POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: brokencondom on March 29, 2007, 09:38:08 am
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Recently, on a business trip, I topped a man I met through a gay internet site. While only inside him for 3 minutes or so, when I pulled out I saw that my condom had split. The sex wasn't rough. A week earlier a herpes eruption on the shaft of my penis healed but there was 'new' skin at the site of the eruption. Upon examination later, that skin was still intact. There was no blood on my penis when I pulled out. I asked him if he was pos and he said he was. Further he said he just started taking meds and did not yet know his viral load.
The next day I went to a 'doc in a box' clinic. The Doc was fabulous. He didn't suggest it but went along with my suggestion that I be treated the same way health care workers are after a needle stick. 34 hours and $1400 later I began taking Kaletra and Truvada for 28 days. They also drew blood for Gonorrhea, HIV, and Hep b&c tests. it's now 10 days later and all those tests have come back negative.
I've read that it takes 2 weeks for someones viral load (my partner) to reduce after beginning meds, so I'm assuming he had a high VL, and considering the short time I was inside him.... and taking the anti-HIV meds on a prophyla tic basis.... what do you think my chances are of turning up positive? The doc said I need to get another hiv test at 6 weeks and 6 months. Does that seem like a reasonable schedule to you? Thank you so much for this forum and your excellent answers to other inquires.
Wishing I'd passed on sex that night......
BrokenCondom
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You need to test 13 weeks after your last dose of PEP. You took the Hep. tests and the HIV test to early.
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You did have a risk so you do need to test. And Rodney is 100% right in the timeline you need to take it. HIV is a difficult to transmit virus and while it is true that it only takes once, you were the insertive partner AND were protected for at least a portion of the encounter so those increase the odds in your favor.
Try to stay productively busy while you wait out your time. And good luck.
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The condom failed for a reason. It was either expired (they have dates printed on the wrapper) or too-little lube was used.
Please don't beat yourself too hard over this, or think that sex isn't worth the risk.
Brent
(Who promotes a positive attitude about sex whenever he can)
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Broke,
It would be highly unusual for you to end up positive from this encounter, considering you were the insertive partner and you took PEP. The odds were in your favour even without the PEP.
There really is no point in speculating over your partner's viral load. The important things here are that you were protected for at least part of the time, the act didn't last long, you were the insertive partner and you took PEP. You are most likely going to continue testing negative.
A very common cause of condom breakage is not making sure there is no air in the tip. You need to pinch the tip as you roll it down. Please check out the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use them with confidence. A correctly used condom rarely breaks.
Ann
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THANKS everyone! Nice to hear the straight dope from those in the know.
Further question: If I were to have been infected during that short sex session... what is the efffectiveness of PEP?
THANKS for all your work and concern.
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Effectiveness of PEP is around 85%.
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Broke,
It's actually difficult to put a precise number on the effectiveness of PEP. We have no way of knowing who was actually infected when they started PEP, so there is really no reliable way to know its effectiveness. We can say though that it has a very low failure rate - for example, when it is taken after a needle stick in a health care setting, very few end up positive. VERY few.
There is some information concerning PEP in the CSI forum that you may be interested in reading in the following two threads:
http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=9056.0
http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=9383.0
I'm fully expecting you to continue testing negative. Hang in there.
Ann