please, someone respond to this.

i feel like i'm going crazy. i had unprotected vaginal and anal sex with someone 3 weeks ago (he didn't come inside of me) and now i am experiencing almost all of the ARS symptoms: swollen lymph nodes, i had a really bad sore throat for one day, i'm extremely fatigued and tired, and it feels like someone's sitting on my chest (my doctor diagnosed the uncomfortable feeling in my chest as pleurosy, irritation of the lining of the lungs or somtehing). my gums are sore, and i also had a bad yeast infection, which i read from many different websites could be an early sign of HIV in women.

i am 100% sure i have HIV. the symptoms perfectly match. i am so sure that i have considered calling the two people i had sex with afterwardsa nd telling them i have it. that's how positive i am. i never ever get sick like this. and i've never had a yeast infection. this is all soooo out of the ordinary. i just wanna know so i can move on. i'm seeing a psychologist soon for all this. i'm only 18 years old, by the way, this is extremely traumatizing for me. i can't function without smoking weed or taking a xanax every single day.

i would love any feedback or related stories or anything, but i was also had a couple questsions:

1. i got tested after two weeks, before my so called ARS symptoms, which i know is not long enough, and i came back negative. what are the chances of a 2 week elisa being correct?

2. since i feel like i'm having almost all the ARS symptoms now, if i go get tested in a few days would the antibodies be able to show up, assuming i'm positive?


thank you

Hello sbabayan,

i feel like i'm going crazy. i had unprotected vaginal and anal sex with someone 3 weeks ago (he didn't come inside of me) and now i am experiencing almost all of the ARS symptoms

I also had unprotected vaginal sex with a total stranger, and I too experienced all of the supposed ARS symptoms (and more). Remember ARS is fairly rare, and if you did have symptoms around the time of seroconversion, it would not occur so early.

i had a really bad sore throat for one day, i'm extremely fatigued and tired, and it feels like someone's sitting on my chest (my doctor diagnosed the uncomfortable feeling in my chest as pleurosy, irritation of the lining of the lungs or somtehing). i also had a bad yeast infection, which i read from many different websites could be an early sign of HIV in women.

I had a really bad sore throat, swollen lymph nodes, sore gums and sore mouth for about three months, plus whitening of the tongue. I also had strange sensations in my chest, heart flutters, pressure and extreme fatigue.

There are many other STDs. HIV is very rare. A 2 week ELISA is too early to tell, but on the other hand ELISA tests are very sensitive these days and you can be pretty sure of your status by retesting at 6 weeks (the official line is usually 12 weeks).

You are suffering from anxiety. Hence your posting here. This is affecting you physically, so it is very difficult to tell anything from symptoms. I had every symptom in the book (as did most others here), plus several more.

HIV usually carries no symptoms at all until the late stages. That is why it is so dangerous.

I want to echo what Greg said - so many other things have these symptoms. One I can think of, bearing in mind your age, is Mono. I had it at 18 and had all the symptoms you describe. Or it could just be a flu virus!!

You're very unlikely to be HIV positive. :)