Very Worried

[zuchowra]

Hey Dr. .Im a 24 year old white heterosexual male and its been 2 months since my gf and i broke up and the reason for it was due to the fact she had feelings for her x. We were together for the majority of the summer and had unprotected and protected sex numerous times. Before we started dating I asked her if she was tested and had anything I should worry about. She told me she was tested 3 months prior before we started dating and everything was ok. After we broke up i had reason to believe she was cheating on me with her x. I went to my Dr. and got tested for everything other then HIV. All my tests came out negative. Now currently I’m in a new relationship and thinking back and dwelling i could have caught something from my x like HIV. I have never had any stds before in the past. It’s been 7 weeks and haven’t had any symptoms of anything i have read online for hiv however, i have been tired lately, have a random red mark on my skin near my lip but it seems to have gone away..may have been a rash from shaving, and a soar throat which is mild nothing painful just feel discomfort. I haven't been able to sleep and just super worried over this now.I spoke to my x actually the other day and asked her if she was telling me the truth that she was tested and if she was clean. She got pretty angry with me and called me a jerk and she stated she didn’t cheat on me and is clean. She also told me im being very paranoid over the whole sittuation. Anyways im going for a blood test tomorrow for peace of mind but im just curious of what my risk is? My X is 25 years old and comes from a spanish background. I don’t know how many times we had sex over the summer but if i had to guess the amount of times we did it un protected was 5 times. The rest was with a condom. Also she told me she has had random bleeding in between periods. She is on birth control so i don’t know what her random bleeding is over. She had tests done by gyno for this. Doesnt know yet what results are.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

I tend to agree with your GF, you are being a bit paranoid.  Most people tell the truth.  Your risk is very, very low.  Here are some numbers to put things into perspective.  Since your GF was not an IV drug user, the chances that she has HIV are less than 1 in 1000. If, somehow, she had HIV, your risk of HIV from unprotected vaginal sex is also 1 infection per 1000 exposures.  Thus, doing the math, with your 5 unprotected exposures, your risk is 5 in 1 million or 1 in 200,000.  You are more likely to get hit by lightening than to get HIV with these odds.

Symptoms have virtually no use in discovering risk for HIV and are almost certainly due to something else.  Similarly, there is no relationship between intermenstral bleeding and HIV.

Your blood test will be negative.  Please accept the result and take the peace of mind it should give you (and consider apologizing to your ex for being paranoid).  EWH

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Possibly.  These are questions best answered by a trip to a health care professional who can examine you and decide on what management to recommend based on their findings.  EWH

[zuchowra]

Dr.  I went for my blood work.. dont know results yet but my neck has been killing me on the sides ... It doesnt feel like my lymph nodes are swollen but this stupid sore throught wont go away it just feels scratchy. Can this be allergy related?

[zuchowra]

Is random bleeding like related to HIV? I appreciate you taking the time to answer this for me. Thanks Dr.