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Questions on a sore throat and rash
Hello all. Seven weeks ago I had an encounter that I believe was protected, but I'm a little worried the condom slipped so I cannot be sure it was protected. What bothers me is that I've developed an extremely severe sore throat and a rash all over my abdomen at about week 5. The rash is red and blotchy and comes and goes. It extends down my arms. Here is a link to the rash:
http://img534.imageshack.us/i/20100420125936.jpg/
The rash does not stay, it comes and goes and moves around. It tends to come more when I'm hot. I've also felt quite warm lately despite having no fever. I'm very worried as I've also been suffering EXTREME night sweats. Could someone please tell me if these are consistent with ARS of possibly some other, community acquired illness. The symptoms are improving quite a bit, which somewhat bothers me since it all appears to be in the timeline of ARS. If anyone could look at the rash, or tell me whether it sounds like an ARS rash, I'd greatly appreciate it. I've tested several times but I know it cannot be considered conclusive until 3 months.
http://img534.imageshack.us/i/20100420125936.jpg/
The rash does not stay, it comes and goes and moves around. It tends to come more when I'm hot. I've also felt quite warm lately despite having no fever. I'm very worried as I've also been suffering EXTREME night sweats. Could someone please tell me if these are consistent with ARS of possibly some other, community acquired illness. The symptoms are improving quite a bit, which somewhat bothers me since it all appears to be in the timeline of ARS. If anyone could look at the rash, or tell me whether it sounds like an ARS rash, I'd greatly appreciate it. I've tested several times but I know it cannot be considered conclusive until 3 months.
Best Answer
Thanks for the reassurance. Greatly appreciated. My doctors were unsure of my symptoms. (I've seen four). Thanks for helping me eliminate HIV though. Sometimes it is hard to tell yourself that you're OK when symptoms coincidentally pop up. I do appreciate it though, and will stay OFFLINE, because it's maddening. Take care, the work you do here is great!
Thanks Lizzie, yes I did pay for his response and it did help to settle most of my anxiety. However, he did not answer my questions related to consistency of the rash. I am trying to tell myself that yes, it is from Doxycycline, however, when paired with the night sweats and the sore throat, it becomes a little hard to stay calm.
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Condoms are the most effective way to prevent HIV and STDs.
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Can you get HIV from casual contact, like hugging?
Frequency of HIV testing depends on your risk.
Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) may help prevent HIV infection.
Welcome to the Forum. You have no reason for concern. for starters, it is unlikely that your partner had HIV- most commercial sex workers o not. Even if she did, your exposure was condom protected and condom protected sex is safe sex. You can also be confident that your condom did not fail since when condoms fail they break wide open and there is no doubt that they have failed. Similarly, there is no risk for HIV related to the fact that you masturbated her.
As for your symptoms, they are not due to HIV but have some other cause. I say this because of the non-existent risk for infection related to your exposure and related to your negative blood tests at 5.5 weeks when about 95% of HIV infections acquired 5 weeks earlier would be detectable.
Your doxycycline will not affect your tests but it could be the cause of some of your symptoms, particularly the rash.
I repeat, no reason to worry about HIV. Take care. EWH