A broken condom, now real fear of infection

[worriedlikecraazy]

Hi and hope you are all well.

I am in my mid 20s, in a third world country with very high prevalence rates. And for all my education and attempts at safe sex, I fear it has all gone to waste now.

5 and half weeks ago, had sexual encounter with a woman of unknown status. The condom broke, just before I finished, prolly between 10 and 15 seconds.

It got my heart racing. During the first seven days, I developed abdominal pains and sudden strange stomach upsets in the first week. Day 8 brought a pimple in my right armpit, and day 10 brought soreness in the throat, in the form of an almost painless lump that I felt when I swallowed. Swellings in the neck and armpits also followed.

By day 13, I was having slight chills and slight fever. Day 15 took the fever and sore throat to new painful levels, temperatures rising in the early afternoons, coupled with weakness and aches in my upper chest muscles. This continued for two weeks. On day 25, I noticed red bumps on the back of my tongue, (don’t know if they had been there earlier.) That same day, I noticed that I was having sharp pains in my shoulders.

A week later, on day 32, I noticed an increase in acne on my forehead, and, sort of little rash on my neck. Then, the following day, the fever went a notch higher, coupled with a low humdrum headache that was like drowsiness really. These did not go away for six full days.

Today, the fever has almost gone. The headache/drowsiness is on and off, but has largely been gone. The pain in lymph nodes is on and off. The sore throat is now a painless lump that I feel when I swallow. My shoulders’ pain hurts when I keep them raised on a table as I work at the computer. I fear that I am now seroconverting.

I have read bits on this forum about condom breaks and how chances of infection are so low. Looks like I was part of the unlucky few who got caught in the low risk. Not with all these symptoms that say one thing and one thing only. I have cried and wailed and have got tired of doing so now. For a boy who avoided sex, and, even when I was tempted, used a condom, it is sad that it ends up this way.

I have read that seroconversion occurs at between 6 to eight weeks. So I plan at testing on eight weeks.

Thanks for reading my story. My sad story.

Any advice, anything would help.

[Ann]

Worried,

We do NOT discuss symptoms here as neither symptoms nor even the lack of symptoms will ever tell you a single thing about your hiv status. ONLY testing at the appropriate time will.

The earliest you should test is at six weeks. The vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks, with the average time to seroconversion being only 22 days.

A six week negative is highly unlikely to change, but must be confirmed at the three month point.

In over twelve years of posting on this forum, I have yet to see the insertive partner end up hiv positive following a condom break and I do not expect you to be the first.

Please be aware that you also need to test for all the other, MUCH more easily transmitted STIs. You can test now for most of them, but syphilis shares a three month testing window with hiv for a conclusive negative result.

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.

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

[worriedlikecraazy]

Hi and thanks for the patience you bear as you deal with concerns of reckless fellows like me. I make ten weeks after exposure tomorrow, and i just had an HIV test (i think they used the Determine strip), and it is negative. But that is hardly comforting. Ever since the initial burst of strong symptoms (fever, chills and headaches) subsided, i have had another set of funny symptoms - i had pain develop in the groin, been going for three weeks now, and about two days ago, two small pimple-like bumps appeared. Then, i had two swellings around my anus. Then, i have muscle twitching around my right eye. I also have pains in my armpits that come and go.

I am waiting for 12 weeks before i can have another test. But what do you make of this state?

Thanks a lot.

[Andy Velez]

What I make is they have nothing to do with ARS. Symptoms related to ARS do not come in "waves." They happen and last perhaps 2 weeks or so and then are gone.

There is absolutely nothing of what you are reporting that is HIV specific in anyway. What I make of them is that you are worried and anxious and unfortunately misinterpreting everything as another "sign" of HIV. Wrong!

With you initial negative result you are almost certainly going to test negative again for a conclusive result at 3 months. If symptoms persist you should discuss them with your doctor. I don't see this as being an HIV situation.

[worriedlikecraazy]

Hi, thanks a lot for everything and i hope you are all well. It is twelve weeks; just returned from the doctor and the result was hiv negative. Instead, he said i am having an acute upper respiratory tract infection, and, a case of prostatitis. Yeah. It is a bit releaving, but the fears linger, fears that with this, i may somehow turn out positive somehow, especially as the pain in the groin and the auxillary parts has not yet gone. Is there any way, even the slighest of possibilities that this result could turn positive after here? I thank you all for your audience, hearing me out and reading what I have got to say. Thank you and God bless you.

[Jeff G]

You are HIV negative and can rely on your last test . If you correctly use condoms for vaginal and anal sex you will avoid HIV  . You have been given a diagnoses that you are HIV negative , so move on with your life and stop obsessing over a virus you do NOT have .