Could I be HIV positive from these activities?
So I went a little nuts and took my addiction to painkillers to the next step and started shooting them IV. Nobody knows except my brother as he’s done it before as well and I needed to talk to someone about it. I did it for 6 months and then went straight onto Methadone Maintenance 4 months ago and haven’t cheated once. The methadone has worked 100%, I don’t miss the IV use because I now have my life back and I’m NOT dropping 0/day anymore on pills in order to shoot up.
I’ve NEVER shared needles with anyone of the people I was hangin’ with while doing the IV drugs. I would just go to the local HIV society or a local drug store for free bags of needles/alcohol swabs and sterile water for injection.
There was one time where I had a scare though. …..
I made a large mix and was going to share it with my friend. I had a clean needle and took the first hit out of the cup. My friend took the second wash with a clean needle, I took the third(with my dirty needle) and she took the fourth. My friend swore up and down that she used a clean needle to pull the second wash, therefore, I would never have been exposed to any dirty needles entering the wash, however she would have been exposed to me entering my dirty needle on the third wash. She didn’t seem to be worried about doing this.
She is a HARDCORE crack, ice, meth, and pill injector. She is covered in sores all over her body from picking at her skin. Both her and her boyfriend are the same. She is otherwise pretty healthy besides being malnourished and really bad teeth. I know she and her boyfriend have Hep C.
I also borrowed two spoons from her too cook my meds but I cleaned them thoroughly with alcohol swabs and then heated it with my lighter to evaporate it before I used it to heat the drugs.
I am being completely honest here and I now have my life back on track and am in university. My husband does not know, only my brother.
I haven’t been sick like the flu, but since I stopped using the IV meds, I have gained 50 lbs, have pitting edema on my feet, calves and ankles, my doctor has detected an atrial gallop in my heart which I am getting an Ultrasound done for in two weeks. I have also developed high blood pressure. The doctor thinks its from the obesity, but I have been this big before and lost the weight and it was NEVER accompanied by those other symptoms.
The other thing is, I have genial herpes. I’ve had them since my husband and I married 10 years ago. He had them before I met him. I quite often get bad outbreaks in my genital area and on my face. In fact, I had a really high fever a few years ago and I broke out in such bad fever/herpes blisters all over my face. Since I’ve been on the Methadone lately, I’ve had a continuose outbreak on my right foot by my pink toe and down the side of my foot. Is this a sign of hiv infection? Or would it be just because of my history of genital and mouth herpes x 10 yrs and stress that is causing this outbreak on my foot. My husband had an outbreak on his foot about 5 years ago that took a long time to go away. He gets them on his penis as well.
I just want to be careful, but I am scared shitless of getting tested for hiv. I was hanging out with some pretty scummy homeless dudes. But just to remind you, I always had my own needles, and only shared gear(not needle) the one wash that I told you about, but she swore she used a clean needle which wouldn’t have put me at risk. I outright asked her like 5 times if she had hiv or aids because of how rough she looked and she said each time "no way, I would tell you for sure, but I do have Hep C". I know her sister who is a lot older than her and she is also Hep C positive and does the occasional IV use with us. She lives with her husband and has a normal family life. I also asked her at least three times if she thought her sister had HIV. She replied "No way, not that I know of and she would tell me cuz she tells me everything". This kinda put my mind at ease cuz her older sister is a lot more together and
I just sorta wanted to know what the probability would be that what happened (maybe she used a dirty needle in the mix we were dipping into) could cause me to get it. A lot of her close friends that I’ve asked are like, "god I hope not cuz we’ve shared geared", or no way she doesn’t have hiv.
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Tagged with: 4 months • addiction • alcohol swabs • bad teeth • brother • clean needle • dirty needle • dirty needles • flu • free bags • hiv • Hiv Positive • iv drugs • lighter • local drug store • meds • meth • methadone • Needles • Nuts • People • pills • scare • spoons • Sterile Water • sterile water for injection
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I would be extremely worried. I would be both worried about the hepatitis C & the aids. They are both blood diseases. Both show up in like 6 months or all the signs will show or they will test positive on blood tests at 6 months i should say. I would go take tests for hep & aids. Then retest again in another 3 months.
Even if you not HIV positive, you need to go get checked at a local clinic, maybe see someone to talk to. You need to go to a professional and find out for sure if you have anything, for yourself and society.
Get yourself to a good infectious disease clinic at a hospital. They will test you for HIV/AIDS and hepatitis. It’s better to know sooner rather than later so they can prescribe an antiretroviral therapy, if needed, and you can live your life relatively normal. As far as this person telling you she’s clean, don’t believe anything a drug addict says, they are liars. Make an appointment at an ID clinic and clear your mind, you should know the truth either way.
To answer your initial question - maybe not but PLEASE go get tested. Wouldn’t you rather know that you do - or do not - have it than spend the next few years or more wondering? Get tested. That will put your fear of HIV to rest.
I’m so sorry that you had to go through all of this, and now that you are a bit older, you’re starting to have a variety of health problems. This makes it even more urgent that you get these problems under control now. Both you and your husband need to see a doctor and get some medical treatment to get the herpes under control.
Good luck….hope this helps some.
you never know. i would say it’s entirely possible that you are HIV positive. you may not be, but just to be safe, get checked.