[Question #11134] Still not tested
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16 months ago
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About 8 years ago I was worried about being infected with HIV. I came here and you advised me to go and test. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to do it. I still sometimes get worried about hiv when my partner gets sick or my son gets sick. Over the 8 years I have been pretty healthy with no health issues. I can say for the past year I have been in the best shape and form as far as my health is concerned. I have only been sick once in the past year with flu and cough. I did fbc about 12 months ago it came pretty ok with no concerns for the doctor. I have few questions to ask.
1. Provided I was hiv infected about 8 years ago, would I still have been healthy with no opportunistic infections?
2. I have a son who is currently 9 years old and he is always suffering from runny nose with no temperature or other symptoms. I have been thinking maybe I have infected the mother who might have infected him with hiv during breastfeeding. If that’s the case would he still have lived up to the age of 9 with no developmental challenges.
4. My hands have always been getting numbed especially when I sleep. Is it something to worry about?
4. Do condoms really protect one from hiv? Because I have used condoms for all my sex life in the past 9 years after my last child. I have sometimes realised that after sex especially when the woman has just finished her menstrual period when you wipe your penis with tissue you will see the blood on the tissue meaning some of the secretions passed through the top of the condom to get to your penis. This is quite scary.
Looking forward to hear from you
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
16 months ago
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Welcome back. I scanned your several previous threads going back several years. I'm afraid we really can't help further until and unless you finally get tested for HIV and let us know the result. Only very brief replies now.
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1. If you caught HIV 8 years ago, you certainly would be very ill and likely dead by now.
2. Sniffles in young kids do not suggest HIV. Your son doesn't have it -- and he would not be a risk anyway, even if you had HIV yourself.
3. Numbness is not a symptom of HIV.
4. Yes, condoms are highly effective, but not perfect.
Clearly you do not have HIV. However, it also is clear that it's been on your mind and worrying you all these years. We cannot help further until and unless you finally are tested. Threads are closed after 4 weeks -- so do it before then. There will be no further discussion or replies unless and until you have been tested and let us know the result.
HHH, MD
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
15 months ago
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We're now at 4 weeks and this thread is closed. The forum does not permit repeated questions on the same topic or exposure. This being your sixth question over 7 years, with your continuing refusal to follow our advice and be tested for HIV, it must be your last until and unless you get tested and would like to tell us the result. Any future questions along these same lines, without an HIV test result, will receive no reply and the posting fee will not be refunded. This policy is based on compassion, not criticism, and is intended to reduce temptations to keep paying for questions with obvious answers. In addition, experience shows that continued answers tend to prolong users' anxieties rather than reducing them. Finally, such questions have little educational value for other users, one of the forum's main purposes. Thank you for your understanding. ---