Aa
HIV panic
Hey Doctor, a couple of weeks ago I got really drunk in Hawaii and ended up having sex with a prostitute. I don't remember much at all and I am particularly worried about the 'prostitute' encounter - this is freaking me out a lot. I have no idea if a condom was used as well.
I am currently freaking out so badly because I have read that symptoms between week 2-4 are commonly reported as flu like with the most common being swollen glands in the neck - as this is when the infection is fighting the body right? Yesterday I started getting constant flushes in my face and neck and they haven't really gone away. My glands don't appear to be swollen but my face and neck are constantly hot. I felt a little average last night - mainly tired, and although it is a little warm here at the moment, I did wake up sweating a bit.
I am so afraid right now, but want to know if this is likely to be HIV. I can remember that the place was an establishment of some kind, and she was asian if this helps with the likelihoods.
Thankyou so much
I am currently freaking out so badly because I have read that symptoms between week 2-4 are commonly reported as flu like with the most common being swollen glands in the neck - as this is when the infection is fighting the body right? Yesterday I started getting constant flushes in my face and neck and they haven't really gone away. My glands don't appear to be swollen but my face and neck are constantly hot. I felt a little average last night - mainly tired, and although it is a little warm here at the moment, I did wake up sweating a bit.
I am so afraid right now, but want to know if this is likely to be HIV. I can remember that the place was an establishment of some kind, and she was asian if this helps with the likelihoods.
Thankyou so much
Doc, amazing. Thankyou. Sorry I may have wasted your time. I have spent time looking at some of the anxiety forums - what a great website! Great to read about others that have been down this path. I am normally a very 'in control' rational person, which may go some way to explain that when faced with something I potentially can't 'control', it has snow balled somewhat.
Thank you so much again for your time, you have helped tremendously.
Thank you so much again for your time, you have helped tremendously.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
These symptoms are typical for the physical manifestations of anxiety, depression, or other psychological disorders, and I think you indeed have "just worried [your]self sick". I advise you to stop searching online about your sympotms, HIV, and STDs. Here is something I wrote to another user a few months ago:
"Indeed the internet can be dangerous for anxious persons with unexplained symptoms. Perhaps you're familiar with Nate Silver, who has become rather famous for his political predictions (http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com). He has written a book about statistical issues in everyday life (The Signal and the Noise, Penguin Press, 2012). Here is a quote from it:
"'...[consider] what might happen if you put a hypochondriac in a dark room with an Internet connection. The more time that you give him, the more information he has at his disposal, the more ridiculous the self-diagnosis he'll come up with; before long he'll be mistaking a common cold for the bubonic plague.'
"Anxious people tend to be drawn to information that reinforces the anxiety, and to miss the reassuring bits..."
That will end this thread. I won't have anything more to say.
"Indeed the internet can be dangerous for anxious persons with unexplained symptoms. Perhaps you're familiar with Nate Silver, who has become rather famous for his political predictions (http://fivethirtyeight.blogs.nytimes.com). He has written a book about statistical issues in everyday life (The Signal and the Noise, Penguin Press, 2012). Here is a quote from it:
"'...[consider] what might happen if you put a hypochondriac in a dark room with an Internet connection. The more time that you give him, the more information he has at his disposal, the more ridiculous the self-diagnosis he'll come up with; before long he'll be mistaking a common cold for the bubonic plague.'
"Anxious people tend to be drawn to information that reinforces the anxiety, and to miss the reassuring bits..."
That will end this thread. I won't have anything more to say.
Hey Doc, sorry to come back but I have really been struggling and could really use your thoughts and advice.
I thought I had the anxiety under control yesterday when I found out I am negative for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea. However today a few more things have got me worked up again.
I know that for some this post will seem silly but this is a whole other story actually going through it. I have had some anxious times in the past but this is off scale high. I understand that anxiety may have caused some of these symptoms, but it seems to me that too much is stacking up. I will admit that I have 'googled' symptoms and this probably has not helped, but I now find myself with a history of symptoms that are really freaking me out.
Thus far:
Day 14 - hot flushes in neck and face, potential mild fever
Day 15 - felt weak and tired, hot flushes (mild fever?) and moderate night sweat
Day 16 - felt weak and tired, hot flushes (mild fever), and moderate night sweat
Day 17 - felt slightly better especially after finding out Neg results but neck glands hot and potentially swollen (possibly due to me checking them a bit over 2 days)
Day 18 - Moderate sore throat (severe on right side for about 15 mins), lymph nodes slightly swollen and pulsing at times, not feeling great, but able to work, groin lymph nodes not sore but 'awareness' of some activity.
I have been pretty anxious, and I guess I haven't slept very well for a while. I have been hotter than normal, and generally feel fatigued with occasional weakness and mild muscle soreness.
Sorry to come back - but knowing the odds, have I just worried myself sick? If I had a rash I think I would fall apart right now
Thanks
I thought I had the anxiety under control yesterday when I found out I am negative for Chlamydia and Gonorrhoea. However today a few more things have got me worked up again.
I know that for some this post will seem silly but this is a whole other story actually going through it. I have had some anxious times in the past but this is off scale high. I understand that anxiety may have caused some of these symptoms, but it seems to me that too much is stacking up. I will admit that I have 'googled' symptoms and this probably has not helped, but I now find myself with a history of symptoms that are really freaking me out.
Thus far:
Day 14 - hot flushes in neck and face, potential mild fever
Day 15 - felt weak and tired, hot flushes (mild fever?) and moderate night sweat
Day 16 - felt weak and tired, hot flushes (mild fever), and moderate night sweat
Day 17 - felt slightly better especially after finding out Neg results but neck glands hot and potentially swollen (possibly due to me checking them a bit over 2 days)
Day 18 - Moderate sore throat (severe on right side for about 15 mins), lymph nodes slightly swollen and pulsing at times, not feeling great, but able to work, groin lymph nodes not sore but 'awareness' of some activity.
I have been pretty anxious, and I guess I haven't slept very well for a while. I have been hotter than normal, and generally feel fatigued with occasional weakness and mild muscle soreness.
Sorry to come back - but knowing the odds, have I just worried myself sick? If I had a rash I think I would fall apart right now
Thanks
Thankyou, and I tried to work out how to get this across to the other forum - I might just have to start a new one.
I think I might be worrying myself sick. Not sleeping much and very very worried. That said I think I got night sweats last night and now think I am getting a sore throat.so I keep thinking I am 1 in 2000.
Thankyou so much for your time
I think I might be worrying myself sick. Not sleeping much and very very worried. That said I think I got night sweats last night and now think I am getting a sore throat.so I keep thinking I am 1 in 2000.
Thankyou so much for your time
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Noted.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum -- but it's not the right one for HIV questions, which should be on the HIV Prevention and Safe Sex forum. I'll answer briefly, but there won't be an opportunity for follow-up comments or discussion.
You shouldn't be at all worried. First, the frequency of HIV in sex workers in most population groups and geographic areas of the US, including Hawaii, is very low, so the odds are that your partner wasn't infected. That your partner was Asian ethnicity doesn't make any difference. Second, even if she was, the average transmission risk for a single episode of unprotected vaginal sex is around 1 in 2,000. Third, your symptoms are not at all suggestive of a new HIV infection.
From the standpoints of risk and symptoms, you don't even need HIV testing. But of course you are free to do it if the negative result will give you additional reassurance. In that case, have a duo test (for both HIV antibody and antigen) at 4 weeks after the exposure, or a standard antibody test at 6-8 weeks. While you're at it, have a urine test for gonorrhea and chlamydia and a blood test for syphilis; the chances of these STDs are a lot higher than for HIV. The results probably will also be negative, but better safe than sorry.
In the meantime, stay relaxed. If your symptoms persist, you should visit a doctor or clinic to check them out -- but you can be sure they aren't due to HIV or any other infection from the sexual exposure described above.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
You shouldn't be at all worried. First, the frequency of HIV in sex workers in most population groups and geographic areas of the US, including Hawaii, is very low, so the odds are that your partner wasn't infected. That your partner was Asian ethnicity doesn't make any difference. Second, even if she was, the average transmission risk for a single episode of unprotected vaginal sex is around 1 in 2,000. Third, your symptoms are not at all suggestive of a new HIV infection.
From the standpoints of risk and symptoms, you don't even need HIV testing. But of course you are free to do it if the negative result will give you additional reassurance. In that case, have a duo test (for both HIV antibody and antigen) at 4 weeks after the exposure, or a standard antibody test at 6-8 weeks. While you're at it, have a urine test for gonorrhea and chlamydia and a blood test for syphilis; the chances of these STDs are a lot higher than for HIV. The results probably will also be negative, but better safe than sorry.
In the meantime, stay relaxed. If your symptoms persist, you should visit a doctor or clinic to check them out -- but you can be sure they aren't due to HIV or any other infection from the sexual exposure described above.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
I forgot to mention that I am day 16.
Thanks
Thanks
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