Worried Sick.. Is Yeast Infectious for HIV? (Long)

Hey all,

I've been reading these boards and Dr Bob's Q&A's over the past month and a bit... and it's helped as well as disheartened at the same time.

I've been a textbook "Worried Well" over the past several weeks. I hope to believe that severe anxiety and stress has led me to all of the symptoms that I've experienced, given my low-risk encounters.

Anyway, just wanted to share my story, and hope that all this misery and anxiety ends soon. The 12-week wait is just unbearable.

In late September, I met with a female of unknown status for anonymous sex -- protected vaginal, unprotected oral. The oral lasted about a minute, and a day later, I developed a yeast infection on my penis (diagnosed). Treated it with anti-fungals, and it helped, but the infection has been recurring everytime I go off the creams. Meaning I got a yeast infection from receiving oral sex... (an extremely rare way to contract it) meaning the girl must've had oral thrush.

About a month later in late October, I had anonymous sex again with a different girl, again protected vaginal and unprotected oral. Her oral was rather "teethy" so I am not sure if she left any small scrapes or cuts on my foreskin.

4 weeks after this, around end of November, I came down with a flu-like illness -- fatigue, cold chills, and muscle aches. No fever, though. THIS was when the madness began -- I started going on the Internet, and my HIV-hypochondria/obsession started getting out of control.

I've seen the doctors, all of whom can't seem to diagnose me with anything. I've had blood work done to eliminate mono, thyroid, anemia, even had an IgA (immunoglobulin) count done, everything -- it all came back perfectly normal.

My 'sickness' has lasted for a good 6 weeks now, although the muscle aches and fatigue are gone (only lasted 2-3 weeks). However, I still feel cold chills, and I have constantly cold hands and feet. I've read that the main cause of these can be anxiety, due to vasoconstriction during chronic stress which leads to poor blood circulation to the extremities.

But regardless, for some reason I can only attribute these symptoms to HIV, if not ARS from the second encounter (4 weeks before symptoms started), then to the first encounter (8 weeks before symptoms started, unlikely ARS, but likely immune-compromised symptoms). I don't get sick easily *knock on wood* but it's just unusual that my symptoms (fatigue, cold chills, fatigue, muscle aches, and cold hands/feet) all came after my sexual encounters.

Now, here are a few comments/questions:

1) Is it possible to contract HIV through someone's yeast? I've been reading everywhere that oral thrush is caused primarily by HIV/AIDS people, and that since I contracted a yeast infection on my penis from receiving oral, then that person was likely to have been HIV+. Could the HIV in the yeast be high enough to infect me if travelled down my urethra?

2) I understand all the risks of unprotected insertive oral... given that the risk is very low. But never heard of anyone mentioning transmission via yeast infection. I'm also worried about potential lesions being more likely with oral thrush in the girl's mouth, and blood being more likely as a result of giving me oral... which could infect me if there were cuts on my penis or down my urethra. This is what's partly driving me insane! Should I be worried?

3) The fact that I caught a yeast infection on my penis (and a recurring one too) via receiving oral sex, and all research seems to indicate that it is EXTREMELY rare for this to happen, but it happened to me... it makes me think that I may have been lucky enough to have gotten HIV this way too. I mean, just because something like yeast infection via oral sex, is extremely low risk, doesn't mean it can't happen. Because it happened to me. So HIV will happen to me too.

My only hopes and voices of logic that are still with me (and believe me, all logic is pretty much gone from me):

-- I didn't experience ARS for the yeast-infection encounter... and if I did, it was 8 weeks afterwards, which doesn't happen with ARS. However, I did experience ARS-like symptoms 4 weeks after my second encounter, but there was no fever, which again (from what I've read) is quite a common symptom of ARS. I also had no cough, no rash, no lymph nodes, and no sore throat. Only cold chills, muscle aches, and fatigue.

And bottom line, I know my risk was small for HIV. But given how my risk was also small for getting a yeast infection on my penis from oral sex, I don't trust "statistics" and "estimated risks" anymore.

I've been mentally/emotionally drained, I've cried many times to bed, and I have had chronic/severe anxiety, stress issues over the past month and a half over this. I'm on the internet 10 hours a day just reading this stuff, because I don't start work at my new job for another 2 weeks. I just want it all to end... waiting for the 12-week window period has taken forever.

Hoping for your prayers, well wishes, and hopefully a few educated/knowledgeable answers to my questions. Thank you all.

Post Extras: Remind Me!