Please Assess My Risk

[possiblehypochondriac]

The day before a wedding I was a little intoxicated and not getting any action. So I went onto craigslist and found a woman who was willing. I drove to her house and we immediately got down to business. I fingered her for a little while, and then I put on a Trojan Her Pleasure condom (which runs a little big on me). My penis was sticking through the slit in my underwear, and a lot of her vaginal juices collected on the opening. Since I was drunk I had a little trouble staying fully hard, so she offered me lube. Drunkenly, I accepted, and then was able to stay hard and have sex with her.

I ejaculated and then removed the condom. Holding it upright, it did not immediately appear to have been broken, but I did not inspect it thoroughly. I threw the condom away, and then noticed my underwear had a fair bit of juices on them. In my drunkenness I figured letting them rub against my urethra wouldn't be a good idea, so I turned them around and put them on (which I think turned out to be a bad decision, because my anus was possibly sitting on her vaginal juices the whole car ride home).

The next day I sobered up and realized that I never had confirmed with her that she used a water based lube. When I called her and asked her, she didn't know. I figured I was probably ok, but exactly ten days later I got sick for approximately three days. I had terrible, TERRIBLE diarrhea as well as an 102 degree fever. This is what really started to begin to make me paranoid.

Here's where I think my possible routes of exposure could have been:

1.) If she used an oil based lube, the condom could have had tiny lacerations in it without me noticing a huge snap (since it runs big on me)

2.) When I flipped my underwear around the vaginal juices might have come in contact with a hemorrhoids ( I get minor ones occasionally) or just entered through my anus in general.

3.) I almost never get sick, and there I am exactly 11-12 days later with what seems like acute hiv syndrome. My physics instructor mentioned similar symptoms, but I hadn't seen her recently.

Am I over thinking this everyone? I thank you greatly for your help and support. I would like to say that I have the utmost respect for everyone on this forum battling the disease. I hope strongly for a cure.

Thank You.

[RapidRod]

You never had an exposure.

[Ann]

Hypo,

1. No. When a condom breaks, it's very obvious regardless of how it fits on you.

2. No. Hiv is a fragile, difficult to transmit virus that is primarily transmitted INSIDE the human body.

Once outside the body, small changes in temperature, and pH and moisture levels all quickly damage the virus and render it unable to infect. For this reason you are not going to become infected by hiv in the environment and that includes on underwear touching your hemorrhoids.

3. It has nothing to do with hiv infection. Sometimes people get sick and it has nothing to do with hiv.

4. Yes, you're over-thinking. Stop it.

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 TEST OVER YOUR SPECIFIC CONCERNS, 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

[possiblehypochondriac]

Wait, I am confused.. If he had an open sore at the base of his penis that was not shielded by latex, doesn't that raise his theoretical risk?? I'm talking strictly in theory here; in terms of what may be written in medical literature.

Perhaps I am wrong -- if so please excuse my ignorance. I do not mean to encroach on the aforementioned opinions... only to gain some wisdom. Thank you.

[RapidRod]

Wait, I am confused.. If he had an open sore at the base of his penis that was not shielded by latex, doesn't that raise his theoretical risk?? I'm talking strictly in theory here; in terms of what may be written in medical literature.

Perhaps I am wrong -- if so please excuse my ignorance. I do not mean to encroach on the aforementioned opinions... only to gain some wisdom. Thank you.

■Only those Moderators and members who are authorized to answer questions in the Am I Infected? forum are permitted do so. Unauthorized responses may be deleted without permission of the poster. Repeatedly posting replies of this nature may result in a Time Out or permanent ban, at the discretion of the Moderator Team.

[possiblehypochondriac]

Thank You

[Ann]

Hypo,

I removed the post you made in someone else's thread and put it here, which is the ONLY thread you should be posting in. Post your questions in someone else's thread again at your peril. Make sure you read - and abide by - our rules found in the Welcome Thread. Please consider yourself warned!

Hiv can only infect a very few, very specific types of cells. These cells are not found on the surface of the skin nor are they found in shallow nicks, cuts or scrapes. If the sore you're speaking of is a herpes blister or a syphilis chancre, the other person is much more at risk for being infected with either one of those STIs than the person who has the sore is at risk for being infected with hiv. It simply does not happen that way.

The cells that hiv can infect are found in the lining of the anus, vagina and urethra. In uncircumcised men, they are also found on the inner lining of the foreskin (the part that is hidden when the foreskin is covering the head of the penis). And that's about it, sexually speaking.

Ann


edited to fix broken link