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shane369
Member
Reged: 03/07/02
Posts: 155
Loc: USA
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I hate to come here to cry, but this evening I found out that someone I had intercourse with a few weeks ago has been HIV positive for 11 years(they failed to mention this) Needless to say this triggered a severe panic attack and a friend of mine took me to the ER. I sat at the ER for 4 hours and suffered through several panic attacks while there and the doctor wouldn't even give me an HIV test(refered me to local health dept) and said that they weren't allowed to write prescriptions like what I was requesting.(I requested xanax, as I have taken it in the past for the same problem) I was made to feel as if I had done something wrong by asking for something for the panic attacks. Is it my crazy thinking or would everyone else suffer severe anxiety if they thought there was a possibility that they had contracted HIV??? I guess I'll have to go to the health dept now and find out. So, would all my fellow DB'ers please keep me in their prayers?? thanks.
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"Actually I'm a mouse in the early stages of an elaborate scheme to take over the world"
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potatoboy99
Permanent Fixture
Reged: 02/04/03
Posts: 1211
Loc: Deep North (East)
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Wow, what a crummy day you had, shane369. You'll be in my prayers tonight.
And crummy describes the treatment you got at the ER also. I have never had a severe panic attack, but I imagine there must be clearly recognizable symptoms. And the doc should have treated you with more than a mean attitude.
I don't know where you live, but in my neck of the woods the ER does not have a policy to not treat panic attacks. And they do not have a policy to not prescribe benzos to hold you over until your doc can write your actual script. My friend who suffers periodic bouts of severe anxiety, has several times to my knowledge got hold-over meds (Xanax or Klonopin or Ativan) from the ER, when the wave of anxiety hit him at 3 AM and he hadn't got his refill yet, or had run out early, or had lost his meds. That doesn't seem like a lot to ask of the ER, to provide meds in an emergency!
As for the possiblility of contracting HIV from an infected partner, I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the chances are pretty slim if you were using protection. It's none of my business it you were safe or not, but personally I cannot imagine sex without a condom. I was 23 when the first cases of HIV were identified, and I came of age sexually in what must have been the most sexually-paranoid period in recent history. It was very clear to everyone at risk back then that sex could kill you. I have not forgotten that message! And you know HIV isn't the only nasty STD running rampant out there. Condoms prevent the spread of most STD's.
Oh god I'm staarting to sound like the Health lady at high school! .
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lemongrass
Board Addict
Reged: 09/23/03
Posts: 361
Loc: IL
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I'm sorry about your ER experience and most sympathetic about your sexual experience and discovering that your partner has HIV. I know the news is devastating.
I donated blood on 9/11 and found out a month later that I was HCV positive. Imagine that! And as it turns out, I must have had Hep C for the past 15 to 20 years! Though one can live with this disease for many years, like HIV, it's terminal. So, when I found out about my death sentence, I had severe panic attacks as well. Now I've learned to cope, but I do still have the occasional panic attack. I'm fearful of so many things that I never thought twice about in the past.
HIV should never be taken lightly. While the doctor in the ER could have been more compassionate about your need for tranquilizers, he did follow procedure for not doing a HIV test. Even if you were to go to a free-clinic or something, your initial contact was reportedly 2 weeks prior to finding out the news. The free-clinic would test you, but they'd also make you come back six months after the inital contact. It takes time to find out if you're positive or not. Not sure if technology has advanced anymore than that. I think not.
I don't want to minimize anything, but I do think that you may be over-reacting right now. HIV is a blood-to-blood contact disease. If you and your partner had not used condoms and had no open sores, did not have rough sex, one of you was not menstruating, and did not participate in anal sex, I'd say there's a mighty big chance that you are safe. And if so, please practice safe sex in the future! This scare may have been for your own good, so that you'll remember to carry that condom at all times! This applies to men and women.
Do take care and keep us posted on how you're doing.
lemongrass
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