I wrote to you last Friday to relieve my fears but over the weekend my fears have gotten worse.  Since Saturday morning I have a tingling pain in my penis that is intermittent. No discharge and no real pain on urination. I am going to to get tested today.  Also really scary, I have found a swollen lymph node behind my ear, can 8 days to soon for ARS.  I have also felt really run down but that could just be from anxiety.  I am really nervous and scared mostly about HIV, I am nervous about testing positive for Chalamydia because that may mean that it would of been more likely to have been infected with HIV.

In the unlikely chance your test for chlamydia (or gonorrhea) is positive, it will not elevate the chance you caught HIV. You know your partner wasn't infected. As for the lump behind your ear:  First, I suspect it has been there all along and you're only noticing it because of your elevated anxiety. Second, most likely it isn't a lymph node, or maybe a "burned out" one from some distant past infection, which could be as minor as a pimple in the area. Third, 8 days indeed is too soon for any symptoms related to HIV. Fourth, a new HIV infection would never cause a single enlarged lymph node without other symptoms.

Feel free to report you test results as they come in -- but again, keep in mind that only two more follow-up comments are possible, and I don't want you spend still more good money to hear the same things one more time. So consider saving one comment for your negative HIV test result in a few weeks.

Best wishes--   HHH, MD

Well you were correct, I did test negative for Chlamydia/Gonorrhea.  I am still waiting on the Trich test which apparently I was given ( I didn't even know that could be tested...can it?).  I know from reading your past responses that you don't recommend RNA PCR Test for hiv  based on how expensive it is, but for the sake of putting this behind me as quickly as possible I am thinking about taking one ( I dont really care so much about the money). I will be 14 days out when I take it, Would that be conclusive? 

Two other things, one related to me the other is just a general question out of interest.  Last week I had terrible night sweats, Im assuming that it is a side effect of percocet that I was prescribed for an elbow condition....I really only take it at night in combination with sentraline 100mg which I take daily. I dont remember having a fever.  Can both of those drugs cause bad night sweats? This question is just to help me quell my fears about ARS.

In reading the old medhelp archives I saw you say a number of times that no one has ever reported testing positive after writing to you with a concern.  But then I read this post: 

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV---Prevention/Worried-about-symptoms/show/719990

Do you know if this was a fake, or what the deal was? I know it doesnt relates to me or my risk but I did find it odd and thought I would ask about it.  

Thank You so much for helping get through this hard time

That past case MedHelp is irrelvant. Anal sex among men is a whole different world in regard to HIV risk, with inherently 100 to 100 times higher risk than yours. Second, what if had been a heterosexual exposure like yours? What difference would it make whether I have ever had such a patient or if MedHelp has a question about an extremely rare event? If I once took care of a patient struck by lightning, or if you read a forum question about it, would that elevate your risk of being struck? Or would you say "I'd better stay out of thunderstorms and not point a gold club at a stormy sky" (i.e. use a condom for non-monogamous sex)?

I'm glad your tests so far are negative, and you can count on a negative for trich as well. You are right that I definitely would not recommend a PCR test, but if you go ahead with it, a negative result at 14 days will be nearly but not quite conclusive (probably 95-98%). You will still need an antibody test (or combo test) at 4 weeks to make it 100%. So why not just wait? But entirely up to you -- it's your money.

Please don't spend still more on another question here. Of course you are welcome to do so, but you can be sure you'll not hear any opinion or advice different than you've already had and I hate to see money wasted! In any case, best wishes and continue to stay sexuallly safe.