Could I have caught an STD? Something viral? Please read.

[Dave NoCal]

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted by tick bites. Treated adequately and early enough it is very curable. Undiagnosed and untreated it CAN become chronic. The structure of the bacterium is similar to that of syphillis, they are both spirochettes, and like syphillis it can move around to many parts of the body causing various sympotms. If you have never had a tick attachment the likelihood of you having it is extremely small.

 

[798686]

Get well bud.

Not sure how you could've contracted something if you were protected - but good idea to be tested so you can rule it out.

What does the Doc think about the symptoms?

 

[Miscer]

Lyme disease is a bacterial infection transmitted by tick bites. Treated adequately and early enough it is very curable. Undiagnosed and untreated it CAN become chronic. The structure of the bacterium is similar to that of syphillis, they are both spirochettes, and like syphillis it can move around to many parts of the body causing various sympotms. If you have never had a tick attachment the likelihood of you having it is extremely small.

No tick attachment, but we recently got a new bloody cat and when you mentioned tick bites I got paranoid.

Still, I got a load of blood tests done, and everything came back normal.
Right now I feel a little better, I can actually read sentences without feeling like vomiting, but I'm still in a very bad way.

Could a virus of some kind do this? It is nothing like a typical cold or fever virus.

Get well bud.

Not sure how you could've contracted something if you were protected - but good idea to be tested so you can rule it out.

What does the Doc think about the symptoms?

Thanks. Well, the docs were puzzled and wanted to write it off as anxiety-related (completely false, trust me), and then they suggested it could be some kind of virus, but they didn't know what to test for.

I'm going to get a full STD test soon.

Question to you or anyone else in the know: do some viruses take a few weeks before they can be detected in the blood?

Regardless, I'll call the "cock doctor" tomorrow.

 

[Dave NoCal]

Where, more or less do you live or have lived in recent years? Here in Northern California Lyme disease is rampant. New England is the same. Other parts of the U.S. not so much. However I got bitten in my back yard less than three miles from the very downtown of Atlanta. Feel free to PM.

 

[_Rouge_]

Woah wrong thread. My bad

 

[Miscer]

Where, more or less do you live or have lived in recent years? Here in Northern California Lyme disease is rampant. New England is the same. Other parts of the U.S. not so much. However I got bitten in my back yard less than three miles from the very downtown of Atlanta. Feel free to PM.

Living in the UK. That's scary to think Lyme disease is rampant in some parts of the US.

I feel a little better today but still my concentration is shot and my vision is blurry. This is so fucked up. I just want to wake up with a clear head again.

 

[Dave NoCal]

Hope you get better soon.

 

[Miscer]

thanks. i feel sort of better today, a clearer head, though i'm still fucked up. still, i cling to hope..

 

[70790]

hope you feel better soon

 

[coolz154]

Oh man, we've all been there with the 'morning after fright' that comes from sex against your better judgement. The local University tests people and so does Planned Parenthood, many people pay cash to avoid any embarrassment, so I recommend getting a full STD test because you probably have a good case of Paranoia, regret and a hint of life change. I agree with earlier posts that you may just have a bacterial or viral invection, probably from the same club (E.G. menengitus spreads at clubs via the poor sanitary conditions of the drinks) but get your test to clear your mind. BTW, I have had gfriends tell me they know of beautiful women with Herpes who still sleep around, party and probably spread the disease; I think you can get it from kissing or even a BJ (anyone???). Until we cure these crazy diseases I recommend practicing safer sex; I know it's hard especially when ITS hard.

 

[Chase1600]

Miscer, this seems to have gone on for a couple weeks.

It’s really hard to think your symptoms could be caused by an STD caught during your hook-up with the girl you brought home that Thursday evening. You had protected sex; your symptoms began within 48 hours. Your symptoms are those of a virus. If she were coming down with the flu or other virus precisely while the two of your were kissing, etc., you might – possibly – come down that quickly. Usually, a virus takes a week to maybe 10 days from infection to full blown illness.

It sounds as if you are in good hands. Eventually the cause will be identified.

Incidentally, that kind of symptomology [if that’s a word] really does track with Lyme Disease. However, not only would Lyme Disease have come from a tick bight, it would have occurred some weeks to months previously; the bight would have itched, and almost always have shown a bull’s eye inflammation.

 

[Dave NoCal]

I'll respectfully disagree with Chase1600. Lyme disease is endemic in the area where I live. Also, I got it and was initially asympotmic, hence untreated, and now it's chronic and seemingly incurable in my case. So you can be asymptomatic for months or become ill with flu-like symptoms almost immediately. Only about 50% of those with confirmed diagnosis report remembering having a rash. I did not. Testing for it is limited to antibody testing so testing immediately after a bite is worthless. It takes at least a month from the bite to get a positive test result. Many, if not most, physicians in the U.S. mistakenly use the CDC REPORTING CRITERION of six positve bands on the western blot as the DIAGNOSTIC CRITERION. In fact, Lyme disease is a clinical diagnosis based or risk factors, symptoms, and rule-outs. Testing helps CONFIRM the clinical diagnosis. A study done at John's Hopkins several years ago (I'll find a link if anyone is actually interested) concluded that current testing misses 75% of diagnosable cases.
I post all this for others who may read it. I truly doubt the OP, especially being in the UK, has it.

 

[basque9]

I'll respectfully disagree with Chase1600. Lyme disease is endemic in the area where I live. Also, I got it and was initially asympotmic, hence untreated, and now it's chronic and seemingly incurable in my case. So you can be asymptomatic for months or become ill with flu-like symptoms almost immediately. Only about 50% of those with confirmed diagnosis report remembering having a rash. I did not. Testing for it is limited to antibody testing so testing immediately after a bite is worthless. It takes at least a month from the bite to get a positive test result.

Lyme disease is practically epidemic on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, where hundreds of thousands of deer harbor the deer tick whose bite causes Lyme disease. These tiny ticks are too small for many people to see; however, if you can't see them, you can feel them crawling on your body. One easily gets covered with them while hiking near woods or tall grass....even walking barefoot anywhere is asking for trouble, no matter where you are . Doctors here routinely test for Lyme disease among locals, since Lyme disease symptoms are so diverse: headaches, joint aches, heart palpitation, nausea , psychological problems, and on and on! Left untreated, Lyme can be very serious in its effect.

 

[buddy629]

Get tested for HIV and Syphilis and every other STD. If it's not that, have your doctor investigate further.

 

[tallandlean]

I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure that signs of HIV infection wouldn't
appear just days after you had sex with this woman.

 

[Miscer]

Thanks for the great replies.

I feel so much better, about 70% back to normal.

Nothing has been identified so far. But, if I haven't mentioned it already, I was on accutane to get rid of some stubborn but mild adult acne--I probably should not have been given the drug.

I was on it for 6 weeks when I got these symptoms, and then stopped immediately. Almost 4 weeks later, I'm starting to feel normal again. Not perfect, but much better than I was.