Hello Ghex, sorry to hear about the herpes - was this a doctors diagnosis, or after the result of a test or simply internet guessing? My feeling is the same as that of Dr Jose. The chances remain slim so I would repeat his message of keeping things calm and in perspective. I have no doubt that the stomcah symptoms were to do with the large doses of azithromycin. It is very probable that the azithromycin at that early stage would
satisfactorily kill syphilis, gonorrhoea, chlamydia, most types of NSU. The symptoms you describe are not consistent with HIV and not consistent with the timing of your exposure.
best wishes, Sean
To be honest, after 48 hours of question and no reply, I guess, I am in deep ****.
Whatever happened, I am going to write a log of my experience and test to share:
3 days: -ve for HIV, +ve by physical examination with STD doc.
7 days: -ve
14 days:
21 days:
28 days:
35 days:
42 days:
Symptoms:
5 days: diarrhea that last till today (day 9). Tiny red dots on arms and legs. Nauseous. Constant feel like urinanting. Panic attack comes and go. Mostly come and seldom go :(
Having suicidal thought, badly depressed. Not because I am scared of death. But I can't forgive myself for being unfaithful to my wife and my 1.5 years old daughter.
And I have no one to share this experience with except writing on this forum.
Took a sleeping pill, trying to sleep. But didn't do anything to calm me except getting more nauseous let alone let me sleep. Haven't sleep the whole night yesterday. Maybe will try Zoloft or Xanax tomorrow.
The worst part is, I am the boss at my company; so during the day, I don't really have to do anything hence, I become glued to the internet and anything HIV and STD. At home, I am scared to be near my wife and daughter too since I am afraid to pass any non-HIV disease that I may have to them.
I did not have any sexual contact with my wife since post exposure. But I did have kissed her very lightly wishing her good night (barely touching lips) for the first 3 days. Not sure what stupid harm I could bring.
Was considering to take HIV RNA PCR test to put a quick end to this misery, but it is not available in this country. Can anyone tell me if I should go overseas and test for HIV RNA PCR? Because I am under the impression that if it reports negative it is conclusive.
I am not sure if I want to ask the prostitute to test because it would do me more harm than confinement.
I visited the STD doctor again today, and he told me to get all other STD test at least 14 days or more. How convincing is this? Would 14 days be accurate for any non-HIV STD? I don't want to spread any more damage than what's already done. I am so scared even to be near my daughter and keep avoiding them.
Also, would the 6 weeks anti-HIV test be accurate? The lab I am testing for is the best in this country but I am going to ask them next what method they use. The doctor at the lab told me that it is very sensitive though.
I don't know if I should tell my wife about this because I don't want her to go through this anxiety of not knowing. I tried to convince myself I have HIV but didn't work. I also tried to convince myself that I don't have HIV but it seemed too good to be true.
Hope I can still update with the results. I am truly the one to blame.
i am sure the doctor will reply soon but you need to calm down a bit. As you can see from the many posts from the Drs on this forum, the chances of getting HIV from a single encounter of unprotected vaginal sex are very low.
As for testing, the doctors can help you. Personally I wouldn't tell my wife until I had calmed down a bit and had more information about testing etc. Don't have unprotected sex in the meantime?
Try and calm down its easy to panic, we've all been there but you are suffering from anxiety attacks that probably are unrealistic compared to the actual risk
Hello,
Thank you very much for your post and my sincere apologies for the delay to reply. I am not sure why your post was missed.
I am also very sorry about all the stress and anxiety you are going through. I agree with the very kind contributor that has written a comment in your thread. Gonorrhoea, Chlamydia and any other infection causing any kind of urethritis are extremely common and very easy to transmit. Equally they are all very easy to treat with the appropriate antibiotics as you have been prescribed. From the point of view of HIV infection, in spite of the added infection and that you are not circumcised, the risk for you from a single encounter of unprotected penetrative vaginal intercourse is relatively low and this is even assuming that the sex worker was definitely HIV positive. You do not seem to know her actual status and statistically is more likely that she is negative. Even if she had been positive, the risk for you would have been less than 0.1% or less than 1 in 1,000. Therefore what you need to try to do now is to put things into perspective, stop looking so much in the internet and get a PCR test after 10 days, or even better the new Multiplex HIV1/HIV2/HepB/HepC PCR test, highly reliable after only 7 days. I am not sure if this is available near where you live, but if negative this test will give you a practically conclusive result with that added peace of mind. In the meantime you have to disregard all those symptoms that you have been having. It is far too early to have any acute HIV sero-conversion and they are most likely linked to side effects of the antibiotics and your stress and anxiety. I strongly believe that you are going to be fine, as you need to realise that it is much more difficult to contract HIV through penetrative vaginal intercourse than people think.
Best wishes,
Dr Jose
I can strongly relate to you situation as the same thing happened to me. Having a child and wife is the only reason for the high level of stress and guilt. You think of very bad things including your life and infecting the one you care about but please take this advice as I have been their and still some thing to get over. The doctors know what there talking about and have no emotional content to you. What this means is that you are getting the true facts. Like the 1 in a 1000 chance of getting HIV if the person was infected. That would mean that you would need to have unprotected sex with that person more than twice a day for an entire year to catch HIV. The other thing is that she may not have HIV. Your wife will ask questions soon about how you are cause you seem different because she knows you. To buy time I used to say that I was streesed from work as my excuse until you have your test done. It was a mistake and your human.
Thank you Doctor and you all for your kind replies.
The closest I can go for a PCR test is in Singapore but if I tested positive there, I would be deported right away. Maybe I will wait until I have a four weeks test done here if I am lucky enough to still test -ve and then go for a PCR test over there.
In the meantime, I guess I have to stick to anti-HIV test here.
My 2 weeks test is still 2 days away.
I sincerely hope I can post a good result here.
Update for the post:
My two weeks HIV antibody test: -ve.
Now I am at the three week mark. Still having diarrhea, and a little sore throat. No fever.
I just got genital herpes. :(
I'm not going to badger you, but this is a lesson learned. Drunk or sober, no excuse to put your life on the line, and risk giving something to your wife. Genital herpes is not the end of the world, but you risk giving it to your wife, even if you don't have an outbreak-herpes is very easy to catch and it's alot more common than we think. I know of a couple people who have it, and neither has had an outbreak in years-the first one is always the worst. Herpes is not a 'life ruiner' but you are lucky to have only caught this-it could have been much worse. Anti-viral drugs like Valtrex and Famvir can prevent outbreaks also- look into taking L-Lisine, which is a supplement as that will help also. Sorry about the bad news... no one has ever died from genital herpes. It can be a nuisance during outbreaks, but most people who have it lead normal lives. Find a message board on it and talk to others.. like I said, herpes is not the end of the world.
I told my wife about it. She cried the whole night and I feel so sorry to her.
I really really wish that this lesson would not cost me my life.
I took Acyclovir tablets 400 mg, 5 times daily for 5 days.
And took a viral test to see whether I have HSV-1 or HSV-2, which will come out this Tuesday.
Wonder if anyone here can tell me weather Acyclovir can effect the accuracy of an HIV EIA antibody test?
Will EIA Antibody test be conclusive for 6 weeks? or 3 months? or 6 months?
Also, can genital herpes be transmitted from skin to skin contacts during outbreaks?
Thank you for the answer Doctor, truly appreciate the comment.
People here are the best in the world and are doing a very noble and invaluable service.
Whatever happens I thank you guys from the bottom of my heart.
The genital herpes was from a physical examination by an STD doctor yesterday.
I took a lab test today to determine the virus strain.
So far I am on day 25, the diarrhea used to come and go, but have stopped totally yesterday since I discovered that I have genital herpes and told my wife about it.
No fever nor rashes yet, hope it will stay that way.
Now the diarrhea has come back again so I have been having it since day 5 till now day 26. Is it a common symptom?
Hi Ghex, oh dear, it's all a bit of a mess isn't it. I am sorry you're in this pickle and now obviously your wife is all upset too. However, I remain confident that the chances of you contracting HIV are very slim indeed. Aciclovir is the correct treatment for the herpes and you should continue to take it as prescribed. It will not affect the validity of and HIV test. The test at 6 weeks - if a straightforward HIV 1 and 2 antibody test will give you greater than 99% certainty at that point. If a 4th generation HIV DUO test then it will be greater than 99.89% at 28 days or more.
Chin up and keep strong. I think whilst all this is very regrettable it will be ok.
best wishes, Sean
Hi guys,
I hope that I am on the right forum.
Please help!!!
I always put 2 condoms: for vaginal sex AND for felacio (oral sex). I never kiss girls.
Since last night I have a nightmare. I am in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Last night I had protected sex with a prostitute. At 22:00 (10:00 PM). I always put 2 (two) condoms. 30-years practice. However, during sexual intercourse I noticed some stange feeling while I was inside her vagina - but continued 5 minutes until I ejaculated. Then I went out and was shocked to notice that BOTH my condoms broke (exploded; broken apart; good condoms - "Romed" from Holland, Europe). In girl's room was only cold water. I washed penis with shampoo and cold water.
Then girl told me that she got sick of HIV/AIDS eight (8) years ago and that she is still alive and taking medicines. (Girl never looked to me as sick: she has nice body and face, vital and strong, looks very healthy).
Then I rushed to my hotel room. Trip duration half hour. Then in my room I washed it with hot water + soap, and then I put several disinfectants on my penis (tea tree oil, oregano oil, echinacea) and then a new condom over it to keep all there for my penis to absorb). Then I spent a sleepless night alone in my room. Early morning I visited Clinic. They took my blood test only as a ground zero (for later comparisons). Then doctor prescribed me Zilarvir (2 tablets a day) and Efavirenz (1 tablet a day) to take them one (1) month. The medicines arrived at 15:00 (3:00 PM) and I took both - 17 hours after the incident and high risk exposure.
Doctor told me to come after one month when they will take a new blood test and follow-up. Next test would be 6 weeks - 8 weeks from today, and then one blood test after 6 months and then one blood test after 18 months.
I am scared and freaked out. I do not know what to do. Doctors, please help and advice. I panic!!!
Sorry to hear your experience. My predicament is no worse than yours, I even have genital herpes where from now on, I have to wear condoms every time I have sexual relationship with my wife. Not to mention the HIV risk that I am exposed to. And I don't even have any PEP, since I did not know anything about it then.
Not that a blind man can lead another blind man, but it is interesting to find out what life has in store for us. And from what I reckon, an hiv positive person taking daily medication has an insignificant viral load. I am sure you will be fine.
Just went for antibody testing at day 29.
Now I just noticed around 4 rashes that looked like maculopapular rash on my chest. Something similar to this: http://dermis.multimedica.de/bilder/CD033/550px/img0027.jpg
I can only hope.
Maybe a bit late for your reference.
You can get RNA PCR test in Hong Kong...detection limit 100 copies/ml
Result will be available in ~4days
Thanks for the information ssedmond.
My 29 days HIV EIA test: -ve
I truly hope that it can stay the same at the 43 days mark. which is like another week.
I just noticed today that there's Erythematous candidiasis where there's red lessions on the middle of my tongue. I am pessimistic that I will be negative.
I feeling the same as you are feeling .I have exactly the same symptoms though i did not any medicines. I had similar red spots in body.Do you have tingling sensation in legs?
I have taken the test at 88 days the same hiv1 and 2 +p24 antigen.It came out negative.
I am waiting for end of this month so that i can have 6 months post exposure test.
For last 5 months,My life has become hell.But cannot help it.We have to face whatever it comes.
Well, you are fine.
But I don't think I will be.
Oral Candida is found in 40% of HIV infected patients and is an early clinical manifestation in HIV-reactive patients.
Don't give up hope Ghex, I've read about ppl having and kinds of symptoms and in the end, they still came out negative. Symptoms can't tell someones status, only a test can...
Thanks for the comments. Hope is the only thing that I have.
Just one single risky exposure in years, and I think the possibility for me to have HIV is like 99.999%.
Because, I am 100% sure that I have erythematous candidiasis and oral cheilitis.
Recurrent chronic diarrhea since day 5 of exposure.
And what according to the doctor that I visited to be herpes vesicles on the genital doesn't seem to go away. It seemed persistent.
Although I wonder why they never ucerate nor cause any tingling or pain.
I am going to Singapore this Monday to have the vesicles checked.
And going to some anonymous testing clinic for rapid-HIV test.
When I am back, I really really really hope I will still be HIV-negative.
Good luck joe1888.
I had a very similar experience to this late last year. Never felt fear like that before.
I had the rapid test done which told me i was negative but it was only after going for the full anti-body test that i felt totally reassured.
I got a great deal of comfort from this forum.
Hope everything works out well for you, man.