Hi I am a gay male, with no prior medical condidtions whom is suffering from accute dierrea. A few week ago I went to a festival. They were serving beer out of plastic cups and serving alot of them.

The very next day I started having dierrea. I started taking some Immodium AD which seemed to no work very well. The odd bowel movements have continued for two weeks. Last night I woke up in a sweat and I was running a fever of 100.9. I was wondering if I may’ve got something drinking out of unclean cups/or containers.

I also have had sex. (protected) within that time and was wondering if that may have something to do with it.. humm.? I am sick today with swollen lymph nodes which might just be my allergies.

Anyhow if this sounds like anything other than the common cold PLEASE let me know. Thanks…..

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Dr. Joshua’s Answer:

Fever and swollen lymph nodes could be just a cold. The diarrhea and “odd” bowel movements might be something else altogether, perhaps you just had something that didn’t agree with you, as they say. If I interpret your question right, you may be worried about possible HIV infection. It’s absolutely impossible for me to say whether your symptoms are indicative of HIV or any other serious illness, or just a common cold or anything of a number of everyday illnesses that cause similar symptoms. You had protected sex, so that’s good and it means you probably did not get infected from that encounter. However, if you have had unprotected sex or are otherwise worried that you may have HIV, the only way to find out is to get tested. If you, as a gay male, engage in unprotected sex at times, you run a high risk of HIV infection. Even if you always have protected sex, it is worth getting an HIV test now and then, just to keep your mind at peace.?

For you, and for anyone else with similar questions, I wholeheartedly recommend the excellent HIV/AIDS information site called “The Body”. Here’s the link