Have some concerns about exposure and symptoms. On 8/4/13 i had unprotected oral sex as the giver with two men not at same time. Both were brief with no ejaculation. About 9 days later i developed what seemed like a minor chest cold. Faintly ill with slight runny nose and a productive cough and developed swollen lymph nodes on both sides of neck. The cough and nodes lasted about 2.5 months. I am a smoker so i guessed that was the reason for prolonged cough. About a month ago the lymph nodes became swollen in the same spots on neck and still remain. They seem fairly large although not visible. My concerns are the timing of the initial symptoms after exposure and the fact that the nodes are back with no other symptoms. The exposure was a rare event for me. Do i need to be concerned?
2015-04-07 04:26:53
On the community forum you indicated that you already know there is little or no risk for HIV from oral sex. I can confirm that. As for your symptoms you probably know that ARS can cause "flu-like" symptoms but many people don't actually know what "flu-like" means. It generally means fever headache muscles aches sore throat and nonproductive cought; it does NOT include typical cold symptoms like nasal congestion runny nose bronchitis or cough with sputum. Fever almost always is present; absence of fever is strong evidence against it. And the lymph node inflammation with ARS is body wide not limited to just parts of the neck -- but localized nodes in the neck are common with colds and other upper respiratory infections. For those reasons I am confident you do not have HIV. But the big question here is what HIV testing you have done. If negative more than a few weeks after the exposure or onset of symptoms you can rely on the result. If you haven't been tested of course that's your next step -- not because there is any serious risk you have it but for reassurance. If this is your only potential exposure you can count on a negative result. It would be great if these words resolve all worries for you -- but most people anxious enought to ask a question on a forum like this also benefit from the higher confidence that usually comes with negative testing. Feel free to let me know your HIV test result(s) whether already done or if you do it now. But since there is no point in speculating when a firm answer is so easily available I will have no other comments or advice until then. I hope this comments have been helpful.
2015-04-07 04:27:34
