Looking for some good answers from LG.

A little background....

I have been hobbying for a little while now and have always used protection with the exception of the occasional BBBJ and DATY. I have only seen well-reviewed ladies and have never had any indication or hint of a lady being unclean and have never experienced any symptoms of any STD. I am a healthy 26 year old male. I have never had an STD test, but have also never had sex outside of the hobby.

Recently, after 2 of my employees were sick and out of work for a couple of days, I became sick myself that weekend. I was much worse than them however. I was initially given an antibiotic and tested for strep-throat. It was negative. I got worse. I had a fever for 5 days (up to 103 degrees), a very sore throat, 2 days of being sick to my stomach, bad night sweating, etc. I went back to the immediate care center (never went to my primary care doctor) 4 days later after I began to have trouble breathing and started coughing. He told me I had ulcers on my throat and diagnosed Viral TracheoBronchitas and said it was the worst case he had seen. I was given a steroid and some pain medication. I was back at work 3 days later.

A friend and fellow hobbyist with some medical background said that a sudden virus with ulcerations on an otherwise healthy person was of slight concern for immunodeficiency or HIV. He said it would be a low likelihood and that I shouldn't worry, but I want to get tested to be sure since I am going on vacation in 2 weeks and plan on meeting a lady or two.

I attempted to go to a local government run health center to get tested today, but the results take 2 weeks and they said I need to get there before 8am. I can't make it back this week and the place seemed very unclean and was very uncomfortable to be in. I am scheduled to see my primary care doctor next monday.

If I bring up my concerns during that visit, will they be able to do STD/HIV testing that day and will the results still take 2 weeks through my regualr doctor?

Basically, I want to know if you think I should be concerned for HIV and what my best option is for being tested (I really don't want to go back to the gov't building). Sorry for the long post, but I want to make the best decision here and have an understanding of how worried I should be since I am still coughing and sweating at night. I am confident that HIV is not the case, but the whole process has me on edge. I just want some intelligent thoughts and answers. Thanks!

This is probably the wrong board for the question ... guess we need that medical board.

There is a quick test for HIV that gives results in less than an hour ... surprising they didn't offer that at the STD clinic.  If it comes back positive they will do a test with better precision.

I believe that I've read that it takes about 6 months for exposure to HIV to show up on these tests.  Furthermore, the incubation period for HIV is quite long.  I think you might be letting your imagination get the best of you.  Hope it all works out.

AIM. (I do.) AIM will email you the results of your testing. The standard panel (HIV-1, gonorrhea, and chlamydia) costs $165. In my most recent trip (about a week ago) I had the results within 24 hours of the time the samples were taken.

AIM uses the PCR-DNA test for HIV-1 and I believe it can detect infection within about 14 days. The antibody test requires a much longer period of time before the infection can be detected.

Please note that I am not a doctor. Only your doctor can answer medical questions. I just post my experience with AIM because it is recent and I hope that it will be helpful.

First things first: You are telling us that you have been sick for two to three weeks with sore throats, high fevers, problems breathing and now persistent night sweats and cough.  You should be seen by a competent physician tomorrow to check for a variety of problems some of which could be serious others not so. You should tell your physician --or whatever competent physician you see-- all the facts.  That physician should be getting chest Xraus, cultures, blood counts, and other diagnostic tests.  He.she should be placing skin tests, etc.  In any case, that physician can get a full history and do a full examination and make rational decisions.
As to STDS: I would not go off imagining that you have HIV, (or cancer or leukemia, etc)  It is easy to imagine the worst, I have been doing that for decades myself from my days in medical school.
You should know there are risks including bacterial infections, viral infections (hepatitis C is notable,) herpes (which you can get from DATY), and HIV (though this is not so easy to get as female to male transmission without sores or inflammation on penis or in mouth. When the acute problem has been diagnosed, you can discuss prevention and risks with your physician.
See someone tomorrow and don't think of the worst things, they also tend to be rare.

Dear SuddenlyWorried,

My advice to you is brief and fairly simple: call your doctor's office and ask how long it takes to process the test. Some physicians have Orasure, others do blood tests. In my experience you can get results from within the hour to a couple of weeks [at the most.] The thing is, YOUR DOCTOR CAN REFER YOU. Just ask. Tell your practitioner that you want a FAST answer. In that case, s/he can refer you to a lab where the results are processed on site.

In addition, if your physician felt that you were at risk for HIV, in other words, if your diagnostic profile indicated that your symptoms may have pointed to an acute AIDS infection, believe me, your doctor would have acted on it. The other thing is that tracheobronchitis is more common in HIV-infected cigarette smokers, so if you don't smoke, you may be at lesser risk - if you indeed have been infected with HIV.

The best thing to do is to CALL YOUR DOCTOR AND VOICE YOUR CONCERNS. Tell the receptionist/assistant that you want to speak to him immediately because of some HIV concerns and have him call you back.

Should you be concerned for HIV? Only if your doctor says so. Otherwise, keep practicing safe sex and have a good time.

Call the doc, call the doc,
the Love Goddess

So now you have the same advice from a sex therapist and an internist: seek competent medical help today. Stress the urgent nature to your physician's office. Don't get worried.

Serious or not, STD/HIV or not, please do the ladies, you mentioned, and all of us a favor and only play with a clean bill of health. I know your question was specifically about STD's and HIV, but for many of us, just losing work or feeling miserable, due to a common bug or virus, can range from anywhere from a financial hardship to a very unpleasant experience.

In fact I had to cancel an appointment with an all-time favorite of mine that week...and it was a last time meeting as she was moving to another country. So I didn't get to say goodbye.

By the way, thanks to all for the responses.

Ouch! That's gotta hurt. Hope you get well soon and have a great vacation.

The reason that I ask this question is because I have a cousin of mine that works as a HIV and Aids case worker out of the Hillcrest area in San Diego and he stated to me that have HIV or Aids is only and only caused by penis to rectum contact (gay disease) He also stated that many if not most of the men were married and supposedly have never been with a man, later they admitted to it. Can anyone confirm this fact and if disregard than why?

Dear elmatador1,

I suggest that your eminent cousin who works as an HIV and AIDS case worker look up his information again and again and again...and learn it properly. HIV is NOT a "gay disease." If that were so, we wouldn't have alarming epidemics of purely heterosexual HIV cases coming out of Africa and some Asian countries - and these are NOT because these African males had surreptitious sex with other males, but because they had it with FEMALES AND FEMALES ONLY. Any research literature readily available on the Web will confirm this, if you don't believe me.

I am not going to belabor the point anymore. If you want to know all about HIV and AIDS, I suggest that you go to the linked website and click on sexually transmitted diseases.

What's much more dangerous in this case is your ill-informed cousin who is spreading inaccurate information that can and will lull heterosexual individuals into a false sense of security - since heterosexuals generally do not have homosexual activity. The HIV virus permeates mucous membranes and that includes VAGINAL tissue, not just rectal.

In any case, please click on the link and forward it to your "educated" cousin. It's even available in Spanish on the site.

And please stop perpetuating gross misinformation,
the Love Goddess

No no no no no.  This IS a joke, right?  

Your ignorance is truly frightening, and your reference of AIDS as being a 'gay disease' is appalling.  I suppose we can't fault you for your ignorance, so please do the yourself and the world a favor and read the link that Love Goddess posted.  

As far as your homophobic speech is concerned, either find a politically correct translator, or quit posting on the boards.  

Oh...and tell that whacko cousin of yours to quit his job and do something he's a little more qualified to handle.  

The J

Did you see your phyician? What did he/she say?  Please keep me up to date and let me know if you need to bounce anything off me.  (I am a full Professor of Medicine and have been featured in Best Doctors in America for many years.
Dr. Joe

Sorry that was meant as arivate note.

I see my doctor monday. I am not worried. I just got caught up thinking in possibilities. I feel very healthy.

Calm down.  You're probably fine.

http://www.thebody.com/content/art17168.html

It costs $50 at my local Planned Parenthood.  All you do is swab your gums and dip the stick in a special solution.  It's not as precise as the blood test, but maybe it will give you some peace of mind.