HIV or Anxiety,

[JohnSnowNew]

Dear Folks,

I was hoping to find some peace of mind or reassuring with your answers so i cut it short and straight get to the point.
Basically i had a low risk exposure ( protected oral and vaginal sex with escorts) almost a year ago. So far i got 8 HIV test and all came back negative, last one at 8 months mark. lately im having white tongue and pimples inside my nose. im extremely anxious and just cant accept the test and keep searching the net if its possible to be infected but not seroconvert even after 8 months. i would really appreciate it if you could tell me symptoms i have such as painful pimple inside my nose ( had one last week, got better and today got another one, its not as bad as last one and already pain is gone) and kinda white tongue and dry mouth. are they result of anxiety or im really infected.

Cant wait to hear your opinon.

[Johnlocke1]

I wish I could follow that advice. I’m having a terrible bout of anxiety about hiv exposure and I can’t stay off the internet to try and alieviate my worries. Obviously it’s not working.

Basically I had unprotected oral (giving and receiving) and protected vaginal intercourse with a girl whose status I don’t really know about 10 days ago. She did mention she had slept with a guy who was mostly straight but had slept with a man before fairly recently. About 4 or 5 days later I got a mild fever and malaise and weakness thats been hanging around but getting better slowly. No sore throat really. Can’t tell but I think the glands in my neck and groin might be slightly painful but not enlarged. Basically this feels like things I’ve gotten before that hung around for awhile and were always just benign viral infections from being run down. I should mention that prior to getting sick I had been to the gym 14 days straight and could feel myself getting a little run down and then after a night of not enough sleep that’s when it sort of hit me, five days after the exposure.

Most of what I’ve heard and read suggests that symptoms 5 days post exposure is not usually an indication of a new HIV infection. Most indications are at least 10 days to 2 weeks before ARS symptoms show up. I spoke to the advice nurse at my health care provider and that’s what she re-confirmed. In any event I’ve got a phone conversation with my psychologist tomorrow and hopefully a doctors appointment too.

As a straight white male living in the US who used a condom there should be little reason for all this anxiety. I’ve had other similar encounters and never had too much worry about them and would just get routinely tested. But the proximity of the symptoms to the sex in this case totally set off my anxiety and I can’t shake it. And sadly at only 10 days past the sex, I’m not going to get much relief from my anxiety for at least another month at minimum. I’ve read there’s an RNA test that can detect HIV in the blood at this point but I’m unclear how to get my doctor to order it and what the accuracy would be. I know any test at this point would at least temper my anxiety slightly even an inconclusive one.

[helpmeplease1122]

As someone who suffers from ocd regarding hiv, I only have one advice for others with similar fears. I wish I would have done this myself but for whatever reason, I couldn't and still can't. Stop searching the internet! I have found some reassuring answers but also some things that have really triggered my anxiety and now I am stuck in a place where there are no answers. I will provide you some reassurance because I know what it is like to desperately need it. Due to my intense research, I have read from Dr. Hook and Dr. Hunter on here that you are conclusive and that there is no such thing as a late seroconverter. Please, I am saying this because I don't want anyone going through what I am going through. Get off the internet and try your hardest to let this go. This should be easier if you do not have ocd/obsessive thoughts. Even if it is REALLY HARD, take your 8 negative tests (congrats by the way) and move on with your life. I wish I would have listened.