story about Magic Johnson, or an article about AIDS research, or AIDS donation campaigns.
Now, I'm familiar with the notion of confirmation bias. AIDS is culturally important, it's part of the zeitgeist and that's why I'm seeing references to it all the time. Chances are I saw them just as often before I have my event, it just wasn't as important a subject before.
So, you guys are used to dealing with paranoids. Is this type of anxiety common around here? I'm unconfortable even TYPING the word "AIDS", that's how paranoid I've become. I worked out yesterday, so my pecs and armpit areas are a little sore, and my first thought is "OH MY GOD ISN'T THAT AN EARLY HIV SYMPTOM?".
So far my "symptoms" have been:
- High white bloodcell count reported on my blood test;
- Lymph nodes possibly swollen; I can't tell for sure and I will see a doctor about them ASAP;
- The armpit thing.
The logical part of me knows I'm being silly. The neurotic part of me is counting the days before I can take a more conclusive blood test.
For the record: I'm not a supersticious person.
I had what I believe may have been an exposure event a little over a month ago. You guys disagree, and I hope you are right.
Long story short: fingered a girl and touched my penis shortly after, and days later another girl performed unprotected fellatio on me for a second before I could stop her. I've been told by anyone I tell this -- friends, doctors I've seen since-- that I have no reason for concern. I've also had a blood test done, but since it was too soon after the possible exposure (around 3 weeks), it's obviously not conclusive.
Over the last few weeks it seems like I'm seeing AIDS references all over the place. Be it a story about Magic Johnson, or an article about AIDS research, or AIDS donation campaigns.
Now, I'm familiar with the notion of confirmation bias. AIDS is culturally important, it's part of the zeitgeist and that's why I'm seeing references to it all the time. Chances are I saw them just as often before I have my event, it just wasn't as important a subject before.
So, you guys are used to dealing with paranoids. Is this type of anxiety common around here? I'm unconfortable even TYPING the word "AIDS", that's how paranoid I've become. I worked out yesterday, so my pecs and armpit areas are a little sore, and my first thought is "OH MY GOD ISN'T THAT AN EARLY HIV SYMPTOM?".
So far my "symptoms" have been:
- High white bloodcell count reported on my blood test;
- Lymph nodes possibly swollen; I can't tell for sure and I will see a doctor about them ASAP;
- The armpit thing.
The logical part of me knows I'm being silly. The neurotic part of me is counting the days before I can take a more conclusive blood test.
Correct,it was a TYPO.See,you know yourself that the assessments aren't going to change.
You NEVER had a risk and you have been made aware of this on a previous post.The assessments are going to change.You need to move on.All the best.
Even I'm a little paranoid about my situation, and I can tell you that you had no risk. I'd be willing to bet money!
I'm going to the doctors tomorrow to see if I do have a swollen lymph node on the left side of my jaw. It seems like there's one sore spot... I can't tell if it's swollen, though.
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