Thinking I have HIV.

[Trici25]

On April 8th I had unprotected vaginal sex with a guy that I'd been dating for about 6 months. We broke up a couple weeks later because I found out that he had been cheating. 8 weeks later I started getting small itchless, painless bumps on my arms and hands as well as sharp pains in my arms and hands. I also have a slight cold and cough that's been around for about a week now. Do HIV symptoms usually appear at 8 weeks? I am trying to wait 13 weeks before I get tested, but it's really driving me crazy. Could anxiety be the cause of these symptoms?  Thanks in advance.

[RubyWitch]

Some people may experience strong flu-like symptoms 2-6 weeks after infection, and ARS only lasts a week or so.

Some people don't experience symptoms at all.

Unfortunately there is no such thing as a "checklist of HIV symptoms" that we can use to determine an infection, and we STRONGLY discourage people to self-diagnose HIV by looking at symptoms;  testing is the ONLY way to know if you are infected.

You could have a 4th generation DUO test done now at 8 weeks and be very reassured that those results will not change at 12 weeks. I urge you to test now.

And it's very possible your symptoms are related to anxiety and the common cold. They are NOT ARS symptoms.

I wish you the very best outcome.
RubyWitch