Hi There,

Currently 4/5wks post-"exposure"....... for the past week or so, have had annoying chest & back pains, health practicioner has said it's almost certainly "muscular" (back) and another bout of costochondritis (chest) - both of which have been aggravated through straining myself at the gym....... also, armpits feel 'uncomfortable' (though not painful) - have also noticed, in the past few weeks, a few infected follicles here & there - only a few though......... (though i dont know if i had these before)

..........HOWEVER................. i keep reading that muscular aches/pains are a very common symptom of ARS!

Even though i should know better, im worried!!!! am i being silly???

Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelp!!!!

Vik, type in every search engine avaliable head aches, muscle aches, sinus problem, in fact anything there is, and i bet you it will be followed by common in HIV patients. The point is there are no set symptoms of HIV, because your body will react to any invader in that fashion. Then again, it might not react at all. You are hyper sensitive to your body right now, and regardless of what you think, the doctor knows best. Seriously relax, I think I remember what your exposure was and I think that negative result is only a few weeks away.

Jon-back on the case.

thank you mr jon! my 3wk post-exposure test was negative actually - hopefully the next one will be too

Keep the faith man, im your example to follow where symptoms are concerned.

They mean precisely jack.

Jon-back on the case.

MJ, you have my heart...you always give me a giggle and I'm so glad you are back.

Vik, yeah, MJ is certainly right - symptoms mean nothing in regards to trying to diagnose HIV. I'm sure you are fine. You are in my prayers.

amusingly.... a quick trip over to the anxiety forum reveals that many folk with anxiety complain of chest pain, back pain, mouth problems and even folliculitis!!! all are common anxiety symptoms!

MrJon!! just a quick question for you.... when you were stressed with everything, did u experience chest/back discomfort??? that - and the whole armpit thing is really freakign me out - aaaaargh!!!

worst part is, im normally a very calm & collected person, but ,this HIV scare has turned me into a bit of a blithering wreck!

Yes I did. I am not going over the top when I said that I had every symptom that people think could be caused by HIV. Think about it, the so called symptoms that everybody gets are exactly the same as any virus, your body reacts in the same manner right? Well people get sick all the time, it just so happpens that your stress level is sending you into a spiral thats leaving you open to anything. Or nothing. I had everything and am still having problems, oral cavity is messed up, swollen glands, aches. Probably gonna be like this for a while. And don't assume that it could not be anything else and leave some other problem untreated if their is anything at all there.

Take care.

mate, your a godsend :-) thank you!!!!

It is true, chest pain, back pain and even sore armpits are common symptoms of anxiety. Anxiety symptoms often mimic symptoms of many diseases and ailments. Its possible for anxiety symptoms to mimic every hiv ars symptom. In fact many people have had every symptom, convinced themselves of having hiv and then found out they were negative and that the symptom were not from hiv but from the fear of hiv. Im stressing out over my encounter and now my armpits ache. But I know that aching armpits especialy after almost 4 months since the encounter are not hiv. It has to be stress becasue its been constantly on my mind for about 4 months. I read an answer to a question on thebody.com about sore arm pits and the docter responded that anxiety was likely the reason. But as many will say on the forums getting tested is the only way to know your status. Right now that is a step thats hard for me to take. But I will be going to the docter this thursday to see if there is anything else thats causing my slight body stiffness and tiredness. The docter will probabally tell me its anxiety though. But im wondering if I have chronic fatigue syndrome. Ive had a throat irritation that has lasted 3 month chronic tiredness and now sore armpits. Sore throat, chronic fatigue/tiredness and sore armpits are well known symptoms of CFS. Stress is usually the cause of it. ITs interesting because I created a check list of everything that has happened to me (about 14 symptoms) and all ,with the exception of the stomach flu type illness I had a day after the encounter, were more like anxiety symptoms.

i was actually diagnosed with CFS AND Stress about six months ago after a major incident in my world, and until this scare, i was fine and it seems to have triggered me off again - its re-assuring to hear you say that actually, im pretty sure it is stress thats doing this................

Is it true that tests after 6wks are pretty much definitive, with the 6-13wk period being mainly to cover the narrow band who seroconvert late? Even though i know im gonna be ok - with the risk assessment of what happened, im going spare because....

1. i have a couple of mouth ulcers (prob. stress)
2. i have noticed some infected hair follicles (these things happen!, quite common)
3. enlarged glands (could be any one of 1.1billion things)
4. feeling fatigued & achy (prob. stress)
5. a little bit of a rash on my shoulders (prob. stress)
6. dry & itchy skin all over!!! (STRESS!)

Thats like a checklist of my problems, which are still continuing. I can only say it so many times mate. Stress and worry and anxiety can do a lot of things to you.

mate, thank you for that - even that one sentence is re-assuring, its pathetic in a sense - every time i find a spot, or feel a little off-kilter, or ANYTHING - im leaping onto google, and searching searching searching EVEN WHEN the chances of a man contracting hiv EVEN WITH unprotected vaginal intercourse where the partner is hIV+ is still statistically low!

I'm worrying myself sick when...

1) the intercourse was protected
2) there was a little genital contact (unprotected) though not insertive, though this would, of course, have exposed me to some vaginal fluids
3) i noticed some blood on the condom (only a little)
4) i know the condom slipped "upwards" slightly, exposing more of my penis to her vaginal fluids

Terence higgins trust said that on that basis, my chances of getting infected are damn close to zero- they said that in their opinion, even testing wsnt warranted!!!

Flashvic can I give you some advice .
STAY OF THE INTERNET because you will get every symtom as you read ...... I promise you .
I know its hard when you're freaked out but that's the worst thing you can do to youreself .
As far as lymphnodes go ............
Even though they feel rock hard they are very very sensative and fragil .
They are normaly the size of a pea but can ( in the blink of an eye ) swell to the size of a grape and are full of ( lymphocites ) or ( lymphnode fluid ) and also the pulpish like fibers inside are stretched very thin and can be very easily damaged .
They could be ruptured or even permanately loos there shape and nerver go back to normal ........... SO DON'T TOUCH YOU'RE LYMPHNODES .
As far as the symtoms you have read online ....... Hiv mimics ( that is what hiv does ) it can very well mimic other viruses and then disapear as fast as it comes on because hiv is very smart and doesn't want you to know its there so it can be unknowingly passed on to other people .
Symtoms or not the only important thing is the test itself .
I'm very sorry for what you're going through and I'm sure you're scared and I know its not easy and even though everything may lead you down the road to hiv it could be something else and believe me there are a lot of something elses out there so try to stay off the internet ( because of the freak out factor ) and not only that but if you're condom stayed intact then you do have very little to worry about ........ As far as hiv is concerned anyways .
But I would get the std panel again and also include the hiv test just to make sure .
in good health ..........
............ Lost Spirit ............

full std panel was completed 4wks post-exposure (as was a 'baseline' hiv) - all came back negative, i think its the unknown-ness which is scaring me more - especially because nowadays we're so used to knowing everything 'now'.... all the advice i've received, from terence higgins, thebody (dr bob responded), the people on here, even the people at the clinic say - "dude, your hiv risk is pretty much non-existent, its neither as prevalent nor as easy to catch as people think" (Though that is NOT a reason to be complacent/risky)

Believe me there are a lot of unknown things out there .
You could always get a pcr test which is accurate at 28 days and if you're geting that many symtoms then the ( IF FACTOR ) would be greatly reduces because with all those problems you're having that would mean that the virus would be moving realitivly fast and a detectable amount would be present in you're bloodstream .
That is if it was hiv ?
But once again we go back to the protected sex issue and IF the condom stayed intact then there is slim or no risk .

hi again lost spirit! yes, the condom did stay intact - and apart from slipping "up" slightly, exposing more of my shaft to vaginal fluids, and perhaps a little blood (though i doubt it) - it was used properly. The only other contact opportunity would have been during the genital (non-insertive) contact between myself and the girl. And it should also be noted that i dont know the sero-status of the girl either. Going on the above.... i think that logic AND statistics are on my side - also, as MrJon said, he's had most of the symptoms i have (due anxiety). today, for example, noticed some (4) infected hair follicles!! probably due to a combination of stress & hot weather, but assumed (of course) they were due to the big one....