Help!!! Am dying of anxiety

[Anxious1]

Hello

I am so worried. Don't know what to do

I am a 31 year old married male. I had a sexual encounter with a lady about 50 days ago. Prior to this I had never had any extra marital affairs.

The encounter involved the following:

- me inserting my finger into her. As far as I know, I had no cut or open sore on my finger. Not quite sure of the state of my cuticles then. This lasted for about 10 minutes
- she sucked my penis for about 5 minutes without protection.
- I sucked on her breast for about 5 minutes

After the incidence she confided in him that she had been having unprotected sex with multiple partners. I got really worried

About a week later, I started having a mild headache that last for about 5 days, together with sore throat and pains in my elbow. 20 days after the incident, the lady got tested and it was negative.

I am waiting for the 90 days window period before I go get tested, but meanwhile, I am worried sick. I have not been able to pay attention to anything.

I would like to have your opinion on the level of risk this moment of indiscretion exposed me to. Is there a chance I might have been infected.

Please help a worried soul.

[Ann]

Anxious,

You have NOT had a risk for hiv infection.

Fingering is NOT a risk for hiv infection. Not one person has ever been infected this way, despite having cuts, hangnails, chewed nails or whatever, so don't even go there.

Getting a blowjob is also not a risk for hiv infection. 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.

Sucking on breasts or any other part of the body is not a risk for hiv infection. Along with saliva's protective properties, hiv simply is NOT present on the skin. As for breast milk, it is only a danger to tiny babies who rely on breast milk as their only source of nourishment. It's not a danger to adults.

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 SPECIFICALLY FOR HIV FOLLOWING FINGERING, GETTING A BLOWJOB OR BREAST-SUCKING, 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. Some of the other STIs can be present with no obvious symptoms, so the only way to know for sure is to test.

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

Ann