recent encounter

[mcb]

Hi
   
  EARLY THIS  MORNING I HAD UNPROTECTED VAGINAL INTERCOURSE WITH A WOMAN WHOM I HAD JUST MET. BELATEDLY WE DISCUSSED OUT STATUS AND DECIDED TO IMMEDIATELY GET TESTED. WE WENT TOGETHER, AND WERE ADMINSTERD AN ORAQUICK ADVANCE RAPID ANTIBODY TEST. BOTH OF US SHOWED NEGATIVE. I ASKED THE COUNSELOR WHO ADMINISTERD THE TEST ABOUT THE WINDOW TIME IF THE WOMAN HAD BEEN WITH SOMEONE IN THE PAST FEW WEEKS. I KNOW THAT I HAD NOT BEEN WITH ANY ONE IN THIS WINDOW PERIOD. HE TOLD ME THAT  THOERETICALY  IT WAS POSSIBLE SHE COULD HAVE THE VIRUS, BUT NOT IN SUFFICIENT AMOUNT TO SHOW ANTIBODIES, AND THAT WOULD LESSEN MY RISK.  HE DID NOT SUGGEST EITHER WAY THAT I TEST AT A FUTURE DATE. COULD YOU PLEASE ADVISE ME ON WHAT TO DO.

[hotguyinTX]

Sheesh, you don't show significant antibodies til after seroconversion takes place and that takes WEEKS, not in one day!

Besides your fears seem overblown. The odds of getting HIV from one time unprotected intercourse you described is SO slim, I'd stake my life on it. Seriously.

[mcb]

Thank you for your response. I thought it was important to know here status immediately, in case she was in fact positive, and i could start some kind of preventative regimen...... So, if she was hypothetically exposed say a week or two ago, and she didn't show positive today, she couldn't pass it on until she seroconverts and shows antibodies?

[RapidRod]

hotguyinTX, DO NOT POST IN OTHER PEOPLE'S THREADS. STAY IN YOU OWN THREAD.   Read the posting guidelines likes you should have done before you ever began to post post in this forum. The guidelines are located in the "Welcome" thread.

[RapidRod]

mcb, you need to retest. You took the test to early to possible know if you had an exposure. 12/13 weeks is when you can obtain a conclusive negative test result.

[mcb]

Thanks Rapidrod,
 Its now been about 24 hrs.. should I treat this like it was  a positive exposure, and seek treatment. I have read that there are antiviral drugs that you can receive if you had a recent exposure, like a health care worker who gets stuck with a needle. I realize what a big mistake I made, and I am getting pretty anxious. Thank you

[Ann]

mc,

No doctor who knows anything about hiv is going to prescribe PEP for you in your circumstances. Hiv is a fragile, difficult to transmit virus that is significantly more difficult to transmit from a woman to a man. You're extremely unlikely to become infected after a one-time vaginal encounter.

The earliest you should test is six weeks, as the vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks, with the average time to seroconversion being 22 days. A six week negative MUST be confirmed at the three month point where there has actually been a risk.

You had a small risk, but small risk is not the same as no risk. Make sure you get your conclusive results.

You need to be using condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, every time, no exceptions until such time as you are in a securely monogamous relationship where you have both tested for ALL sexually transmitted infections together. To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with an STI. Sex without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

Have a look through all three condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.

Anyone who is sexually active should be having a full sexual health care check-up, including but not limited to hiv testing, at least once a year and more often if unprotected intercourse occurs.

If you aren't already having regular, routine check-ups, now is the time to start. As long as you make sure condoms are being used for intercourse, you can fully expect your routine hiv tests to return with negative results. Don't forget to always get checked for all the other sexually transmitted infections as well, because they are MUCH easier to transmit than hiv.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple.

Ann

[mcb]

Thank you Ann,
    Your quick, staight forward, fully informative, no B.S. advice has been well taken, and I will follow it  to the letter. again my thanks...MCB

[mcb]

Hi,

    It has  been exactly one week since The unprotected sex I had reported to you. The day before yesterday I had begun to have  burning when I urinated. ,and a sensation like I had to go more. I made an appointment and got into the clinic yesterday. They took a urine specimen and blood. Because of my symptoms they gave me a shot and put me on doxycillin. I believe from what I had read on this site, that I am now at a greater risk of getting hiv. I know they also did an hiv test, but I am sure it will come back negative , as I had tested negative last week. I know that I still must test at 6 weeks, and 13 weeks, but i am getting very scared. Is 72 hrs. the absolute limit for PEP? Please help!

[Ann]

mcb,

You'd have been at greater risk if you had a pre-existing STI.

You are far outside the window of opportunity for PEP. As you've already been told, no doctor who knows anything about hiv would have prescribed you PEP anyway.

I still fully expect you to continue to test hiv negative - just make sure you get your three month confirmation.

And it's good that you got a complete STI screen. You're far more likely to have become infected with one of the other STIs than hiv in this instance.

Ann

[mcb]

Ann, Thank you for your information, patience and concern.....MCB