hey dr bob,

i've been living hsv-2 for almost a decade now and i pretty much know my intervals and when i'm going to get it.

3 months after i had protected vaginal sex with a csw (had no open lesions at the time of contact) i developed a sore lymph node in my left armpit, then a rash appeared below my left armpit, a couple of days later my right becomes sore as well, then after a week the whole thing resolves. I had no fever, sore throat or any other symptom. A couple of weeks later my hsv-2 acts up and it got me thinking because i just had it a month and a half ago, (my hsv-2 had become so routine that i was gettting it loke every 3-4 months) so i just take it in stride and move on, 3 weeks later i'm hit again with another hsv recurrence, so it got me thinking, could that have been acs and the frequent hsv attacks a consequence of hiv infection?

i am going for a rapid test tomorrow to get it done but i've been really super stressed out because of this. So the question you always get is what do you think, is my hsv acting up on its own, or its most probably HIV.

going nuts here and dying with anxiety from taking the test

i will donate no matter what the outcome is....

thanks dr bob

Hi,

Protected vaginal sex is indeed protected, assuming the latex or polyurethane condom was used properly and did not break. Consequently, your HIV risk is essentially nonexistent.

Your symptoms are not consistent with or worrisome for HIV acute retroviral syndrome (ARS). I do not believe your HSV-2 flare or other symptoms are HIV related. By the way, since you are having relatively frequent HSV-2 outbreaks, you might consider suppressive therapy. Daily prophylaxis can decrease the frequency and severity of herpetic outbreaks.

Thanks for your donation to The Robert James Frascino AIDS Foundation (www.concertedeffort.org). It's warmly appreciated. In return, I'm sending my good-luck karma that you are and will remain HIV negative.

Good luck.

Dr. Bob