Here is my situation: 

Exposure: Received Oral Sex from a female CSW back in 2013.

Testing: Abbott Architect AG/AB after exposure at the 7th, 10th, 12th, 16th, and 21st WEEK all negative.

From 2013 to now (2022) it has been an on and off anxiety driven escapade due to symptoms. Anxiety is to the point where I take anti-depressants already.

Symptoms:

1) angular chelitis about 3 cases

2) lipodystrophy??? loss of fat in legs thighs buttocks arms and face starting in 2015 (and until now) my knees dont have fat around it at all. While fat is accumulated in stomach and chest. 

3) sebhorreic Dermatitis in ears??? About a year or so ago both my outer ears have started to have crusty and flaky white scales that i constantly take out. I actually am addicted to cleaning my ears with a cotton bud, and I do it more than once a day vigorously. I dont know if that contributed to having white scaly patches on the outer ears. 

My beard area also sometimes have flaky white scales but i put moisturizer daily and it went away.

4) i have had COVID twice, with the 2nd case coming 2 months after being vaccinated. Although both was super mild with no coughing, just a feeling of being sick. 

Does this sound like HIV?

You may have predicted what my response would be, assuming you have expressed these concerns to your own doctor(s), who undoubtedly would have reassured you that you don't have HIV. Falsely negative result with the AgAb (4th generation, "combo") HIV blood tests do not occur when done more than 6 weeks after acquiring HIV. Therefore, the test results always overrule symptoms, no matter how typical those symptoms may seem to be for HIV infection or opportunistic diseases that are the hallmark of AIDS. But in fact, your symptoms are not particularly suggestive of HIV or any complications from it. Angular cheilitis and seborrheic dermatitis occur all the time in entirely healthy people with normal immune systems; probably fewer than one in a thousand with either condition has HIV. Lipodysrophy? Primarily a side effect of HIV treatment, rarely caused by HIV itself; and anyway, central (abdomen, chest) obesity in the presence of little or no fat in the extremities is a fact of human aging and not the result of HIV. COVID and other acute viral infections (e.g. influenza, colds) are not among the infections more frequent in people with HIV. And as for your lymph nodes, when HIV is associated with lymph node enlargement, it is continuous; enlarged nodes do not come and go (in response to deodorant or anything else).

Finally, you had a risk-free exposure all those years ago. Oral to penile transmission simply doesn't occur, or so rarely that it has never once been scientifically documented to happen. (Based on some infected persons' mistaken beliefs, CDC once calculated the risk at one chance in 20,000, if the oral partner has HIV. That's equivalent to receiving BJs by infected partners once daily for 55 years before transmission might be likely. In other words, zero risk for all practical purposes.)

Sorry if all that sounds like a lecture. I don't mean it that way -- just making sure you understand the science. Please do your best to understand it, believe it, and stop worrying about having HIV. You do not. If your various symptoms continue and/or keep making you anxious, see your doctor.

I do hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD

Is my HIV status negative without a doubt?