Persistant Symptoms

[dawnyy]

I'm writing to you in regards to my ongoing concern of HIV. This all started when I started getting odd things happening to my usual healthy body. I had unprotected vaginal/penial sex 5 mths ago. (me being the female).

Symptoms:
- herpes eye infection at 2 mths prior
- Floaters in the eye at 3 mths prior
- constant body twitching/tingling/vibrations that have lasted from 1.5 months prior until now
- sensation hard to describe - feels like bugs are almost crawling around inside of my body & just recently my face has an odd tingling sensation around the area surrounding my forehead down to my ears
- Facial Seborheic Dermatitis at 2.5 months prior (still waiting to see a skin specialist to verify this condition * the only thing that "helps" is using an oatmeal facial wash and pure aloe vera gel; otherwise my face, scalp, neck, and chest area are covered with almost pimply looking things
- One purple spot near eye and nose (doctor said it was something to do with blood vessels, but not a lesion; needed to be lazored off? - this came around the 2.5 mth mark?)
- Dry eyes and mouth
- oral swab tested positive for yeast 3 mths prior (no antibiotics taken prior to this)
- My eyes actually "hurt". They feel sore and dry first thing in the morning and last all day. - At times I get a shooting pain in the eye. It is all so wierd.
- Skin rashes on different body parts. An itchy red blotch that will turn very red and itchy and won't last long. This is frequent.
- Sometimes hands and feet are numb in the morning
- 5 times now I have had painful "pins and needles" feeling on my feet

I have always been healthy. All of these things are very new to me. My GP and optomologist has verified all of these conditions, except for the vibrations in the body

When I started to "google" these odd symptoms; HIV kept popping up. I'm not sure if afterwards more symptoms developed b/c of nervousness/anxiety, but I know that these symptoms are real and affect me every day.

In regards to ARS, I did have flu like symptoms (few night sweats, fatigu, nautious feeling that I suspected pregnacy -> but I didn't think much of this at the time and wasn't concerned over HIV)

I tested negitive using 3rd generation test up to 17.5 weeks. I just took another 22.5 week test but I am waiting for the result. (takes 2 weeks here)

Given all this, what do you think my chances for having a positive test result are? If the test does come back negitive, should I be retesting again at 26 months or longer??

My GP is lost. The optomologist said that maybe the eye problems (except for the dentronic ulcer) is part of the skin problem.

I don't understand why all of this is happening to me now. GP says stress? I've always handled stress well.

I've barely been to the doctors in my 30 years of life. Seems so odd that all this is happening to me now.

Does my case sound like a case of late seroconversion;Do I need to keep retesting?;What are your thoughts?
Thank You

[HHH,MD]

Sorry to contradict x pharmacist or burst anyone's bubble, but there is no such thing as systemic yeast/candida infection that explains the sort of symptoms described.  The ministrations suggested by x pharmacist won't help anything.  "Systemic candidiasis" is one of those urban myth wastebaskets people have come up with to explain various nonspecific symtpoms, of the same sort attributed at other times and settings to hypoglycemia, Lyme disease, chronic fatigue syndrome, etc.  All of these are real diseases, just as true systemic candidiasis is sometimes seen as a life-threatening infection in people with serious immune deficiency.  But most people who attribute their fatigue and other nonspecific symptoms to these disorders in fact have other explanations--often (but not always) depression or other psychological disorders.

And for those who disagree, I am not going to get into an extended online debate.  I am traditionally trained medical scientist and will not tolerate medical mumbo-jumbo on this forum.

HHH, MD

[X pharmacist]

Hi Dawnny
From your description of symptoms it sounds like you have a full body yeast infection.  The more stress you put on to yourself, will bring the infection on even more.  I suggest just relaxing and not worrying so much about the hiv, as its obvious your tests have been negative.  What you can do to help rid your body of this yeast is to take an acidophilous supplement everyday.   You definitely need to cut out sugar and white flour based foods from your diet.  Eat more vegetables, complex carbs (brown rice, oatmeal, whole grain breads, flax breads) and yogurt (plain is best, NO SUGAR)  If none of that works, then go back to your doctor and tell him/her that you think it may be a full body yeast infection and what are your other options.
Hope that helps.

[JohnnyV]

I'm sorry, I'm not a doctor.... I feel bad, but I don't think I should be giving medical advice to other people when I'm just a stooge who works in a cubicle with a high-speed internet connection that allows me to surf the web during down time....

Maybe can you ask Dr. H?

J

PS. I would say you're fine, but I honestly am not a bona fide doctor.

[ebro]

Johnny- I just had a negative six week oraquick rapid test! Considering my questionable risk, can i put this to rest?

[JohnnyV]

It's good that you're getting tested, but I still think you don't have much reason to worry. Assuming you weren't high on meth or drunk, you probably would have noticed if the condom had broken, when you peeled it off. At least that's been my experience. Usually you feel or see that there's a break in the latex and you see parts of your penis, especially the head, that should be covered by it. The fact that it was a Japanese condom shouldn't be too much of an issue unless you're really huge; the important thing is for the latex to protect the head of your penis. Even if it didn't roll back all the way to cover your whole shaft, it should have been able to cover the tip of your penis.

The three-week symptoms would be hard to deal with if you're feeling nervous, but many times on this forum, the doc has pointed out that ARS symptoms are hard to pinpoint as HIV-related. Take the test to ease your mind.

J

[ebro]

What it be obvious if a condom broke? i felt an intense burning sensation toward the end of sex with a stranger and i'm now concerned that i wasn;t protected.

[JohnnyV]

I wouldn't want to mislead you; I'm not sure. If you're in the US and the test you mention was administered recently, it's fairly certain that it was a "modern test" as Dr. H describes it.

J

[edc]

is the 3rd generation hiv test in the classification of a newer test? is abbott axsum a new test? was this machine made in the year 2000 or in the 90s?

[JohnnyV]

When you pulled out of her, did you notice that your penis had pierced through the condom, and the condom was wrapped like a muffler around your shaft but the head was sticking out? Usually that's what happens when a condom breaks (I've had many condoms break during sex.) Was your semen dripping out the end of the condom?

I think generally if a condom breaks, you may not feel it during sex but you will see it or feel it when you take the condom off. It's always good, after the lights are turned on, to check the condom before you throw it away.

Other people may have a different experience with this.

[ebro]

I don't recall checking the integrity of the condom, but it was of japanese origin and was too small for me. I am now going into a state of panic because the girl I slept with was in Asia and she smoked crystal meth and three weeks after the exposure I had a rash on the inside of both of my arms and swollen lymph nodes. I plan on getting tested but i have convinced myself i am positive. I've already gone thru this whole  worried period in the past because of similar symptoms after sex  and I can't believe i'm in it again..

[dawnyy]

No, I don't think I have been tested for lupus. The doctor only did the regular routine blood screening. I will ask him about that though. Your right, I do have some of those symptoms.

I haven't been seeing a regular doctor. Actually, I quit my job and moved back home to be with my family while this was getting sorted out.

It was a rash decision to make, but this was really affecting my work. The twitching drove me nuts and I was unable to concentrate in meetings etc. Plus, until I started to use the aloe vera and the oatmeal wash, my face was very, very itchy and it looked horrible. I didnt' want to cover it up with makeup because I just wanted it to clear up and go away. The rash comes and goes.

I've been off work for 2 months now and have lived off all of the money I had saved for a house...  This has really affected my life. Before this illness I had a good job and good chunk of savings. Now I have nothing but a twitchy body, a rash, painful eyes and still no answers.

I gave up going to the doctors because I was spending so much time there without any results. I was hoping things would clear up on their own, but they just aren't.

All I know is that something is definitely wrong with me. If it is anxiety, it is amazing that the body could produce these types of symptoms, and for so long! I'll check into the lupus thing.

Thanks for everybody's input!

[JimBean909]

I believe that the online MD will agree with the other posters that  what you have is probably not typical symptoms of HIV, especially the nonreactive result of a test at 4 months.

I understand your feelings about using the Internet to solve your medical problems; if diagnosed ourselves based on by hit popularity of symptoms, all of us must have genital herpes and HIV.

But, not to cause you any additional anxiety or to doubt your MD, but have you been screened for Lupus? It sounds like you've been seen by a doctor more than once, so even if you have taken an test for it, they probably ruled it out through medical logic.

It's just that your symptoms you gave (except for night sweats) are more inline with that disease than HIV -- in my opinion, (I am not a doctor). I've just been all over the Internet trying to figure out what I have.

Here's a link to Lupus symptoms if your interested. If for anything, proof that there other diseases out there with the almost exact symptoms as HIV seroconversion.

http://www.uklupus.co.uk/symplist.html

Hope you feel better soon.

[ryn21]

I agree that you are simply suffering from anxiety.  17.5 week test is conclusive evidence you do not have HIV.  Although you have symptoms, many not being typical of hiv infection, they can be caused by so many other things, primarily anxiety disorder.  Try talking to a mental health professional to help you overcome this anxiety.

[joeworried]

I'm not sure what you have, but it isn't HIV.  A negative test at 17.5 weeks is 100% conclusive.  You are simply wasting money by continuing to test.  A number of your symptoms sound like anxiety.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Before I saw your message, other forum participants have correctly responded that, whatever is going on, you can be confident it isn't HIV.  Delayed seroconversion, for practical purposes, is a thing of the past; rarely if ever an issue with modern HIV antibody tests (and always rare with earlier tests as well).  The following online shout (all caps) isn't directed at you personally; it just makes a point pertinent to somewhere around 40% of all questions posted on this forum, and I hope it will catch others' attention as well before they spend $10.00 to start a new thread:

SYMPTOMS ARE A LOUSY INDICATOR OF HIV INFECTION, ESPECIALLY EARLY HIV.  THEY ARE FAR LESS RELIABLE THAN THE STANDARD BLOOD TESTS.  IF YOU HAVE A NEGATIVE HIV ANTIBODY TEST MORE THAN 4-6 WEEKS AFTER YOUR LAST EXPOSURE, AND ESPECIALLY AFTER 3 MONTHS, THEN YOU CAN BE EXTREMELY CONFIDENT YOUR SYMPTOMS ARE NOT DUE TO HIV.

The bottom line is that many things other than HIV are more common causes, both indivudally and collectively, of most symptoms listed as typical for primary HIV infection.  I cannot say what you have and will not speculate.  I recommend you continue to follow up with your own doctors.

Good luck--  HHH, MD