HIV SCARE *possibly triggering*

Hello psych forums... it’s been a while since I have posted on here last. My life has been pretty much a complete $#%^ sandwich since then especially the last week... let me enlighten you on what I am talking about.

Ok, so I recently decided that I would get tested for STD’s after having unprotected sex with another guy. Yes, I know that it was very dumb on my part to do this and I will honestly probably never have sex again period. Well, I got the rapid HIV test along with a few other tests for different STD’s. The HIV test came back negative and at first I was relieved of course. However, since the other STD tests usually take longer to get results, I didn’t find out until a few days later that I have chlamydia. This completely ###$ me up, and I feel so disgusted, ashamed, degraded, and an overall bad person. I took the pill a few days ago and have not had sexual intercourse since the time with the unprotected guy... like I said i’ll probably NEVER have sex again anyways. However, I am still worrying about possibly having HIV even though the test was negative. The guy I had unprotected sex with had actually gotten tested a day or so prior to us doing it and it turns out he was completely clean of any STD’s so i’m wondering if he was the one who even gave it to me in the first place... I know that certain STD’s take a while to show up so I am really not sure if him being negative says anything. Regardless, I let him know and another previous partner that I was tested positive for chlamydia and that they need to get tested and have treatment. I feel disgusted over the possible thought that I could have given an STD to either of these guys, but strangely enough the partner before the unprotected guy got tested AFTER we had sex and guess what... CLEAN OF EVERYTHING. So I have no ######6 idea what is going on.

-- Tue Oct 23, 2018 2:21 pm --

Also to add on, he had sex with a guy 3 days prior to me (who was actually a meth addict) and he got tested like 2 days after that and was clean.

I don't mean to scare you but you need to wait at least four weeks after having unprotected sex to test properly for HIV because of the window period.

I wouldn't be too concerned about chlamydia. You have caught it before experiencing any symptoms and you can take antibiotics to treat it.

Yes, you should be more careful about your sexual partners but it's in the past and you cannot beat yourself up and degrade yourself because that is a pointless exercise. Just take this as a lesson, consider yourself lucky that you only caught a very treatable STD and be safer next time.

xcagedsilhouttex wrote:I don't mean to scare you but you need to wait at least four weeks after having unprotected sex to test properly for HIV because of the window period.

I wouldn't be too concerned about chlamydia. You have caught it before experiencing any symptoms and you can take antibiotics to treat it.

Yes, you should be more careful about your sexual partners but it's in the past and you cannot beat yourself up and degrade yourself because that is a pointless exercise. Just take this as a lesson, consider yourself lucky that you only caught a very treatable STD and be safer next time.

I just talked to the guy a few minutes ago and he said he doesn’t use condoms a lot but he as well as all the guys he has been with are on PREP which is a medication that fights against HIV and is 90% affective I believe. So am I being paranoid by worrying and having it fully consume my thoughts or should I just give it a rest?

-- Tue Oct 23, 2018 2:56 pm --

xcagedsilhouttex wrote:I don't mean to scare you but you need to wait at least four weeks after having unprotected sex to test properly for HIV because of the window period.

I wouldn't be too concerned about chlamydia. You have caught it before experiencing any symptoms and you can take antibiotics to treat it.

Yes, you should be more careful about your sexual partners but it's in the past and you cannot beat yourself up and degrade yourself because that is a pointless exercise. Just take this as a lesson, consider yourself lucky that you only caught a very treatable STD and be safer next time.

I just talked to the guy a few minutes ago and he said he doesn’t use condoms a lot but he as well as all the guys he has been with are on PREP which is a medication that fights against HIV and is 90% affective I believe. So am I being paranoid by worrying and having it fully consume my thoughts or should I just give it a rest?

I wouldn't let it fully consume your thoughts but I would get a follow up test for HIV when the window period has passed, just to be safe.