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HIV-type symptoms mirrored by wife...
I had unprotected sex with a sexually active woman while on a business trip 3.5 weeks ago. Since then I have had several ARS type symptoms such as sore throat, lymph swelling, headache behind the eyes, nausea, diarrhea, rashes on face, neck, and upper back and chest. The worst symptom was thrush... I got an anonymous email from the girl telling me to "get checked for STDs" I went in and was given Zithromax and Flagella as precautions--leading to a nice case of THRUSH in my mouth. The Dr told me that thrush after broad spectrum antibiotics isn't uncommon, but it's RARE. He said that thrush in adults is usually caused by HIV, not the anitbiotics. I just bought a rapid kit, but it's still posibly too early to get a positive result...if I/we am/are.
Week 1-- swollen glands on left side of neck for 24 hours, sore throat for 48 hours, diarrhea for 48 hours
Week 2-- thrush after antibiotics, muscle aches in neck and foot/leg cramps, slight fatigue
Week 3-- rash on sides of neck, upper chest and back and on sides of face--pimple like bumps and a few flat ones
Week 3-- fatigue 3 days straight. 1 hour after sleeping 8-9 hours feel as if I stayed up all night with no energy all day. Rash happened during this fatigue, but not sure if I had a fever. rash on neck started to clear after 48hrs, but then rash got worse on face and spread further. rash has been present 3 days now but seems to change areas and severity.
My wife has had all the symptoms above almost exactly 3-5 days after I had them and with similar severity except the thrush and her rash is on her forearms. We had sex 3 days after my encounter. I have not told her about the encounter and she thinks the antibiotics were for a UTI.
Is is possible that we are HIV infected?
How long does the ARS rash usually last?
Week 1-- swollen glands on left side of neck for 24 hours, sore throat for 48 hours, diarrhea for 48 hours
Week 2-- thrush after antibiotics, muscle aches in neck and foot/leg cramps, slight fatigue
Week 3-- rash on sides of neck, upper chest and back and on sides of face--pimple like bumps and a few flat ones
Week 3-- fatigue 3 days straight. 1 hour after sleeping 8-9 hours feel as if I stayed up all night with no energy all day. Rash happened during this fatigue, but not sure if I had a fever. rash on neck started to clear after 48hrs, but then rash got worse on face and spread further. rash has been present 3 days now but seems to change areas and severity.
My wife has had all the symptoms above almost exactly 3-5 days after I had them and with similar severity except the thrush and her rash is on her forearms. We had sex 3 days after my encounter. I have not told her about the encounter and she thinks the antibiotics were for a UTI.
Is is possible that we are HIV infected?
How long does the ARS rash usually last?
Teak:
They are telling me my immune system is weak because of a low white cell count. (less than 1000)
The tests they are running right now are looking for lymph cancers that could be causing low WBC counts and a weakened immune system.
They feel that my lowered WBC can cause me to take longer to seroconvert. It's almost as if they WANT me to test positive. They seem so determined that I am infected--to the point that the lab tech wears respiratory protection when drawing my blood. They have suggected and referred me to counseling--which I passed on for now since I have other means to blow off steam.
Arif83:
As stated above, the insurance company only pays for ELISA tests this far out from exposure. The incident at the time seemed minimal so my manager and I decided to not report it due to issues we have had with the lab I was in. They are anti-service personnel and an acciden report is a LOT of paperwork--causing more stress on our company's relationship with that lab. By the time I started having symptoms, it was too late for PEP. Now we are unsure if my symptoms are from my sexual encounter or the biological exposure.
I have 4 more weeks until my 12 week ELISA. I will find out later this week about the last batch of tests that were run.
They are telling me my immune system is weak because of a low white cell count. (less than 1000)
The tests they are running right now are looking for lymph cancers that could be causing low WBC counts and a weakened immune system.
They feel that my lowered WBC can cause me to take longer to seroconvert. It's almost as if they WANT me to test positive. They seem so determined that I am infected--to the point that the lab tech wears respiratory protection when drawing my blood. They have suggected and referred me to counseling--which I passed on for now since I have other means to blow off steam.
Arif83:
As stated above, the insurance company only pays for ELISA tests this far out from exposure. The incident at the time seemed minimal so my manager and I decided to not report it due to issues we have had with the lab I was in. They are anti-service personnel and an acciden report is a LOT of paperwork--causing more stress on our company's relationship with that lab. By the time I started having symptoms, it was too late for PEP. Now we are unsure if my symptoms are from my sexual encounter or the biological exposure.
I have 4 more weeks until my 12 week ELISA. I will find out later this week about the last batch of tests that were run.
Hi,
Having sex with unknown stranger did pose a serious HIV risk , No body should be saying that stranger is hiv +ve unless proven to the contrary by medical tests so should your status as well, I suggest you should get that stranger tested for the same. A 7 week CMIA Ab/Ag combo or DUO test should put most of your doubts to rest and a 12-13 week test Elissa should finally close your dilemma about your status, I guess as of now the odds are in your favor most cases get hiv + ve by know a very small miniscule at 3 months and lets not take exceptions bcoz of immune - dysfunctions or immuno suppressent drugs it make take longer than 6months to a year, only one case where seroconversion and detection was 2 years.BUT THATS ONE CASE FOR 6 BILLION HUMANS.You should have gone for PEP immediately rather than having sex again with your wife - i think with in 3 days chances of transmitting infections to your wife is abysmally low. CHECK FOR OTHER STDS THIS TIME THE ODDS ARE IN YOUR FAVOR IT NEED NOT BE THE CASE AGAIN DONT ENGAGE IN ANY OTHER SEXUAL ACTIVITY WITH YOUR SPOUSE (AND NO BODY ELSE AS WELL) I HOPE WITH A NEGATIVE HIV TEST AT 12-13 MONTHS YOU CAN PUT THE MATTER TO REST AND MOVE ON WITH LIFE AND UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY WANTING AIDS (VERY BADLY YOU CAN STRAY AGAIN).
Having sex with unknown stranger did pose a serious HIV risk , No body should be saying that stranger is hiv +ve unless proven to the contrary by medical tests so should your status as well, I suggest you should get that stranger tested for the same. A 7 week CMIA Ab/Ag combo or DUO test should put most of your doubts to rest and a 12-13 week test Elissa should finally close your dilemma about your status, I guess as of now the odds are in your favor most cases get hiv + ve by know a very small miniscule at 3 months and lets not take exceptions bcoz of immune - dysfunctions or immuno suppressent drugs it make take longer than 6months to a year, only one case where seroconversion and detection was 2 years.BUT THATS ONE CASE FOR 6 BILLION HUMANS.You should have gone for PEP immediately rather than having sex again with your wife - i think with in 3 days chances of transmitting infections to your wife is abysmally low. CHECK FOR OTHER STDS THIS TIME THE ODDS ARE IN YOUR FAVOR IT NEED NOT BE THE CASE AGAIN DONT ENGAGE IN ANY OTHER SEXUAL ACTIVITY WITH YOUR SPOUSE (AND NO BODY ELSE AS WELL) I HOPE WITH A NEGATIVE HIV TEST AT 12-13 MONTHS YOU CAN PUT THE MATTER TO REST AND MOVE ON WITH LIFE AND UNLESS YOU ARE REALLY WANTING AIDS (VERY BADLY YOU CAN STRAY AGAIN).
The idea of "delayed seroconvserion" is an urban myth...with the only rare exception being someone with terminal, advanced cancer, someone on aggressive chemo, someone taking anti-rejection meds post an organ transplant (a situation where one basically has NO immunosuppression).
I disagree completely with what the "professionals" thus far have told you. A 6 week negative is an excellent sign!
I disagree completely with what the "professionals" thus far have told you. A 6 week negative is an excellent sign!
What reasons is it that your doctor thinks you have a weakened immune system. Have you been treated for years with an immune disorder? You been hospitalized with an immune disorder?
The 6 week ELISA was negative.
...but my white blood cell count was less than 1000. (normal range is 4000-10,5000).
My liver and spleen are enlarged and I am still having several ARS type symptoms.
They have brawn 9 tubes of blood and tested me for everything from EBV, HVV6, Hepatitis A,B,C to kidney and liver disfunction. Everything comes back normal or negative. I have not gotten any results back from the last blood draw. I get those Thursday.
Based on my white blood cell count I have a very high viral load infection and they can't figure out what it is. I am dealing with a Workman's Comp doctor and they are avoiding the expensive HIV tests right now. They are making me wait 4 more weeks for another ELISA test since that's all the insurance will pay for.
The specialist I have been dealing with is a "biohazard exposure specialist" rathern than an actual HIV specialist as I was led to believe at first. They believe that my immune system has been so badly compromised either from the HIV virus or I have an underlying issue such as Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma that my seroconversion has been delayed and that I am having extended/recurring ARS symptoms because my immune system can't fight off the opportunistic infections. They keep telling me that my 12 week test will probably be the deciding factor for treatment. (they think it will be positive)
So, to sum it up: They think I have HIV, but are too cheap to do the expensive tests and they believe I have another issue that has delayed seroconversion.
...but my white blood cell count was less than 1000. (normal range is 4000-10,5000).
My liver and spleen are enlarged and I am still having several ARS type symptoms.
They have brawn 9 tubes of blood and tested me for everything from EBV, HVV6, Hepatitis A,B,C to kidney and liver disfunction. Everything comes back normal or negative. I have not gotten any results back from the last blood draw. I get those Thursday.
Based on my white blood cell count I have a very high viral load infection and they can't figure out what it is. I am dealing with a Workman's Comp doctor and they are avoiding the expensive HIV tests right now. They are making me wait 4 more weeks for another ELISA test since that's all the insurance will pay for.
The specialist I have been dealing with is a "biohazard exposure specialist" rathern than an actual HIV specialist as I was led to believe at first. They believe that my immune system has been so badly compromised either from the HIV virus or I have an underlying issue such as Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma that my seroconversion has been delayed and that I am having extended/recurring ARS symptoms because my immune system can't fight off the opportunistic infections. They keep telling me that my 12 week test will probably be the deciding factor for treatment. (they think it will be positive)
So, to sum it up: They think I have HIV, but are too cheap to do the expensive tests and they believe I have another issue that has delayed seroconversion.
You are correct, she is of unknown status...but she did send me a blunt email telling me to get tested for ALL STDs and has yet to respond to any of my emails and the phone number she gave me was a bogus one.
She obviously had something. She felt the need to tell me to get checked.
I have tested negative for all other STDs.
I may not have HIV, but I DO HAVE SOMETHING and the smptoms are very similar to ARS and early HIV infection such as persistent thrush, skin rashes on my face/neck/upper torso that keep me indoors, fatigue, headaches behind the eyes, the symptoms come and go. I also realise that these symptoms can be from other diseases/viruses, but my doctors can't rule out HIV yet due to my weakend immune system. They feel seroconversion is being delayed and my ARS is being extended at this point.
She obviously had something. She felt the need to tell me to get checked.
I have tested negative for all other STDs.
I may not have HIV, but I DO HAVE SOMETHING and the smptoms are very similar to ARS and early HIV infection such as persistent thrush, skin rashes on my face/neck/upper torso that keep me indoors, fatigue, headaches behind the eyes, the symptoms come and go. I also realise that these symptoms can be from other diseases/viruses, but my doctors can't rule out HIV yet due to my weakend immune system. They feel seroconversion is being delayed and my ARS is being extended at this point.
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