Worried Sick

[NeedsReassurance]

I am a man and I had a one time encounter of unprotected anal sex with a man 6 years ago. I was very young and stupid. I penetrated him for only about 1 minute and then stopped. Since then I have been very careful. I never even had sex again until about 2 years ago, protected, and have only had protected sex with that man ever since. I have only begun to worry about this one time encounter since I aquired shingles a year ago. It was after I had an anxiety attack and I was exposed to chicken pox by a younger person all during this time. The shingles were not bad at all - it actually only was a tingling sensation for two days and just a few bumps on the side (about 10) and then went away. Since then I have become paranoid and turned into a hypochondriac. I'm worried about everything. Since the shingles I have been having digestive problems. My doctor said its IBS (no tests though)... it is a rotation of diarrhea and constipation about once a month (which can be helped drastically by my taking Metamucil). I have also noticed about 6 lymph nodes on my neck which are about .5-1cm in diameter. My doctor said these were shotty nodes. These have not changed in size or hurt for about the 4 years I have noticed them, nor have any more come about. (I had constant ear infections as a child as well as sinus problems - if that could be a cause?) My mother also has one shotty node (if it's genetic). The last thing is that I have a red scalp which won't go away. I'm very fair skinned but its still quite red and won't go away with any of the shampoo's i try. My doctor said i have just some extra seborrhea, and I looked this up and its a big symptom of HIV. I know I should get tested and I'm sure I will soon, I just want to know what you think my chances are. Last but not least I have contacted this person and have been reassured (several times) that he has been tested at least 3 times and everything was always negative - its very hard to believe him though. All my symptoms just seem to point to HIV infection I feel.

[NeedsReassurance]

thanks, what signs would there be then after so long?

[HSci34]

Alright, yes you had a risky encounter 6 years ago. However, the chance that you got HIV at that time and it had not significantly progressed by 6 years are not high. Your partner has told you that he was not infected, and people rarely lie about these types of things.

Now, symptoms are NEVER a good indicator for HIV. So many things can cause enlarged lymph nodes and the symptoms you are talking about.

The only solution for you, is to get an HIV test done. You do not indicate where you are from, but many places offer point of care testing that can give you results within 10-20 minutes. You can also get a blood test done, but those usually take a while to get results back (meaning further anxiety for you).

All I can say to you is that it doesn't really seem to me that is likely you have it all these years, especially given the fact your partner is reassuring they have been tested. Go and get tested though, and if your result comes back negative then you can totally put this out of your mind.