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Question
26 Jan 2004
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beating myself up!
i have been going out with a guy for 2 years now. he was a crack addict who has been "clean" for the past +/-4 years. in early december he started acting very strange and disappearing on and off. i decided to kick him out and told him to sort himself out. i did'nt see him for almost 3 weeks but he phoned me on and off and when he did eventually come and visit unannounced, i noticed that he had lost an inordinate amount of weight. when i questioned it, he said that he pined so badly for me that he developed something called viraemia and i could even call his doctor. he told me how much he loves me and that he cant live without me and i fell for it. he spent the night and we had unprotected sex (stupid me)! he has since disappeared again for the past week and i have now found out that he is holed up in some motel with a young heroine addict who he has being seeing for the past 3 weeks and he is heavily on drugs again. i am driving myself insane about whether i could possibly had contracted AIDS and want to know whether i should go for a test or is it too early?
CyberShrink
Dear anon,
It may be too early for a definitive answer from testing, but it's not too early to arrange to see an AIDS counsellor and plan the best timing for definitive testing. Check your local phonebook or your local state/provincial health clinic, and they should be able to provide details of the nearest useful clinic.
I think you should consider this guy now a no-hoper --- cocaine was problematic, but heroin in this situation is hopeless, and to wantonly expose you to HIV without insisting on precautiona and getting your informed consent, was appaling behavior, and unforgiveable. I have an uneasy suspicion that the "viraemia" he was talking about, could have been the symptoms some folks experience when there's a peak increase of HIV virus in their bloodstream.
Concentrate on looking after yourself, and making sure, apart from testing and counselling this time, that you allow no further exposure to any stray virus.
It may be too early for a definitive answer from testing, but it's not too early to arrange to see an AIDS counsellor and plan the best timing for definitive testing. Check your local phonebook or your local state/provincial health clinic, and they should be able to provide details of the nearest useful clinic.
I think you should consider this guy now a no-hoper --- cocaine was problematic, but heroin in this situation is hopeless, and to wantonly expose you to HIV without insisting on precautiona and getting your informed consent, was appaling behavior, and unforgiveable. I have an uneasy suspicion that the "viraemia" he was talking about, could have been the symptoms some folks experience when there's a peak increase of HIV virus in their bloodstream.
Concentrate on looking after yourself, and making sure, apart from testing and counselling this time, that you allow no further exposure to any stray virus.
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