OHL or Keratosis?

[zaphod83]

Hello.

I'm a 33 year old man who was potentially exposed via unprotected vaginal sex (relatively brief, and I ejaculated outside) with a woman of unknown status.  Unbelievably stupid I know.  I tested negative at 2 months, which in my ignorance thought was conclusive.  The truth is I'M TERRIFIED that I may be positive and have infected my GF who is the love of my life.  I'm not a serial cheater.  This one night stand I alluded to was a drunken mistake that I will NEVER make again.  I refrained from having sex with my GF until I received what I thought was confirmation.  Now that I've been reading I'm of course HORRIFIED to find that some say even 6 months is not conclusive!!!!  Needless to say, we won't be having sex again until I know my status.

The thing that made me start to freak all over again is that I suddenly have lateral white patches on my tongue.  My question is does any one know if having so called "scalloped tongue" along with the distinct white lines on the inner cheeks that suggest a tendency to bite them (which I definitely have) mean the lateral blotches are more likely benign "friction keratosis?" due to the tongue pushing against the teeth as I bite the cheek?  The reason I ask is because I happen to have both the scalloped tongue as well as those white bite lines, which has me hoping it's not OHL.  The OHL pics on the web are way more severe than what I'm seeing in my own mouth, but that doesn't necessarily comfort me because I know the web tends to only show extremes at times.

I know everyone is going to demand I "go get the test,"  which I absolutely will, but I'm kind of freaking out right now and I'm hoping someone out there knows the answer to this admittedly tedious question.

Also, is it normal to have OHL in less than a year's time post-infection?  I can't say affirmatively that I never had ARS.  To be honest, I was certainly sick a few times over this last year, but I wasn't as vigilant as I should've been in monitoring my symptoms back then.  Also, does getting sick numerous times in one year suggest HIV?  Furthermore, can getting sick a lot (colds, strep, etc.) shorten the length of the asymptomatic period?

Please, I will get the test soon, but I need to know the answers to these 4 questions to make it through the night and weekend.

Thank you

[Teak]

OHL is not HIV specific.

[zaphod83]

Thanks folks.

I know you're right on this, but I can't for a test until next week, and I'm trying to find a little peace of mind to keep me becoming even more of a nervous wreck than I already am.  After posting I put in a few more hours of research of OHL vs. scalloped tongue and benign oral keratosis and I am THRILLED to announce that my tongue looks A LOT more like the latter two as opposed to the former.  I know self-diagnosis is meaningless in comparison with just getting the test, but my anxiety has been through the roof, and it's my nature to self-diagnos.  

Can anyone tell me if OHL with a normal CD4 count and only one year post-infection is normal or even possible?

Thanks,
-Z

[Teak]

Self diagnosing won't tell you a thing. You can test 3 months post exposure and obtain your conclusive test result.

[ricky_id]

That's a good preview at 2 months post-exposure that you had, but you need to follow up a month later for a conclusive result if negative. Whether your symptoms have something to do with HIV will come out only by then.