polyp and paasing on infection

[settingsun]

hi i am a 34 year old male from the uk i have recently had polypectomy of a 2.5cm polyp with high gradr dysplasia after approx 4-5 years of slight rectal bleeding, this got me thinking back to a potentially risky short term relationship i had with a girl i was lead to belive was promiscuous 9 years ago(august 2001), my question is after 9 years of zero symptoms would is the possibility of there polys begin caused by hiv infection? i have read people with hiv are more likely to get polyps and crc? also after the relationship i was living with my parents at the time and could have accidently shared my toothbrush/razor with my father at the time, since then my father has been dignosed with crohns(had operation in 2006 and has been fine since and i beleive his symptoms started well before my exposure) but my mother has also been diagnosed with seronegative arthritis which ive also read this can be caused by hiv, she is on methotrexate and doing fine now , maybe its my mind working overtime but my worries are i could have passes it on to my family with the possible toothbrush/razor thing.

thanks a lot

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Welcome to the forum.

There are many reasons why you can be 100% certain you don't have HIV and have not transmitted it to your parents.  HIV doesn't cause colon polyps or Crohn's disease or arthritis (except it can cause arthritis in people who also are very sick with AIDS).  Regardless of what you think you know about transmission by razors, toothbrushes, etc, that almost never happens.  The household members of people with HIV never catch it unless they are sex partners.  The chance you caught HIV from a heterosexual exposure is extremely low, especially if your partner and you are both long-time UK residents, i.e. not immigrants from an country with high rates of HIV/AIDS.  Finally, it is nearly impossible to have HIV for 9 years and not know it; by now you would be very sick, perhaps dead.

So there is absolutely no chance HIV is a problem here.  But since you're sufficiently concerned to ask a question on this forum, it's obviously going to remain on your mind until you have had a negative HIV test.  Visit your local NHS GUM clinic and get tested.  (This is not code that means I really think you are infected.  I do not; the test will be negative.)

Feel free to let me know the result if and when you are tested, but until then I will have no further comments or advice.

Regards--  HHH, MD

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

My words are "nearly impossible" and I stand by it.  Yes, "some people" remain asymptomatic that long, but they are a small minority.

Accept the reassurance and believe it.  And please do not post anything else except your HIV test result, or I will delete the entire thread.

[settingsun]

hi doctor just a general enquiry on your answear to me..... having said that after 9 years it is impossible to be positive and not know it because of illness, i noticed that some advice that has been given on here states mose people are asymptomatic for 5-10 years possibly 20... maybe im not reading and understanding this correctly hope you can clear this up for me .

[settingsun]

thanks a lot for your time doctor handsfield