I am a 24 year old white male hetero. For the last few weeks I have been under an immense amount of stress with respect to HIV infection. Here is a short version of my story:
During my freshman year of college (fall 2001) in Texas I met a girl (now 24 white) that lived in our on campus apartments. We became friends during the course of my first semester. Eventually we got closer and had unprotected sex on two different occasions. Later on I found out that she was pretty promiscuous when it came to sex...mainly with other males on campus and her high school friends. After our second encounter of unprotected sex, a few weeks later im sure I had the first outbreak of genital herpes...i had an itching/burning sensation on my penis ( I am not circumcised) where there were little red dots (presumably blisters). Since that one outbreak, I haven't experienced anything to that nature. Occasionally I will have small red bumps on the head of my penis and some redness on my foreskin, but with no irritation/pain at all. She was the second person I had sex with in my entire life. I have never been tested for herpes.
A few weeks ago I began to experience night sweats ( no fever ). The sweats were always on my chest/back and sometimes near my groin area, never on my head. This lead me to believe that maybe it was due to sleeping in too many blankets. The sweats were not always profuse, just once or twice, never causing me to wake in the middle of the night due to discomfort. Since then, I have been sleeping at a friends house while they are out of town and my sweats have gone away. When I had my first night sweat I searched online for causes and came across HIV a number of times. This then allowed my mind to wander, thinking back to other possible symptoms that I may have had or are having. I have never had prolonged swollen lymph nodes, no thrush, but occasionally had sores on my gums. I always thought this was due to my wisdom teeth, which have gotten infected a few times due to gum overgrowth over to top of the tooth. Also what came to mind was the last time we had unprotected sex..I inserted for about 10 sec before she told me to stop. Then the next time we had sex...a few months later..she insisted that I use a condom. That worried me. But other than that, I really haven't had much else. I don't get sick often at all, maybe once a year if that.
How concerned should I be about HIV? It's been about 6 years now since that exposure and I have not had an HIV test. I never thought I was at risk. I don't talk to the girl anymore, have only heard that she is doing well from a few friends still at college. How concerned should I be? Do you have any advice? If I were HIV positive, would I already be experiencing symptoms? Additional health facts about me: I smoke cigarettes, drink alcohol on the weekends, and smoke marijuana..but all (apart from cigarettes) are done in moderation.
anything would help. I just want to ease my concerns. Would I have already experienced symptoms of HIV by now? Please help.
thank you