Possible needle encounter at a club

[Evegirl92]

Hello everyone!

So last Saturday night my friends and I went to a club. I was rather tipsy. At one point I was trying to make my way to the exit to have some fresh air when I felt a very strange feeling on my forearm. It felt like a pinch, as if someone wanted to grip my forearm but I felt this kind of sharp feeling just at one particular area on my forearm. Everything happened so quickly, I didn't even have a chance to look back and see who did this. Later I tried to convince myself that it was just an unsuccessful try to drag me to the dance floor. However, after that I started panicking, I went to the bathroom to check my forearm. My blouse was intact, it didn't have any spots on it, so I started pinching my skin to see if my skin was punctured but I couldn't find anything. When I got home, I continued examining my forearm and I saw this little pink dot on it but it didn't look fresh. I checked my blouse (which is white) again and I found a very small dark brownish dot on it but I don't think it's on the area where I felt the sharp feeling. I am in terrible panic that someone could have stuck an infected needle on my forearm. Yet I am trying to convince myself that it probably was just someone with sharp nails. I don't know what to think, I would want to test my blood but I read that even if I get infected the results would show the correct answer after 6 months only.

Is my anxiety to catch aids this way completely irrational or should I actually fear that I might have gotten infected?

I am 21 year old student.

Thank you very much in advance! Any advice would be highly appreciated!

[therapist1111]

the worst thing that u would do to yourself would be to stop going to nightclubs because of the fear to get stuck by needle...
remember this is just your fear which is giving u anxiety...

U CAN ONLY GET HIV IF SOMEONE INJECTS HIV POSITIVE BLOOD IN YOUR BODY WITH A SYRINGE AND U OR ANYBODY IN THIS DAMN WORLD WOULD KNOW IF SOMEONE IS INJECTING BLOOD IN YOUR BODY...

JUST BY POKING A NEEDLE ON YOUR BODY NOBODY CAN GIVE U HIV...IT IS ZERO RISK FOR HIV...

so just go and face your fears thats the only way to overcome them....

[Evegirl92]

Thank you so much for your advice! I definitely have to check this book and I will do! Also, once again, thank you for calming me down, your responses helped me to get rid of the horrible thoughts. Thanks again!

My forearm did not bleed and the pain I felt was very confusing but taking your comments into account I now realize that I most certainly overreacted and somebody probably just attempted to grip my forearm. I haven't had my skin punctured for years so I was not quite sure what it would be like. Thinking rationally, even if someone jabbed my forearm with a needle, I moved away so quickly that the needle most surely would have injured my skin to blood. And I did not bleed.

Thank you once again, buddies!!! I think, I'll be avoiding places like clubs for a long time now haha :D

[sparky43]

Hi Evegirl.   I agree with everything that JGF25 said.  If you had been jabbed with a needle, you would know.  You said you examined your arm right after and saw nothing.  Needle in arm = obvious bleeding wound.  No obvious bleeding wound = you weren't stuck by a needle.

If you want to get tested, the blood test is actually very accurate after just eight weeks.  That is according to the Doctors who post on the STD section of this website (and I have read it elsewhere).  I would recommend getting the test, not because I think you are any danger, but because it would completely remove any anxiety about this incident.

However, I would recommend that you find a way to work on your OCD, because you might find something else to obsess about in the future.  Go see a therapist (either a Psychiatrist or a Psychologist).  They really can help to get your OCD under control.  There are also a number of good self-help books out there.  The one I like is called "Brain Lock" by Jeffery Schwartz MD.

You're going to be ok.

[Evegirl92]

Thank you very much for your words! I will definitely have to speak to a specialist about my anxiety as it most certainly makes things very unpleasant to me. I think, the best idea for me right now is to relax and move on as I am now pretty much convinced that there was no needle involved and I most likely just bumped into something. My anxiety is the real problem I need to deal with at this point.

Thank you so much for helping me to ease my mind! I hope you have a wonderful week!

Best regards

[JGF25]

I think better yet, you should make that psychology appointment especially given the fact that you have struggled with other OCD symptoms in the past.  School is stressful and stress makes OCD worse.  You need to finally learn how to help yourself, i.e., the breathing exercise I gave you which falls under the term CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy).  Of course there are medications out there that help as well but it is always best to start with a psychologist that teaches CBT.  Do I think you should test...no I don't think it is necessary.  But again, that is something you should discuss with a professional.  In my mind it is giving into the thought but then again I'm not a psychologist.  

[Evegirl92]

Thank you so much for this response! It certainly did help to ease my mind a little.

No, I have not been diagnosed with OCD but the further it goes, the more I am convinced that I have it. I'm always over-thinking everything, I have these silly rituals where numbers are extremely important to me, I instantly start panicking rather than thinking rationally. The most recent example would be where I had convinced myself that I was pregnant because I skipped period. I knew that I was exercising excessively and my diet was very poor which most certainly caused my skipped period, and on top on everything I was stressed about my studies. However, I had still been preparing myself for the worst case scenario. I kept taking pregnancy tests every week. I did realize that my boyfriend and I used protection (condoms) and there could have been no possible way for me to get pregnant. Only when I did get my period, I finally relaxed. I don't know what is wrong with me, but when it comes to scary situations I just cannot control myself, I panic. So now, this club accident, it's probably 99,99% true that nothing happened and it was just someone trying to grip my hand, but I cannot make myself stop overthinking everything.

Yes, as soon as I got home, I checked if anything like that has ever happened in the area where I live, and nothing came up. Years ago I read this article which as about hiv infected needles hidden in the cinema chairs. So having such knowledge on my mind did led me to thinking that maybe something like this is happening at clubs right now.

Once again, I want to thank you for your answer!  

Would you think it would still be better that I get tested?

[JGF25]

Hi there....first let me ask do you have diagnosed OCD?  There is a fine line between OCD and HIV anxiety.  

In either case however it results in the person thinking irrationally and imagining the worst case scenario which in your case would be an HIV tainted needle stick.   When I accidentally stick myself with a needle at work, it bleeds a lot and there is no doubt that I just did it.  No second guessing.  It hurts and it bleeds enough to warrant a bandaid.  You probably haven't had any shots lately unless they give out the flu shot over where you live but even then you need a bandaid.  So I think it is safe to say that you are thinking irrationally.  Add to that the fact that you were tipsy and you could have very well bumped into something.  

It is very difficult to think rationally when you are hyperventilating in a panic state so try this breathing exercise.  Take a deep breath in through your nose, hold it for 5 seconds and count this out in your head, then let it all out through your mouth.  You can try this laying down at first with your hands on your stomach.  When you are calmer you will be able to think more rationally.  

Now let me give you a statistic.  Say you took an HIV tainted syringe and jabbed it into your arm.  You have a 0.03% chance of seroconverting to HIV positive...that is less than half of 1  percent WITH REAL HIV tainted blood.  Keep that statistic in mind.  

Now think about all the accounts that have been put on the news in your area about people sticking people with needles.  Are there any?  I never hear of any over here in the states.  So I have to say that your chances of somebody doing this to you are pretty much nil.

If you can't shake this, then you should think about seeing a psychologist to help with the anxiety.  If you cannot shake this fear, then you can always test and a 3 month test would be conclusive but then you would be giving into the irrational fear and it will more than likely resurface again.  This is something that needs to be dealt with head-on.