Hi,
i had an hiv test on tuesday because ive
never had one done b4 and thought it would
be a good thing to get done. Now none of
my partners that I have been with, to my
knowledge have hiv. But on friday I
noticed that it looks like the lymph nodes
in my groin are swollen, they dont hurt or
anything but I can tell they are swollen
from runinng my hand over them, and I have
a sore throat and a bit of a runny nose.
My doctor said I might have mono so I got
a blood test done for that and hiv. Ive
read on the internet that this could be a
sign of hiv but also a sign of alot of
other things aswell. Ive only had
unprotected once and that didnt last very
long because I made the guy stop, but I
have had unprotected oral sex on about 5
occasions, the last one being about 3
weeks ago and thats whne my sore throat
started but went away but now it came
back. My doctor said I would know by
today with the results but she didnt so
mabe she hasnt gotten then back yet or teh
yare negative so I left a msg for her to
call tomorrow. So im just wondering what
my risk of having hiv would be? Im really
freaked out about this. So any replies
would be of great help.
|
Finess150
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 09 Apr 2005 Posts: 191 Location: Kent, UK
Thanks: 1
Thanked:0
Chances Posted: 05-26-05 21:14pm
Ok here we go.
If you had unprotected sex, this puts you
at some degree of risk. Since it was
brief and no ejaculation occured, the risk
is lowered but worthy of testing. But
please remember, chances are very much in
your favour that hiv was not transmitted
in this episode.
Next, oral sex carries relatively low
risk for transmission. There are not many
confirmed cases but it is still a risk
(albeit low). If semen is involved, the
risk increases, since infection can occur
from semen through the mouth (but not very
often at all).
The symptoms you describe are, as with
every other symptom which one may wish to
attribute to hiv, unreliable for
diagnosis. Yes, a sore throat can occur
when the initial hiv infection takes place
(during a time known as acute retro-viral
syndrome or ars). You may also have a
fever, headaches, nausea, night sweats,
aching muscles and a rash. Or you may
have none of these, or just some. There
is no common set of defineable symptoms.
You can see why symptoms are an unreliable
means for diagnosis? Symptoms can mean
anything - usually not hiv.
Ok, so remember that your sore throat
could be just that. Everyone has sore
throats. But- from what you describe,
there is a certain amount of risk of
transmission from your activities (chiefly
the bried episode of unprotected sex) so
you should get tested. Make sure that
this is at least three months since your
last unsafe sexual encounter for an
accurate test result.
But please try not to worry, the chances
that you are negative are very, very much
in your favour, based on the physical
risk, and the remote chance that the
person had hiv in the first place.
Also, what you may think as being swollen
nodes may not be what a doctor would
define as swollen nodes. It is totally
normal to be able to feel the lymph nodes
in the groin - they are the easiest to
feel.
