Doctors - 25 days ago I had sex with an black CSW twice during the same visit. The first was protected oral followed by protected vaginal sex (using the same condom) where I finished within a minute. We then had sex again. This time unprotected oral sex followed by protected vaginal sex. She did crawl on top of me before the second sexual experience. She rubbed against me and I was hard. I'm pretty sure my tip did not go inside but I'm not certain. Meaning it could have briefly entered her vagina (but not deeply). About 10 days after the experience I began feeling unwell. I've had a general feeling of being unwell but specific symptoms include: fatigue muscle aches headaches cold chills a sore throat (with a discolored tongue near the back) a few night sweats (though this isn't uncommon) a couple of mouth ulcers (common for me) I've lost my appetite and experienced occasional nausea. I'm fairly certain that I haven't had a fever and I do not have a rash. In addition to physical symptoms I have a ton of anxiety and guilt. The anxiety is constant and I find myself frequently thinking of the worst case scenario. I had a full STD test 10 days after the event. Everything came back negative. My doctor has asked that I come back at 4 or 6 weeks and again at 6 months. His HIV test was an antibody test. On day 24 I performed an OraQuick at home HIV test. This test was also negative. 1) How risky was my behavior? 2) I've read in numerous posts that symptoms are not a good indicator of HIV status. Do my symptoms at all resemble ARS? 3) Is a 24 day OraQuick test any indication of my current status? What percentage of people would test positive with an OraQuick at this point of infection? I read that the CDC says 25 days is the average number of days for antibodies to appear. Not sure if this is the same for OraQuick. 4) What testing schedule would you recommend? 5) Any other general advice?
2015-04-07 11:03:51
Welcome to our Forum. I'll be glad to comment. The exposure you describe almost certainly did not put you at risk for HIV. Protected or unprotected receipt of oral sex has never been proven to lead to HIV infection. Further condoms are completely effective for prevention of HIV from vaginal intercourse as long as they are worn throughout the sex act. Thus your only risk for HIV is from the "possible penetration" that you mention which I doubt occurred. if you had actually penetrated your partner you would know it. As for your symptoms indeed they do have many of the characteristics of the ARS which sometimes occurs in persons who have recently acquired HIV however I am confident that your symptoms were not due to HIV. When persons are evaluated for classical ARS only about 1% of them turn out to have HIV while the remainder have other viral illnesses such as the flu. Further when persons have the ARS their HIV blood test is typically positive within a few days of their beginning thus your negative OraQuick nearly two weeks after your flu-like symptoms began is strong evidence that they were not due to HIV. In answer to your specific questions: 1) How risky was my behavior? See above. Low risk. 2) I've read in numerous posts that symptoms are not a good indicator of HIV status. Do my symptoms at all resemble ARS? You are correct symptoms are a poor indicator of HIV but your symptoms do resemble the ARS. Your negative OraQuick proves however proves that your symptoms were not the ARS. 3) Is a 24 day OraQuick test any indication of my current status? What percentage of people would test positive with an OraQuick at this point of infection? I read that the CDC says 25 days is the average number of days for antibodies to appear. Not sure if this is the same for OraQuick. See above. 4) What testing schedule would you recommend? At 28 days you can seek testing with a 4th generation HIV test. At that time the results will be definitive and no further testing is needed. 5) Any other general advice? No
2015-04-07 11:04:18
