Aa
Fears haunting me
Hi Doctors: I'm sure you will say that I am whack-a-doodle, but I'd really appreciate it if you could put my mind at ease. During my wilder days, which have ended since I got married a year ago ago, I used to travel to Vegas with buddies from time to time for fun, which sometimes included my hooking-up with escorts. Always used condoms, although there was couple times the condom slipped off for a couple minutes. Pretty much forgot all this stuff until recently, when I happened to come across an article about Vegas and AIDs.
This got me thinking and very anxious thinking about my past, doing research online about HIV etc. Then, I remembered that there was one time that I'd had this period of a couple weeks where I'd had these night sweats. I didn't think anything of it at the time, I just thought that because the room was cold my body was creating heat. Based on what I read about HIV though, I am freaking out that this might have been an ARS symptom. Here are my questions:
1) How much risk did i get exposed to with a couple of those condom slippages?
2) How about the night sweating, could that have been an ARS symptom? I had no other ARS symptoms with that - no fever over 100, no lymphnode breakouts, no rash etc. - but does ARS ever manifest itself only with night sweats alone, or is it usually other symptoms with it?
3) Shall I go get tested ASAP I suppose? What kind of test shall I ask for?
Sorry Doctor, I probably sound a bit hysterical, but ever since I remembered that I'd had those night sweats a couple years ago I've been a nervous wreck, but my one source of comfort is that it seems unlikely that ARS would manifest itself with night sweats alone, there'd usually be other symptoms, right? Please advise!
This got me thinking and very anxious thinking about my past, doing research online about HIV etc. Then, I remembered that there was one time that I'd had this period of a couple weeks where I'd had these night sweats. I didn't think anything of it at the time, I just thought that because the room was cold my body was creating heat. Based on what I read about HIV though, I am freaking out that this might have been an ARS symptom. Here are my questions:
1) How much risk did i get exposed to with a couple of those condom slippages?
2) How about the night sweating, could that have been an ARS symptom? I had no other ARS symptoms with that - no fever over 100, no lymphnode breakouts, no rash etc. - but does ARS ever manifest itself only with night sweats alone, or is it usually other symptoms with it?
3) Shall I go get tested ASAP I suppose? What kind of test shall I ask for?
Sorry Doctor, I probably sound a bit hysterical, but ever since I remembered that I'd had those night sweats a couple years ago I've been a nervous wreck, but my one source of comfort is that it seems unlikely that ARS would manifest itself with night sweats alone, there'd usually be other symptoms, right? Please advise!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
No. ARS is a "flu-like" illness. I chose not to catalog the finding of "typical ARS" because first and foremost, there is not typical ARS (that is the reason I used the quotation marks) and secondly, although this may not pertain to you, the fact is that giving such a list tends to lead some of our clients to work overtime to identify their own "ARS symptoms". This is not healthy. Please take it form me, what you describe does not fit the bill, your risk is tiny, and you do not need to worry. Go get tested for your piece of mind. Your test will be negative. EWH
Hi Doctor: Thank you for your reply. It is definitely comforting to hear. When you say that the night sweats I describe are not "classical ARS" - can you give me an example of what would be classical ARS? It will put my mind at ease before I go get tested.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Our past sometimes has a tendency to haunt us, in this case far more often in the form of anxieties than disease. I suspect that will be the case for you as well. So, let's get down to the business of your questions:
1. If slippage means the condom came off, then you had unprotected intercourse and its attendant risks. How big are those risks? Small - less than 1 chance in in 1000 of getting infected, IF your partner was infected and most escorts in the US are not infected.
2 Night sweats are ARS. We have made repeated statements on this forum that the symptoms of the ARS are TOTALLY non-specific and when people experience "ARS symptoms" they are much more likely to have something else, usually some other, more typical virus infection. When this has been studied in the US, less than 1% of persons seeking medical care for "ARS symptoms" are found to have HIV, the remainder having symptoms due to other processes. For a person to try to judge their HIV risk based on "ARS symptoms" is a waste of time. IN your specific case, the night sweats you describe are not classical ARS. I would not worry.
3. Getting tested. Yes. At this time, more than 12 weeks are your last exposure, a standard HIV antibody (blood test) will be totally reliable and should be believed (yours will be negative, I am confident of this). There is also simply no reason not to be tested. Getting tested will not change whether or not you are infected, just tell you either that you are not or, although this is far more unlikely, identify infection thereby allowing you to get treatment and to protect your loved ones. There is just no reason not to get tested other than misplaced (and I emphasize, misplaced, anxiety.
Hope this helps. EWH
1. If slippage means the condom came off, then you had unprotected intercourse and its attendant risks. How big are those risks? Small - less than 1 chance in in 1000 of getting infected, IF your partner was infected and most escorts in the US are not infected.
2 Night sweats are ARS. We have made repeated statements on this forum that the symptoms of the ARS are TOTALLY non-specific and when people experience "ARS symptoms" they are much more likely to have something else, usually some other, more typical virus infection. When this has been studied in the US, less than 1% of persons seeking medical care for "ARS symptoms" are found to have HIV, the remainder having symptoms due to other processes. For a person to try to judge their HIV risk based on "ARS symptoms" is a waste of time. IN your specific case, the night sweats you describe are not classical ARS. I would not worry.
3. Getting tested. Yes. At this time, more than 12 weeks are your last exposure, a standard HIV antibody (blood test) will be totally reliable and should be believed (yours will be negative, I am confident of this). There is also simply no reason not to be tested. Getting tested will not change whether or not you are infected, just tell you either that you are not or, although this is far more unlikely, identify infection thereby allowing you to get treatment and to protect your loved ones. There is just no reason not to get tested other than misplaced (and I emphasize, misplaced, anxiety.
Hope this helps. EWH
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