HIV - Prevention Forum
Avatar universal

Is this HIV?

Hey Doc, I am a 27 year old male having alot of health problems. i have had these problems ever since a unprotected one night stand i had with a woman 2 1/2 years ago. i later found out that this woaman was a hooker. Four days after intercourse i had this rash to apear in my mustache area, it was red with slightly raised white scaly small bumps. the rash got its worst by day 7 after the exposure. it finally went away about a week after it appeared. Ihad seborrhea of the scalp before the encounter but after the sex it seemed to get worse and know it occurs in my chest hair and itches but is barely visible and goes and comes. I control the scalp seborhea with luxiq which is some sort of moose my dermotoligist perscribed me. sometimes it gets in my sideburns and beared as well. I also have high liver enzymes. i have been tested for all hepititis and had ultrasound, cat scans an liquid scan of my liver function all fine. I keep sinus infections and sometimes walking pnumonia. I have had h-pyloria and other stomach ulcer infections since the encounter. It seems like my skin is always dry and takes a while for it to heal. My biggest concern is my chronic muscle weakness. iam a construction worker and one day i suddenly haveing muscle weakness mostly in my arms and upper leg muscles. This has been going on now for 8 months. It doesn't seem to get better with rest. somedays it is hard for me to talk on the phone because it feels like someone is pushing down on my arms. they feel heavy. I have energy but my muscles want let me perform my job the way i use too. Recently i have been haveing chronic mild night sweats my shirt is only mildly damp like between my shoulder blades. and i wake up feeling cold. some times i have hot flashes and i sweat under my arms even when iam resting.I am scared. Ialso have developed some short term memory loss and for some strange reason i think about kissing people while their talking to me like some sort of dementia. here lately i have developed erection problems also it want get up when i want it to but stays up when i don't want it too. I use to drink alot and took some speed in college. i still drink pretty heavy on the weekends could this be from the high liver enzymes or does it sound more like HIV. The muscle weakness goes on even if i havn't drank anything in weeks. I am so scared to tell my doctor about this. But iam fixing to have to do something give me some words of encouragement. Thank you so much for your time.
13 Responses
239123 tn?1267647614
The chance of catching HIV from any particular vaginal sex exposure is around 1 in 2000, if your partner had HIV--which almost certainly she did not. And your symptoms do not sound at all like you have HIV, despite what you might have read online or eslewhere.

But of course the way to know is to have an HIV test.  Presumably that hasn't been done or you would have mentioned it. Just do it.  If you have had no risks other than the one you describe, you can be 100% confident the result will be negative. In the meatime, absolutely stop looking for answers on line.  You will never get a definitive answer except by testing.

Do not post any "yes, but" or "what if" questions here.  I will not respond, because there is no information you can provide that would change my opinion or advice.

Good luck--  HHH, MD
Avatar universal
Why not just get re-tested?
Your symptoms are wayyyyyy to varied and the MD cannot diagnose via Internet.
Symptoms, as having been said numerous times on this forum, are not a reasonable indicator for HIV infeciton (for or against).
If this 2 1/2 year incident was the "one" incident you were concerned about, HIV infection would ceratainly be ruled out at this point.
Your "garden-variety" symptoms could be due to anything....not solely HIV.

I would strongly suggest to see your primary health care physician.

Good Luck..hope you feel better and are able to ascertain what ails you...I certainly do not think it would be HIV.

Avatar universal
The fatigue in the arms and legs is stress or anxiety I bet.  I get the same thing everytime I have to test for this ****.  Your wanting to kiss someone while talking to them sounds more like OCD not HIV.  Your going to have to suck it up and get tested.  But dont think your symptoms put the odds against you.  Most people dont have symptoms for years 5+ after an infection.
239123 tn?1267647614
I forgot to say in my initial response that anyone with abnormal liver function tests who "drinks pretty heavy on the weekends" could be in some serious danger; you might have rather serious alcoholic liver disease.  Compared to that, your risk for HIV is a speck on the windscreen.  Put your concern where it matters, and be frank with your doc about your drinking.

Avatar universal

Dont worry about it.  I was in a dilema for over 5 years, and finaly got tested recently.  I had anxiety and stress for five years and its amazing what your mind does to you.  

Everything that happened to me, weird things like pain in the leg or blury vision, upset stomach, pins and needles in my feet, dry skin, headache, sopts here and there, rashes, flu or cold etc, etc basically countless symptoms and I thought they were all due to HIV in mind.  Then recently I got angry at myself and said NO MORE.  Went to get tested and to my amazement ( I really believed I had HIV, together with other things) it was negative.  Dont waste your time looking at symptoms or whatever, the only way to know is to get tested, and its not that hard once you get yourself up to the clinic, you wont regret it and the Doc is always spot on, trust him mate.

Now stop worrying about all the nonsense and get tested, it will be NEGATIVE, put that in your mind, NEGATIVE.

The first step is to make that appointment and the weight on your shoulders will be relieved.  When you go there, as to speak to a Health advisor and they will share exactly the same opinion, but you need to get yourself up there.

Good luck mate, not that you need any.


Avatar universal
You're right.
But, if the response was "positive"?
It's better having a doubt, and living badly but not desperatly, or have a certainty like that?
And "that" means HAART, ecc. ecc., while you may be a long term non processor.
Avatar universal

there's a saying, "Cross that Bridge when you get to it".  You're NOT poz until you know your test result.  just get tested. and IF you are (and that's a BIG if mind you), then you will deal with it, i.e, hopefully you will have health and mental counselors available to you at the clinic to help you through your new-found status.  But relax.  like the docs said, your chances are nill.  I mean, what kind of disease has a 1/2000 chance of being acquired through vaginal intercourse? Or a 6/10,000 for anal intercourse? Or even a 1/10,000 for receptive fellatio on men? Unbelievable!! I mean, sounds like HIV is rather difficult to get!!  

So just calm down, and plz wait to get tested to allay your fears before you WIG out! lol. As Spock would say (Star Trek), "it is only logical!"


Avatar universal
It's so incredibly frustrating when I read posts in this forum. It was like back when this epidemic first started, people freak about every single contact whether it's direct or indirect. This thing has been around for over 20 years. Nothing changed. Still no vaccine, and no cure in sight.

Avatar universal
The cure is easy. truly.
79258 tn?1190630410
Man, it's NOTHING like it was 20 years ago, except maybe in the paranoia of most posters here. This is not real life, and I think it's safe to say this is not the way most people think. True, HIV is indeed serious and there isn't a cure, but they're coming out with new antivirals and treatment is now quite reasonable. People can expect to live long, full lives with HIV. It's for sure not the death sentence it once was.

Sorry to get on my soapbox again, but this never fails to just amaze me. Do you have any idea how many other diseases aren't curable? You're so much more likely to get diabetes (20 million people!), which ALSO isn't curable (yet manageable, like HIV), and which can also have hugely significant complications including death. Way, way, WAY more people die from diabetes and its related complications than HIV. Yet I'm willing to bet most people are reading this while holding a Twinkie in one hand and a Big Mac in the other, with a cigarette burning in the ashtray in front of you.

Don't make me post the death statistics again, lol. Let it suffice to say that HIV is way down on the list, after a wide variety of things you'd never think of in a million years. Like septicemia, or even the flu, which kills twice as many people as HIV every year.
Avatar universal
Thanks for your words of encouragement! What are some possible causes of severe muscle weakness in someone as young as iam? This has to be some kind of severe disease for me to always be sick and so weak.
Avatar universal
First off I am not a doctor nor am I any way involved in any medical field. In other words my advice is not to be taken as professional advice.

I happened to stumble across this thread as I was searching on information regarding sebehoreic dermatitis. I too have flaky, itchy, red patches of skin just about anywhere hair grows on my body. What is most irritating about this condition for me is that I get it in my ears and it cracks open and creates sores/lesions that are very painful.

Every symptom you describe, I have myself. What triggered me to respond is that you mentioned muscle weakness. I'll get to that in a minute. Every single symptom you mentioned, including the elevated liver enzymes, I have myself. Now before I tell you what I am ailed from I must tell you that I don't believe that any of the symptoms you mentioned are directly related to one another per se. You need to tell your doctor about all of your symptoms and then ask him/her to do an in-office neurological examine. If you have health insurance and a primary care doctor that is willing, you need to see a neurologist right away.

From what it sounds like to me you are suffering from some sort of immunilogical response which may be affecting your nerves/ nervous system. Go see a neurologist and settle for nothing less!
Avatar universal
You never did state what your illness is! And what neurological disorders cause these symptoms?
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