Please tell me my risk

[reallyscared]

It's been about 11 days now since my possible exposure. I'm a male and got protected oral and had protected vaginal intercourse with a female sex worker. I am also uncircumcised. I used a condom but I didn't roll it down all the way to the base. The condom didn't break or come off during intercourse. After about 5 min i ejaculated and pulled out after about 20 seconds. After that I went to the shower and washed my genital area. I heard that uncircumcised men have a higher risk and that washing immediately after also increases the risk of HIV. The following day I've had symptoms of fatigue, loss of appetite, and diarrhea. Hopefully the symptoms are from stress since I'm really scared right now. Please tell me my risk, or if I should stop worrying too much. Thank you

[RapidRod]

You never had an exposure. All you needed was to have the head of your penis covered.

[Ann]

scared,

You're worrying over nothing. Condoms prevent hiv infection whether you're circumcised or not. There have been long-term studies of couples where one is positive and one is negative. In the couples who used condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, but no barrier for oral activities, not one of the negative partners became infected with hiv. Not one.


Blowjobs are not a risk for hiv infection with or without a condom. Not only is saliva not infectious, but it also contains over a dozen different proteins and enzymes that damage hiv and render it unable to infect.

Here's what you need to know in order to avoid hiv infection:

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 the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.

ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT NEED TO SPECIFICALLY TEST OVER PROTECTED INTERCOURSE OR GETTING A BLOWJOB, 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

[reallyscared]

I had another question. It's been about 2 and a half weeks now and i started to have a runny nose and sneezing. Those are the only symptoms I have.  Could these be possible ARS symptoms? I was forgetting about HIV until these symptoms showed up and now I'm getting scared again. Please help (I'm hoping it's because I just moved into a new place and it was a little chilly). Also if I get tested after 6 weeks can I rely on those results but still get tested again at 3 months?

[Ann]

really,

How could you be experiencing ARS symptoms when you have NOT had a risk for hiv infection?

You can test at any time for a conclusive result, providing you test at three months or more since your last incident of UNprotected anal or vaginal intercourse. If you've never had unprotected intercourse, you can fully expect a negative result. As a sexually active adult, you should be having a full sexual health check-up at least once a year, as I already told you. Please re-read my first response to you until the information sinks in.

You did NOT have a risk for hiv infection!

Ann

[reallyscared]

I know I shouldn't be surfing the web for information, but couldn't help it after i read someone's post about a condom failing without any breakage. he supposedly used a brand called ansell and that brand is banned in the US and Europe.  I was wondering because my incident was in Bali, Indonesia and if there are any information about bad condoms over there. Any comforting words would be nice. Thank You

[Andy Velez]

You can do yourself a big favor and stay off of the web is what you can do. "Can't stop myself" is not a response that is going to fly here. If you continue on the web all you will do is find stuff to feed your worst fears, all to no good purpose.

Whether you can believe it or not you did not have a risk. And nothing you are reporting symptomatically is in anyway HIV specific. That's no surprise because nothing was a risk. As Ann suggested you can get test at 13 weeks. You can even get tested at 6 weeks initially. The average time to seroconversion is 22 days. At 6 weeks all but the smallest number of those who are going to seroconvert will have done so and it points the way to testing negative again at 13 weeks.

While waiting to test you need to make a real effort to focus your attention on other matters in your life. And don't bother saying you're too worried to do that, because that one is not going to fly here either.

We're very careful about our evaluation of situations and you didn't have a risk for HIV. Cut out the drama and get on with your life.