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Jabbed with syringe or a needle, am I at risk?

Dear all
I am someone who is always worrying about hiv and I know that i have irrational fears. Recently I was on the bus and I felt a jab on my shoulder and didn't look or see what was going on there.
3 weeks later and until now I am experiencing numbness, pain and weakness in my right leg and right arm and hands, I feel extremely cold too.
I linked it to the probable needle stab.
My question is, will it actually be a risk if I got stabbed with a syringe on the bus? The city I live in is full of crazy drug addicts and the availability of the syringe is probable.
Thank you
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20620809 tn?1504362969
The only ways that people get HIV is from having unprotected vaginal or anal intercourse or sharing IV drug needles. IV drug needles is different than a needle poke.  A needle poke is exposed to air. People don't get HIV from that.  Air inactivates the virus.  What you describe couldn't transmit HIV. And these situations do often seem to be born out of fear and anxiety. I'm sorry if you suffer that.  Do they have a mental health care system that could help address this where you are from?  Are you often plagued by these types of fears?
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5 Comments
Hey thank you for your reply
My fear is that my arms actually felt jabbed on the bus but I didn't care to look and then I got off the bus and got those symptoms later on.
I live in Toronto and buses are infested with needles from drug users specially in the pandemic and during the these times it was even over the news
Yes I do have these fears occasionally
No one jabbed you because when they pushed the plunger, the injection would be very painful as the substance in injected and you certainly would have looked to see what was going on.  

QUESTION Are you telling me that you felt intense pain for a while but just sat there because you didn't wonder what caused it?
YOUR ANSWER No I didn't feel intense pain..

See a mental health therapist. Your thoughts are abnormal but they might be able to help.
I felt a pinch or as if something hit my arm (P.S. i am not talking about someone injecting me but me being struck by a needle discarded near the bus window I'm a fashion that would let it inject me)
My only slight relief is and please correct me if iam wrong, that even if the syringe was pointing out towards my arm and it was bolted from the plunger side pushing against it wont cause injection and penetration at the same time right?
In other words imagine a syringe plunger bolted from the plunger end and the syringe is sticking outwards, if someone pressed against it, the penetration of the needle and the plunger moving would happen at the same time .
Unfortunately I don't remember how intense the pain was but my arms were tender a couple of days after that, I remember it wasn't sore but tender to the touch.
I even went overboard and checked my jacket for needle entry points but didn't find any, would a small gauge needle leave an entry point on clothing? Because the big ones definelty do
This forum is for HIV prevention and testing questions.  Our members are not able to determine what did or did not happen, but AnxiousNoMore offered very good advice.  The only additional information that we can offer is to suggest that you test for peace of mind using a 4th generation test at 28 days or more after the event, or using any other test 90 days or more after the event, if you remain concerned.

********* THREAD CLOSED **********
Avatar universal
No one jabbed you because the injection would be very painful and you certainly would have looked to see what was going on.  See a mental health therapist if you can't get over your " i have irrational fears" because no one on an hiv prevention forum will be able to help with that kind of mental health problem.
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