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Chance of Hiv

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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.
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replied May 26th, 2005
Experienced User
Chances
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.
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