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Did I infect wife and baby w/ AIDS - HIV ?

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saranda38

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 12 Nov 2007
Posts: 4
Did I infect wife and baby w/ AIDS - HIV ?
Posted: 11-12-07 15:57pm

first off, thank you ALL who reply here and help people with their questions. the world needs people like you.

I am 29 y/o, my last HIV test was 10 years ago and it was negative. I have been married for 5 years, and have a 1 year old baby boy.

My wife had prenatal blood work done while pregnant, and her HIV came back negative. We both have Herpes Simplex, genital mostly. This is from before we got married.

here is the story.

When my wife had our baby, we went through a tough period where sex was pretty much absent. the realtionship was fine...we are very loving and caring of each other, but sex was just not happening. at first i thought this was normal due to postpartum. then it kept going, she was totally not interested. I blamed myself for being a little overweight, ugly, etc. and got really depressed. So depressed i started looking for other ways to get my self esteem back, and my sexual needs met.
I resorted to paying for sex. Escorts to be more specific.
I had several encounters. All protected...once or twice quick unprotected oral, but NEVER unprotected intercourse. During this time i battled emotions and guilt for doing this, but thought this was better than having an actual emotional affair, thinking this was less "cheating". Ridiculous i know.
I had a long talk with my wife about her lack of interest, and we decided to start trying new things to spice up our sex life. And we did. I finally realized the risk i was putting us all in, and how much i love my family. And decided to never do this again. Me and my wife use condoms most of the time, due to the Herpes, although we take Valtrex every now and then when an outbreak occurs. But again, a couple of times we have had unprotected sex. Unless i am VERY mistaken. my wife has never cheated on me, and never would.

The issue is in the past month or so i have deloped a nail problem. I have what appears to be either Psoriasis of the nail or some fungal infection. I keep reading online and both of these are clinical manifestations of HIV infection. I have never been diagnosed with Psoriasis, although i have always been a dry itchy person...when the weather is dry, my back always itches. I have always battled dandruff since i was a kid.

But I am worried sick. The one on my finger nails is weird cause i remember almost 2 years ago, i slammed my middle finger in a door. My nail of course turned purple, and ended up falling off. I have a nervous habbit of biting my nails and sometimes i make them bleed. so i kept messing with that nail and picking at it and poking at it and removing the parts that were about to fall off. It got really nasty, but i dont ever remember it getting infected. When it started growing out, i noticed dimples on it. little rounded pits on the nail plate. never thought anything of it. The pits kept going and my nail was full of little round pits. Now ALL my nails(both hands) have developed little pits, and they have white scaly tissue that looks like its coming from the cuticle. They are not painful or itchy. Then for about a month i got this rash on my thumb(palm side). It was like dry dead skin, and again...i kept picking at it and biting the little scales that would peel off. and i would make them bleed. I decided to stop that and moisturize it. it went away. then appeared on my other hand. on my thumb again(palm side), middle finger(on the joint palm side) and the tip of my pinky(palm side). if i picked at them, and didnt keep them moisturized, i could get them to bleed by biting and picking on them. Again, tried moisturizing, and they went away. although not completely. on dry winter days, when my hands are dry, i can see a difference in the skin there, and that area can be itchy.
My toenails, specifically the big toe nails. are both a little discolored ( whitish yellowish) and the right one shows signs of nail damage starting at the cuticle. as if it was subungual onychomycosis. AGAIN as i have read online, very common in HIV infected people, very rare in healthy people. The callus on my right toe also got really dry and itchy to the point where it cracked open. I fixed that with moisturizers.
the left one is starting to show. I have soaked them in vinegar for a week, and they dont get worse, but they dont improve either. I have kept my feet moisturized every day. again...dont worsen, but dont improve.

As far as other symptoms, i dont remember when, maybe it was before the baby was born, i got what they call the 48 hour flu. or at least thats what i thought. Awful diarrhea and vomiting, but anly lasted 2 days. other people at work also got it. a week ago, i kind of developed a what i think is a sinus infection...yet ANOTHER symtpom of HIV infection. I had no runny nose, but severe head congestion, my nose would get a little congested in the morning, and by the afternoon my head would be killing me. I took sudafed, and ibuprofen, and it lasted three days, i feel better now. I also have a slight diarrhea that has lasted about two weeks, but this could be due to my SEVERE anxiety. I have not been sleeping well, due to worrying. I cant talk to anyone about this. I have a hiatal hernia, and the nervousness and anxiety has been upsetting my stomach, and my apetite is down the drain. Hopefully this is the cause of the diarrhea. it is not severe, and not liquid, but soft muchy stool, and also...very reduced stool. I am usually the other way around. Usually very hard almost constipated stool. painful usually.

When the our baby was born, he had some issues with reflux apnea. He was kept in the nicu for 2 weeks. ALL sorts of test were done. Including testing for Herpes (HSV) and nothing was found. Would thay have done an HIV test ? is this routine ? they concluded it was reflux apnea, and he would grow out of it. He did, and he has been thriving. He has been breastfed for a year, and besides the normal fevers for teething, he has only had one cold recently. runny nose, mild temperature. no vomiting or diarrhea. My wife seems to be quite healthy.

Now all i do is worry. I take his temperature constantly, i check his entire body and mouth for symptoms i find on the internet like i was a madman. My wife of course doesnt know why.

I dont know what to do, i know i have to get tested, and go to a dermatologist. I just dont know if i could live through having to tell my wife i might have HIV and possibly infected her and the baby.

Please. anything helps. i am losing my mind here.

thank you.
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Marianne0558

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Joined: 10 Sep 2007
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Location: Charleston, SC USA
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Posted: 11-12-07 16:03pm

First off, you need to get tested. You don't have to tell her you are going to get tested either. If the test comes out negative, you should still be tested in 6 months.
If it's negative, you definitely need to sit her down and have a long talk.
Most people are forgiving.

I don't think there is reason to worry about your son. If he seems healthy and the doctors think he is fine, don't worry.

Either way, you're going to have to confess to your wife about cheating on her. It will be rough but she will be better off knowing than not.
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saranda38

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 12 Nov 2007
Posts: 4
I Forgot.
Posted: 11-12-07 16:17pm

my job is quite stressful.....and the past three months were crazy stressful, battling three jobs at once. running from one place to the next. could this cause Psoriasis ? even if i never had it ? i have read about stress related psoriasis. but only to my nails ? i dont have any other lesions on my body. i check constantly. My glands are not swolen or painful. I get frequent headaches, but i always atribute it to the fact that i am ALWAYS in front of a computer, and dont wear my computer glasses ever. I know i should, but i have not changed the prescription in about 5 years, so when i have tried wearing them, they are worse.

again...please talk to me. i am at my breaking point, i lock myself inside the bathroom and cry cause i cant even bare the thought of maybe being sick and bringing this awful disease on to my family.
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Marianne0558

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Location: Charleston, SC USA
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Posted: 11-12-07 16:20pm

I think you are worrying for nothing. Guilt can cause a lot of stress. Obviously you need to come clean with your wife and I think you will feel a lot better, inside and out.

I'm not sure about the fingernails but first, I would go to a dermatologist and have them check. Or go to your regular doctor and have him do the HIV test and also ask him about the fingernails.
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saranda38

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 12 Nov 2007
Posts: 4
of Course
Posted: 11-12-07 16:21pm

i will. trust me....if my test were to come back negative. my life would be turned around. dont get me wrong. besides this...i am a godd husband...a great dad, successful, and hard working. I came out of nothing and worked really hard to get to where i am. But here i might have blown it. i know that.

i will get tested....its just very hard to do it. and i will talk to my wife.

thank you for replying.
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Marianne0558

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Joined: 10 Sep 2007
Posts: 1714
Location: Charleston, SC USA
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Posted: 11-12-07 16:23pm

Just because you made a mistake or two does NOT make you a bad person, definitely not a bad father.

We are all human and all of us make mistakes.
But the good thing about it is most people are willing to forgive and forget.

I know it is scary to get tested, I got tested when I was pregnant and just the wait is scary. Especially hearing about statistics every day on tv.

Just go get tested and then sit down and write out what you want to say to your wife. If you write it out, it will be easier when you have to speak it.
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Aarvy

New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 12 Nov 2007
Posts: 12
Chances Are Near Zero.
Posted: 11-13-07 03:15am

Your nail symptoms show psoriasis or some STD. Dont have to tell you wife. Get HIV tested. Mostly that will come -ve and you are done. That simple it is.

YOU MUST READ THIS!
This 19yr old mother of a 2ry old has one day experienced some fever and flu like symptoms. She's checking online casually and some how got to this forum and started to understand her symptoms relate to a HIV infection. She's written that her kid's not with his father and how scared she got learning that she could die soon of HIV if she was infected at all. I would like you to step into her shoes and feel the moments she might have experienced. Think how hard it is to imagine that your loved ones are going to miss you and might end up help-less for their whole life.

Now all this happened only on the assumption that the symptoms were that of HIV and not knowing it for sure. If you read these posts, you will understand all of them are posted with similar doubts in mind. And all these posts were written with the circumstances they experienced and not the result of the tests they took.

If you can spare few minutes of your time and post your test result, then consider you are helping thousands of scared(as you are now) people get relieved of their tension. SO PLEASE POST YOUR TEST RESULT ONCE YOU GET IT, SO PEOPLE CAN RELATE THIER CIRCUMSTANCES WITH THE ACTUAL OUTCOMES!

HIV Facts! (Not the ones you already know of)
HIV is not that easy to get. It will not venture out like a cold virus. HIV must inject its RNA into the human cell and just cannot live on the side like other viruses. You must consistently and thoroughly help it attach itself to a human cell. Remember it is not a human disease in the first place. It is only about 50yr old and still evolving to be a human virus and it will take atleast a few thousand years before it can look out for a human host.

Risk per 10,000 unprotected exposures to an infected source
Blood transfusion ---- 9,000
Needle-sharing injection-drug use ---- 67
Receptive anal intercourse ---- 50
Percutaneous needle stick ---- 30
Receptive penile-vaginal intercourse ---- 10
Insertive anal intercourse ---- 6.5
Insertive penile-vaginal intercourse ----- 5
Receptive oral intercourse ---- 1
Insertive oral intercourse ---- 0.5

A cut on your finger in the morning might have already had a plasmatic coating in about 4Hrs which will usually not allow HIV to enter in. For a better chance of infection the cut must be reasonably big, minutes fresh and with sufficient HIV virus load. There is virtually 0% cases reported world-wide that some one got infected by cut-wound blood transfusion.

HIV infection through oral activity has about 90% less chances because the HIV virus does not live outside the fluid for more than about a minute and saliva, stomach juices are not good carriers.

HIV did not infect many people who had sex several hundred times with their HIV +ve partners unknowingly. Human body has some unknown resistance to this virus and is well proven with many people so far.

HIV can be tested accurately(95%) starting from 2 weeks of possible exposure by a PCR-DNA test. Relatively Costly. Looks for HIV in the blood. False Positives are relatively higher than False Negatives.

HIV can be tested accurately(95%) starting from 3 months of possible exposure by antigen and antibody tests (eg: ELISA). Looks for anti-bodies in the blood that fight HIV. Tests for all strains of HIV.

HIV cannot stay in the body un-detected by our recent testing methods. Chances of non-detection are almost near zero.

HIV can be cured if PEP(ART treatment) program is given starting within 72 hours of possible exposure and continued for 2-3 months. The success ratio is 70-80% and many health-care workers who get stung by infected needles take this program and a survey suggests zero out of 400 of accidentally infected people treated with PEP program did not get HIV for life.

HIV Symptoms: Usually noticed between 2 to 3 weeks of possible exposure. Flu, Fever, Sore Throats, Lymph Node Swells, Skin Rashes(Mostly on the torso), Night Sweats, Fatigue & Tiredness. Only about 80-90% of people notice some of these symptoms. 95% of people who feel the above symptoms without being tested does not have HIV. The reason for such symptoms are the bodily reactions controlled by stressed out minds as HIV is a deadly disease. Mind has the ability to simulate the symptoms in the body if your stress is so much that you think you might die soon.

Most of the HIV surveys so far are compiled on HIV aggressive areas like Thailand Drug Usage areas, African Bush meat eating areas, Asian sex-working areas etc. So your chances of infection are only 10% of those published in the surveys.

Religion, Spiritual Transition, Redemption are some of the effective ways to pass your time while awaiting your test results. Like most of them you will lack concentration on work and many make a mistake by spending time alone. Instead spend your time with your close ones, friends, relatives and some time with your God. Every one commits sin in several ways and moments like this can be wisely used to your benefit by redeeming yourself into a better person. It need not be sexual sins alone, think of all those un-worthy things you did, pass your time thinking how you can better yourself if you are given a second chance of life. I am 100% sure you will be given this second chance.

We take time giving practical facts and help relive your stress, We expect you to take few minutes of your time to relive stress of several thousand users of these forums by POSTING YOUR TEST RESULTS! I know for sure 99% of people will get -ve results which is why they forget to come back to the forums. If they are +ve then they would definitely come for more info and would generally respond to the posts. So, Please once again POST YOUR TEST RESULTS!
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