Aa
anxiety and hiv phobia
i need help, i’ve posted in hiv forums. my situation was with a sex worker about 8 weeks ago, i used protection that she provided. fast forward to 2 weeks after exposure, i got tested at the hospital, a 4th gen combo test, it was negative. came out happy at the moment, then read some more about the virus and found out that sometimes it doesn’t show up for months! like 6 months…so now i’m left alone with thinking half of my year is ruined cuz i’m gonna be thinking about this for 6 months…even if i test negative every time…
anyway i talk to my primary doctor and he says i should get tested one more time through him at a different place, i go and get tested at week 6 after exposure. the test comes back negative again and all my blood work is fine as well. he tells me i’m good. but says we’ll test again in 4 months… now i’m losing my mind.
also a side factor is, i used to smoke a lot of weed and i would drink a good amount. i’m 25, i stopped drinking and smoking for about 60 days now, some people are telling me that my anxiety is from withdrawals and some of my friends are trying to see the logical side of me cuz i’m not always having anxiety and freaking out, they’re asking me if i have symptoms of hiv and all i’ve had is a sore throat but when i got tested i had negative results… all i really been told is i need a therapist at this point, but idk anymore man…
anyway i talk to my primary doctor and he says i should get tested one more time through him at a different place, i go and get tested at week 6 after exposure. the test comes back negative again and all my blood work is fine as well. he tells me i’m good. but says we’ll test again in 4 months… now i’m losing my mind.
also a side factor is, i used to smoke a lot of weed and i would drink a good amount. i’m 25, i stopped drinking and smoking for about 60 days now, some people are telling me that my anxiety is from withdrawals and some of my friends are trying to see the logical side of me cuz i’m not always having anxiety and freaking out, they’re asking me if i have symptoms of hiv and all i’ve had is a sore throat but when i got tested i had negative results… all i really been told is i need a therapist at this point, but idk anymore man…
To be clear, we do NOT do any risk assessment for HIV here. This forum is just to talk about anxiety. Medication and therapy combined are the best thing to deal with your type of anxiety.
By the way, i am currently in search of a therapist, but do any of the experts on here firmly believe that’s going to help…?
3 Comments
The fact you don't believe the hiv forum and came here asking the same question shows that you are unwilling to accept advice. No one knows how you'll do with the therapist, but the first step to peace is to stop googling hiv cold turkey and stop posting the same thing on forums, because you never believe the advice and just make yourself more worried.
You read theoretical or outdated claims about 6 months testing. Since you have no medical training, you are wasting your time reading things that you misunderstand.
It might take some time for any anxiety to go away if it was caused by smoking a lot of weed and drinking. Try to relax and tell your friends to stop making stupid diagnoses of hiv. They are not helping you, while you try to work your way through this unhappy time.
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