Hi, This is Bishal from Nepal.I love to browse your web page regularly. It is indeed a great source of information on sex and the health. Today with lot of guts, I am writting this letter to you. I am a 24 year old straight guy. I had been studying in abroad, but 4 years back unfortunately I had unsafe homsexual intercourse with a stranger. I have been dying everyday since then. The fear of contracting HIV has led me into depression. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I have not gone for any test yet, the fear of people knowing about it has been killing me. Now I hate sex, I don't go for it, I am getting impotent with this fear, I hate myself. I may commit suicide if the test tuns out positive. There have been no symptoms yet, but sometimes whenever I do get cold/cough or fever, I get scared. Is it true that there wont be any symtomps for years?

Please help me.. I need you

Regards,

Bishal

Dear Bishal:

Thanks for having the courage to write. Knowledge is power, my friend. You need to confide in a close friend and go get tested. If you are negative, you are a free man. You need to come to terms with the fact that, a numebr of years ago, you mad a poor sexual choice and forgive yourself. Learn from it and develop a strategy to make better choices in the future.

If it were positive (which, based on a single unprotected exposure, is highly unlikely), you can know that current treatments may offer the hope of a normal life expectancy in the majority of cases. People who are newly positive need not think of suicide...

Give yourself a chance to re-embrace life...