[Question #12621] New symptom on [Question #11971]

6 months ago

Hi doctors, I had one question which I think would relate to the previous question I had asked four months ago, not sure if breaks the rules for a repeated follow up on that but apologies if it does.

Recapping on that exposure, multiple protected exposures, 15 days post, experienced a week of what I can describe as high fever and joint pain falling in the ARS timeline which Dr Hook said I shouldn't recover from that quickly and the general sense of what I experienced didn't fall into a typical pattern of STDs so I didn't test and didn't think much of it.

Since then, I've experienced a few issues which could be attributed to my poor metabolism ( post nasal drip constantly- which you've mentioned is not a symptom and could be attributed to my GERD+fatty liver) but the latest one is a tightened throat and a rash in the face and chest + extremely dry skin that's been appearing.

I got anxious when I noticed a large patch on my chest, it's localized to the center but not sure if it's spreading or has always been there since infection. I went to the dermatologist for it who diagnosed it as fungal and gave me Diflucan and several anti-fungal for it suspecting tinea or ring worm for the chest and similar for the face.

The skin around my eyes, nose and forehead have also dried up and are darkening and it's not showing signs of healing quickly. blood tests found I was prediabetic with high blood glucose and hba1c but dermatologist noted that the face rash doesn't appear to be caused by diabetes.

My question is, does hiv manifest tinea within 4-6 months after the first infection? In any case, I will be getting tested for it now this week but wanted to hear your thoughts as other sources like you mentioned in other aren't clear on this and I browsed this forum to see if anything matched my case.

Looking forward to your thoughts.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

6 months ago

Welcome back to the forum. However, I'm going to start with an observation based on a look back to your previous 8 forum questions. You raise various concerns generaly about HIV, then later with follow-up concerns about the precediing discussion -- generally seeking reassurance through a repeat of information already provided. Your first question nearly two years ago was followed a month later by another on the same topic; your third had two follow-ups (questions 4 and 5) within a few weeks; your sixth question was followed by additional discussion in your next (seventh) question; and now you follow your eighth question by this one four months later, your ninth. It's not a record for the forum, but it's not far behind!

In terms of your specific questions this time, Dr. Hook advised you about the near zero chance of HIV from the events back then and summarized again here. Second, symptoms almost never are useful indicators of new HIV infection: the only valid judgment about possible HIV is from test results. All symptoms experienced by humans for hundreds of infections and other inflammatory conditions also can occur with HIV, and even the most typical symptoms of HIV far more commonly have other caues. The symptoms you describe now do not suggest HIV or of any immune deficiency. If you were tested for HIV 6 weeks or more after your last sexual expsure, with negative results, it is certain you don't have it. If not tested before, you should do it now -- not because there is any realistic chance of a positive result, but because testing is the only way to be sure -- and undoubtedly a negative result would be more reassuring than anything more I could say.

I'll be happy to comment further if you would like to be tested and let me know the result. But in the meantime, I hope you find these commetns reassuring. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

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