Mouth sores & HIV - very worried

[johnl96]

Five weeks after unprotected sex with a female, I developed 3 sores in my mouth - on my lip, cheek and soft palate. Here is a photo of one of them: http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j321/johnlyle96/IMG_2382.jpg
I've never had a canker sore or cold sore before and I was not really overly stressed or anxious (until I noticed these sores). They appeared first as little dark red spots and then turned into these white sores with a red ring around them the next day. From what I've found on the web they look like canker sores, but they were not painful, even if I touched them, and most websites say that canker sores are very painful and uncomfortable. I was gargling with saltwater and they cleared up in about 3 days, but now (at 6 weeks) I have developed another sore on my tongue and again inside my cheek.

Many websites list mouth sores as a symptom of seroconversion illness, but they are very vague and I've not been able to find any further information. Are they red or white? Do they bleed or are they painful? Are they flat or elevated? I'm quite worried because my mouth sores look very similar to this: http://hardinmd.lib.uiowa.edu/cdc/6055.html

The only other symptom I have noticed was a mild sore throat at 2 weeks, which lasted for about 2 weeks. I was tested at 3 weeks (urine & blood) and was -ve for all STDs & HIV. I also got a general blood test and all my vitamin levels, etc are normal. I am getting a 6 week HIV test done tomorrow and I will get the results in a week. If these mouth sores are seroconversion symptoms, does that mean I am getting the test done too early, since my immune system is still reacting so would still be producing antibodies?

[Andy Velez]

If by unprotected sex you mean either vaginal or anal intercourse without a condom, then yes, you had a risky incident. You can test at 13 weeks to get a conclusive and hopefully negative result. You can test initially at 6 weeks. If you get a negative then, the likelihood is that you will continue to test negative.

Neither your photos nor your reporting symptoms mean anything useful in terms of determining your HIV status. Neither the presence nor the absence of symptoms is a reliable means of knowing your status. And there is nothing HIV specific about anything you are reporting.

For future reference you need to consistently use condoms for intercourse. They provide very effective protection and then you don't have to worry about your partner's HIV status.

If your symptoms persist you should discuss them with your doctor.

[Ann]

John,

Syphilis chancres can occur in the mouth and they are painless. Maybe you should be checked out for syphilis, as it is MUCH more easily transmitted than hiv could ever hope to be and syphilis is on the rise. It only take skin-to-skin contact to get syphilis, unlike hiv.

Ann

[johnl96]

Thank you for your replies.

Andy - Yes it was unprotected vaginal sex with a stranger I met at a bar - a drunken mistake that I am severely regretting... The clinic I went to has a brochure that says 6 week tests are estimated to be about 90% accurate. But I have also read that symptoms of seroconversion are due to your body building its immune response, and so antibodies wouldn't be detectable until at least a few days after your symptoms subside. This makes me think that if these are symptoms, my test won't pick it up since the symptoms are still ongoing. Does this sound right?

John - My doctor said the 3 week test cleared me for everything except HIV. I don't know exactly what was tested but it was a blood & urine test.

[johnl96]

Sorry, I meant Ann...!

[Ann]

John,

If your symptoms have anything to do with hiv seroconversion, you will test positive at six weeks.

The vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by this time, 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.

Syphilis shares a three month testing window with hiv for a conclusive result. You should make sure you've also been tested for syphilis - those painless sores in your mouth are very suspect.

Ann

[johnl96]

In that case, I will be sure to ask about syphilis when I go for the test tomorrow.

[Ann]

In that case, I will be sure to ask about syphilis when I go for the test tomorrow.

Good. Better safe than sorry. As I said, syphilis is on the rise in most communities - and part of that rise has to do with the fact that the sores (chancres) are painless and so often go unnoticed.

However, as this is an hiv only site, take any further syphilis questions up with your doctor tomorrow.

Ann

[johnl96]

The 6 week test came back negative. Also the doctor said the 3 week test I had was a duo antigen/antibody test, which usually picks up infections in 2 weeks, so I am feeling quite relieved. He thinks the mouth sores were just canker sores caused by stress and aren't anything to worry about. I'm still going to have a 12 week test just to be 100% sure, but I'm breathing a sigh of relief today and think that I will be okay.