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HIV risk? Should I get tested?
28 days ago I made a terrible mistake and saw a Sex worker. I had unprotected oral sex (on me) and protected vaginal sex. Since then, I have had plenty of symptoms. I am worried that the condom could have broken...it looked ok when I finished but I only glanced at it. I am worried in case of small tears or rips that might not be noticed at a glance.
Since day 5 or so I have been feeling a general malaise...most days I feel 'spaced out', slight dizziness, and generally not well.
Since day 10 I have been having headaches every day until now (2 weeks later)...these headaches come and go and are of the mild/moderate nature, lasting up to a few hours a day. They are non-throbbing and are usually located between my eyebrows...it sort of feels like a 'tightness' of my brows as if I massage the area of the pain subsides for a few seconds before feeling tight again.
On day 11, 12, 22 and 24 I woke up at night covered in sweat (mainly my chest). These were not 'bed drenching' sweats but were definitely not 'normal' to experience.
On day 15 I developed a mild sore throat which has lasted 2 weeks until now and still present. The throat is not 'sore' as such...it is more a dry, rough feeling where I need to clear my throat. What is worrying though is that there is no mucus, blocked nose etc associated with this throat irritation.
In recent days I have been suffering a very dry mouth...my saliva is very dry no matter how much water I drink etc.
Also I might have swollen lymph nodes on either side of my neck...they are not obviously swollen but when I feel around it feels like either side of my neck just under jaw might have slightly inflamed nodes - this feeling appeared on day 24 or so
Symptoms I do not have: fever (I have been checking my temp regularly), rash, muscle aches, loss of appetite etc
My questions are:
1: What was my initial risk? I know protected vaginal sex is low risk but is there any way I could have missed condom breaking?
2. What do you make of my symptoms? Part of me thinks my headaches are associated with stress as they are mild and come and go but then again...its been 2.5 weeks with headaches. But I cannot explain, mild sore/irritated throat for 2 weeks now, potentially swollen lymph nodes in neck....these 'symptoms' seem to have arisen at the perfect window for typical ARS period.
3. Do I need to get tested?
Since day 5 or so I have been feeling a general malaise...most days I feel 'spaced out', slight dizziness, and generally not well.
Since day 10 I have been having headaches every day until now (2 weeks later)...these headaches come and go and are of the mild/moderate nature, lasting up to a few hours a day. They are non-throbbing and are usually located between my eyebrows...it sort of feels like a 'tightness' of my brows as if I massage the area of the pain subsides for a few seconds before feeling tight again.
On day 11, 12, 22 and 24 I woke up at night covered in sweat (mainly my chest). These were not 'bed drenching' sweats but were definitely not 'normal' to experience.
On day 15 I developed a mild sore throat which has lasted 2 weeks until now and still present. The throat is not 'sore' as such...it is more a dry, rough feeling where I need to clear my throat. What is worrying though is that there is no mucus, blocked nose etc associated with this throat irritation.
In recent days I have been suffering a very dry mouth...my saliva is very dry no matter how much water I drink etc.
Also I might have swollen lymph nodes on either side of my neck...they are not obviously swollen but when I feel around it feels like either side of my neck just under jaw might have slightly inflamed nodes - this feeling appeared on day 24 or so
Symptoms I do not have: fever (I have been checking my temp regularly), rash, muscle aches, loss of appetite etc
My questions are:
1: What was my initial risk? I know protected vaginal sex is low risk but is there any way I could have missed condom breaking?
2. What do you make of my symptoms? Part of me thinks my headaches are associated with stress as they are mild and come and go but then again...its been 2.5 weeks with headaches. But I cannot explain, mild sore/irritated throat for 2 weeks now, potentially swollen lymph nodes in neck....these 'symptoms' seem to have arisen at the perfect window for typical ARS period.
3. Do I need to get tested?
Also...how long do ARS symptoms typically last?
I have had this on/off headache for 3 weeks now.
The very mild sore throat (catarrh, dry throat) has lasted for 2 weeks up until now
Glands (if they are swollen) in neck I noticed 1 week ago
I have had this on/off headache for 3 weeks now.
The very mild sore throat (catarrh, dry throat) has lasted for 2 weeks up until now
Glands (if they are swollen) in neck I noticed 1 week ago
2 Comments
I will repeat again that you had no risk. You are not having HIV symptoms because you were not exposed to HIV. If you're not well, go see the doctor. But you've already ruled out HIV due to no exposure.
worried12345 Also, the timing of the "symptoms" which you think is the foundation for your theory is actually a 100% miscalculation on your part. You are pretending you have HIV and saying it would be too much coincidence if you got the flu after the HIV. - The reality is since you can't have HIV there is no coincidence involved when you got the flu or whatever you have after the sex.
Hi, thanks for your response. It is very encouraging. What I cannot shake is the timing of these 'symptoms'...it is the perfect window for ARS so I am obviously going to do a little digging on the symptoms of acute HIV.
1: would the headaches 'typical' of ARS be severe and unrelenting? My headaches are more a tightness than a pain and come and go.
2: is the sore throat associated with ARS typically quite bad? Like I said, mine has been very very mild, with rough catarrh (mainly worse at morning and night). Would ARS sore throat be bad all the time rather than getting worse at night?
3: Is swelling of glands in ARS usually found in more than one location? e.g. neck, armpit, groin etc
Also, these symptoms did not appear at the same time...would ARS symptoms typically arrive all at once?
1: would the headaches 'typical' of ARS be severe and unrelenting? My headaches are more a tightness than a pain and come and go.
2: is the sore throat associated with ARS typically quite bad? Like I said, mine has been very very mild, with rough catarrh (mainly worse at morning and night). Would ARS sore throat be bad all the time rather than getting worse at night?
3: Is swelling of glands in ARS usually found in more than one location? e.g. neck, armpit, groin etc
Also, these symptoms did not appear at the same time...would ARS symptoms typically arrive all at once?
1) Condom protected sex is not low risk. It's No Risk. And there is no such thing as small rips in a condom. Condoms are designed to burst wide open and look like a burst balloon leaving nothing but a rubber ring around the base of the penis. Since you had an intact condom to remove at the end then it did not break. Oral sex is not considered a risk.
2) Symptoms are never used to diagnose HIV and therefore will not be addressed. Furthermore, since you had no risk then clearly none of those problems are related to this event.
3) Not having any risk of HIV means that there is nothing for you to test. Since you haven't been exposed to HIV then there is nothing for a test to find in your blood. Unless you make it a habit of testing for things that you were never exposed to, I wouldn't bother with an HIV test for this non risk.
2) Symptoms are never used to diagnose HIV and therefore will not be addressed. Furthermore, since you had no risk then clearly none of those problems are related to this event.
3) Not having any risk of HIV means that there is nothing for you to test. Since you haven't been exposed to HIV then there is nothing for a test to find in your blood. Unless you make it a habit of testing for things that you were never exposed to, I wouldn't bother with an HIV test for this non risk.
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