HIV Worried after episode of unprotected sex

Dear Ask The Doctor: I have recently been going through a slight mental breakdown involving a bad breakup with my wife. When i found out that she had been sleeping with my best friend last week, i became irately angry. That anger caused me to go out and drink an amount which my body is not used to. In the heat of my drunken and reckless lapse of judgement i had unprotected sex with a stripper. three days afterwards i began to get flu like symptoms (ie; sore throat, mild fever, mild body aches, lack of energy, etc.) Let it be known that im generally a pretty sensible guy and I dont often (if ever) find myself in a situation where i should be worried about such a thing. And im also a bit of an admitted hypochondriac at times. But i have read that following the onset of H.I.V. infection that your body will experience flu like symptoms. However the info that i have sought out is pretty vague on indicating how soon these flu like symptoms come on. most say 6 weeks - 3 months. My flu like symptoms came on 2 - 3 days after my contact with this girl. It should also be known that i have been working very hard to meet a lot of deadlines lately and combined with the stress involving the circumstances of my break-up, i have basically been burning the candle at both ends! However, my shattered state of mind wont let me do anything other than convince myself that I have H.I.V. How indicative of HIV exposer is me catching a slight flu 3 days after having sex with this girl? I realize that the best way to know for sure is to get tested, and from what i read, it could take half a year or more to produce an accurate positive. But I am harnessing all this self-punishing stress on myself based on the fact that I got sick a few days after my contact with this girl. How accurate are my ill-informed worries?

Dear Jason: First of all you have to know that getting tested before 3 months have passed may result in an unclear test result, as the infected person may not yet have developed antibodies to HIV. These 3 – 6 months are known as the 'window period'. Many people do not show symptoms after they first get infected with HIV. Others have a flu-like illness within several days to weeks after exposure to the virus. They complain of: fever, headache, tiredness, and swollen nodes in the neck. These symptoms usually disappear within a few weeks. After that, the person feels normal and has no symptoms. This asymptomatic phase may last for years. The development of the disease is different among individuals. This state may last from a few months to more than 10 years. Even though the person has no symptoms, is contagious and can pass HIV to others.  So, I recommend you to wait for at least 3 months after the last time you were at risk before taking the test. Some test centers may recommend testing again at 6 months, just to be extra sure, though in most cases this is not necessary.