Am I at a higher risk one night?

[needrelief87]

Hello,

I recently took a trip to Costa Rica. I made a very big mistake and partied pretty hard. I ended up drinking and using cocaine (not an IV drug user, and not a consistent drug user) . That night I took two women home and paid for sex. I slept with both of them for a good 2 hours. We had oral sex (both sides) & vaginal sex, protected. I also slept with one of them again later in the night and the condom ended up breaking. During the night my mouth became very dry and I also had glands under my tongue swell up.

It has now been five days, and I am having symptoms of possible HIV infection or something else. Unsure? Please help.

- Weight loss ( about 4 pounds) Although I haven't been eating a lot as it is...but this still seems abnormal.
- loss of appetite
- Heart is beating harder than normal
- light chills but only for moments, this includes sweaty palms and feet.
- depression/anxiety...lots of stress
- breathing harder with exertion
- Today I drank a beer and almost felt like throwing up
- Right side kidney has been giving me a sharp pain
- memory loss.

Another thing I noticed is before this event took place I noticed prior symptoms
- Heart beating harder than normal
- tingeling in my hands like they were falling asleep often. (Pins in my hands)
- I was eating a good amount at the time but gaining no weight.
- My brother was also having similar symptoms and we usually smoke together.

Im not sure whats going on with me. Im trying to stay of the internet but I can't help but want to try and find out. Im very worried I contracted HIV. Please help. I will be going to urgent care tomorrow to start getting tested. It has now been 5 days since.

Thank you, please help.

[laxus2012]

it's too soon for symptoms.  you also stated you had stuff going on before your sexual encounter anyways, so why would these new ones be related? since the condom broke, there is a risk. take a 4th gen duo test at 28 days for it to be conclusive. on the bright side, commercial sex workers wear condoms to protect themselves, not you.  if they made you use a condom, I'm sure they make everyone use one for their own sake. also, HIV is not very wasy to transmit. That's not saying you cannot get it from a one time exposure(with a confirmed HIV person) but the chances are still not great for a 1 time exposure. Plus, your sex workers were not confirmed positive, and seem to be very careful as i mentioned.

still test though,  and do not have unprotected sex until you confirm negative.

[needrelief87]

Yea, I noticed that I was creating my own symptoms by getting nervous. A lot of the symptoms  have subsided (as I guess stress was causing them). It was easy for me to trick my self in to thinking that all symptoms must = the worst. I’m going to talk with my dr. And get checked. Thank you

[AnxiousNoMore]

Likely she is negative otherwise why would she waste money on condoms? Since she doesn't care about you it was to protect her. I would relax until 28 and assume she is negative while waiting.

[needrelief87]

yea, I went and talked to my Dr. He's more concerned about the possibility of ruining my cardiovascular system from the drug use..my heart may be whats having issues, as I used a cocktail of viagra, & challis as well. We also talked about the possibility of a mental health issue (so maybe you weren't so far off), as these episodes I have are manic & the anxiety I feel is giving me panic attacks. Fortunately Im having no symptoms that would point to HIV....right now. My temp is good, No lethargy, no swollen lymph nodes, no thrush or mouth issues, skins good, blood work showed up normal, I check again in 3 weeks. I know your probably not that interested, but typing this out and telling someone is a relief...I have no one else to talk about this with. This actually may be a huge positive in my life if I can start seeing a therapist and making positive change in my life, after the fear i'm pretty motivated to as well, probably long over due.  Another thing about the women was they refused to use any drugs with me, and when the condom broke she was more nervous than me, & they were talking about going to University...all good behavior traits.

[AnxiousNoMore]

You continue to waste your time listing your efforts to study your body which can't lead to anything but more anxiety, so the quicker you see the therapist, the quicker you will be to making any progress. You don't have any medical training and probably know nothing about lymph, so it is unrealistic for you to have so much confidence in your ability to diagnose disease.
Yes you have a mental health issue if you overdosed on meds - there is no "maybe you weren't so far off" to this picture.

[biology2017]

I want to let you know 3 things.
1. You have no risk as ur sex is protected
2. Dont rely on symptoms to tell hiv. Which means symptoms are not reliable in telling whether u have hiv or not
3. Your symptoms are too early. I can say that they are not due to hiv.

[needrelief87]

Thank you for your response.

I have looked at the statistics of a one night off mistake and the possibility of contracting the virus and see that there is an astronomically low chance of contracting it in one night. However the risk is still there, especially when engaging in risky behavior like I did...sometimes people get struck by lightening. Costa Rica has .04% HIV population, and 80% or above are from needles, and or  between 2 men. Neither of which I engaged in.

Im not sure what it is that I am experiencing. I do wonder if my condom broke, does it no longer qualify as protected sex?

Ive also come to accept that I made some bad decisions and that the consequences could change my life forever. I did research on people living with HIV and found that I can still live a healthy full life with the virus, if by the very low chance I contracted it I won't let it defeat me...this has almost been a spiritual experience.  I woke up feeling much better about it all, my mind is clearer, and I have good energy. However there are still physical symptoms, sweaty Palms and feet, my right side of my rib cage has a small pain, my heart still has episodes where it pounds harder, and i'm still losing weight (although this could be because I'm in ketosis and haven't been eating much)

Im not going to urgent care this morning, but I am speaking with my Dr. I will keep posting as to what I find out. I am wondering about the possibility of Mono. Some of these symptoms are much older than the one night stand, so I wonder if the use of hard drugs made the already apparent virus worse?

Again thank you for your response.

[AnxiousNoMore]

All of that HIV guessing theory of yours is incorrect reasoning based on the faulty idea that you had a risk which you didn't, if you read 2. There is no need to keep us informed of your wasted efforts to work up an HIV theory, since you are the only one who doesn't realize you had no risk. This is just an HIV forum not a general diagnostics forum, and you don't have hIV.
Your symptoms are likely in your imagination especially since you are so anxious about HIV that it is a bit of a mental health problem at this point, so you should be seeing a therapist instead of a medical doctor.

[AnxiousNoMore]

Actually you need to reread item 1 not 2.

[AnxiousNoMore]

Actually we both missed the fact the condom broke with the second one. So you had a risk and can test with a duo after 4 weeks or any other after 3 months. However symptoms prove nothing so don't study them.

[needrelief87]

Being nervous of catching a deadly virus is a mental health issue?...ok.

[laxus2012]

I believe that was said before the realization of the broken condom, based on from what I understand.  many, many people develop fears from activities from absolutely zero risk, from some of the off the wall reasons, and get convinced they have it and ask us over and over without listening to our advice. they develop a fear of HIV with no chance of having it. same goes with people who test negative over and over. that, is a mental issue, having the irrational fear of HIV from a zero risk exposure, or after a conclusive negative result.