worried!!

[tommyb99]

2 weeks ago i had sex with someone i met for the first time, the condom broke and i pulled out emediately but before that she gave me oral for about 10 seconds without the condom. about 7 days after that i started feeling a tingly crawling sensation in my back which got worse over the next few days, sometimes stinging. everything ive read on the internet about these symptoms points to shingles and it scares me knowing the link with shingles and hiv. i saw a doctor couple days ago who diagnosed me peripheal neouropathy of the scapular region, she said she didnt know if she should say i have shingles or not since i didnt have a rash and its been going on for a week. im scared out of my mind with everythings that going on...would this be shingles, would i already have these symptoms in  just 2 weeks if i did contract hiv from this woman? i never had any headache, swollen nodes or anything else thus far. i cant remember ever having chickenpox in my life either so it makes me wonder if thats why i dont have a rash and almost everything ive seen about peripheral neoropathy has something to do with hiv. please help!

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Testing with a DUO (combination HIV antibody/HIV p 24 antigen) test will provide definitive results at 4 weeks.  Your test will be negative.

This will end this thread.   There will be no furthr answers.  EWH

[tommyb99]

is there a particular test that  can be done at 4 weeks that would be a conclusive result?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

You can't let go of this, can you?

No, it would be most unusual for shingles to present as a single, transient bump.  

There are many, many causes of periferal neuropathy.  EWH

[tommyb99]

i forgot to mention at the time i went to the doctor i had a bump on my back in the region i was feeling the sensation, it was going down at the time and she said it looked like an ordinary bump to her. does shingle ever appear in just one bump or less than the size of a pinky nail. i hope my question doesnt sound stupid, im just wondering cause she didnt seem like she cared to help. i plan on go seeing another doctor in a couples days as im puzzled by how i got this peripheral neuropathy and the fact that you dont think its shingles or related to recent hiv infection. thanks again for your response in advance.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Once again, as I said above- you are being mislead by the internet.  EWH

[tommyb99]

I'll try to make this my last past as it seems the internet only put more fear in me but from what ive read they say theyre more than one kind of peripheral neuropathy and that it does sometimes occur in acute hiv, most the stuff ive read refers to people with advance hiv having PN in their finger, toes and leading up to their hand and feet. mine occurs in the left scapular region and thats what makes me confused about it. thanks in advance for your response and ill try to make this my last post

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Peripheral neuropathy is not a result of recently acquired HIV but instead an uncommon consequence of longstanding (years) advanced HIV.  It is more often a result of side effects of medications used for HIV therapy.

Further and fyi, despite the mis-information on the internet, HSV does not cause peripheral neuropathy.  EWH

[tommyb99]

what about the peripheral neuropathy, is that something i would be experiencing as a result of contracting hiv already? ive been having syptoms of it for over a week now and its only be 2 weeks and 2 days to my exposure.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the Forum.  You are adding two and two and assuming that this equals 5.   I suspect you are getting information from the internet and it is incorrect.  I also disagree with your doctor- no rash, this is not shingles (shingles is not an acquired infection but a re-activation of chicken pox acquired years earlier).  

You may or may not have had chicken pox as a child or you may have received the vaccine to prevent chicken pox (usually given in childhood) but again, nothing you have mentioned suggests shingles, nor is shingles EVER a result of recently acquired HIV.

As far as your exposure is concerned, you have had an unprotected exposure to a new partner- both orally and in genital sex as the consequence of your condom failure.  As a result, you should get tested for the STDs that are most common following unprotected sex- gonorrhea, chlamydia and NGU.  In the future, you may also want to get blood tests for syphilis (in about 4 weeks) and HIV (at 8 weeks after the exposure).  Overall however you risk for infection is low- most women do not have STDs of any sort and even when they do, most exposures do not lead to infection,  Please don't be worried.  EWH