36 days post exposure

[gus3839]

hello all. I have been lurking on these boards for the past month and a half to learn more about HIV, ARS, and all manner of testing.  I would like to share my story.

I am a 23 year old male.  On the 19th of June I had a sexual encounter with a Thai Bar Girl.  We began our session with protected oral sex (on me) and moved into vaginal intercourse.  Looking back I realize that I should have applied some kind of lubrication to the condom, but hindsight is 20/20.  In the middle of vaginal intercourse, I felt the condom break.  After a few stunned seconds I withdrew, saw that the head of my penis had torn through the top of the condom and I had exposed the first 1.5 inches of my erect penis.  I immediately wiped off my penis with a towel and reapplied a new condom.  I  continued with the act until I had ejaculated and we quickly parted ways.  As soon as I got back to my hotel, I began to freak out about what I may have exposed myself to.  I initially tried to put it out of my mind, but eventually went to the ER.  I tested negative as a baseline for HEP C and HIV and began taking a Truvada/Aluvia combination for PEP at approximately 60 hours post-exposure.

I initially experienced a slight headache about 24-48 hours after exposure which seemed to stay around once I began the PEP regimen.   I had an initial bout of nausea and vomiting within the first couple days of beginning PEP as well as losing my appetite.  My appetite slowly came back to me by the time I finished the medications.  While taking PEP I lost about 10 pounds.

In the past week and a half since stopping PEP (approximately 4-6 weeks after exposure) I have experienced slight diarrhea, my headache has slowly subsided, tingling sensations in my fingers and feet, and just yesterday I noticed that I had a painful and enlarged lymph node in my armpit.  It feels like a little marble. I also seem to be continuing to lose weight, maybe an additional 2-3 lbs since stopping the medication.

This past weekend I went in to the local Planned Parenthood clinic and got a battery of STI tests done (HIV, HEP C, Syphillis, Gonorrhea, Trich...etc) and I am still awaiting the results.  Yesterday after feeling the painful node in my armpit I went out and bought an Oraquick In-Home HIV test from the pharmacy and tested negative at 5 1/2 weeks post exposure.

From reading your boards and other sources on the Internet I know that symptoms alone can't tell me if I'm positive or not -- only an antibody test at the appropriate time can tell. I also believe that my Oraquick result may be meaningless because PEP could have delayed seroconversion or just being within the 3 month window.

I am posting on this forum to just release the feelings and anxieties that have been building up inside of me because of what I exposed myself to.  I don't have any other outlet and I've found it very difficult to keep my fears to myself.  If anyone here can provide comments on a risk assessment or any recommendations for testing, I would greatly appreciate it.  Even just words of encouragement would be great.  I've been feeling a bit depressed lately.  Thanks.

[Jeff G]

Hi Gus , Insertive partners testing Positive for HIV is rare so when you add PEP into the mix its almost certain you will come out of this HIV negative . You would probably been OK without PEP but that was your call


Edited for accuracy .

[gus3839]

Since my last post my headache has come back with a vengeance. I also woke up yesterday with my right deltoid sore but it feels better now.

This headache is killing me, it hasn't gone away, and I've been on the verge of tears from anxiety and guilt.

At this point (6.5 weeks post exposure and two weeks post PEP) can any of the senior members recommend any tests that I could take that might yield results more accurate than the antibody?

[Andy Velez]

Headaches no matter how severe are not an HIV-specific symptom. At this point when 22 days is the average time to seroconversion, it is extremely unlikely you are experiencing ARS.

You can test with any HIV test at 6 weeks. Assuming you get the negative result I expect, it is very likely you will test negative at 3 months for a conclusive result.

I expect you to come out of this ok.