oral with cuts..HIV symptombs within hours ??

[phill83]

I gave oral to a possible male prostitute and another man in a bathhouse. I have untreated dental problems, and had two teeth pulled out. The source looked healthy and it did not last long. During the encounter he did push his penis at one instance and it touched the back of my throat. I didn't feel comfortable and stopped half way. Five minutes later i could feel my throat starting to swell. Six hours later i felt extreme tiredness, and occasional headaches. There was never a fever. The next day the fatigue and the swollen throat persisted. I went to see a doctor the day after, and he started me on PEP 54 hrs after the encounter(Truvada+Kaletra). The fatigue lasted a few days then disappeared. I still have a mild swollen throat, and I've had a heat-rush type of feeling(night sweats ?) twice or three times in my first couple of days. I know all of this doesn't sound good.

I never done anything like this before, and I'm frightened to death.
I'm one week into my pep, and except for the mild soar throught am feeling generally good.
My questions are:  it is possible to develop primary hiv symptoms within hours rather than days or weeks from exposure? And if this is HIV, will PEP suppress the symptoms of seroconversion if it's already happened ? Thank you.

[RapidRod]

In no way were your symptoms related to ARS and nPEP was totally unnecessary.

[Andy Velez]

I can only think your state of upset must have persuaded whoever prescribed PEP for you, because I can tell you that the incident itself did not warrant starting PEP. But since you have started it you ought to be aware that for conclusively reliable negative result you need to test at 13 weeks AFTER THE COMPLETION of the PEP regimen. You can do an initial test at 6 weeks after.

Given what you have you reported of your incident I do expect you to test negative.

Certainly there was nothing even remotely HIV-specific about your symptoms. If they persist you ought to discuss them with your doctor.

For future reference you also need to know your saliva contains over a dozen elements and proteins where very effectively prevent the transmission of viable HIV. Giving oral is theoretically a risk but in the real world of HIV creditable reports of transmission in that manner are extremely rare. The only confirmed and certain means of transmitting HIV sexually are through unprotected vaginal and anal intercourse.

I expect you to come out of this situation OK.

Cheers.

[phill83]

Thank yon Rapid and Andy for ur comforting assurances. I was so relieved reading ur words., and for some reason, i do believe you.

However i cann't find any literature that would indicate something else. The symptoms are just too good of a match, and i do actually wake up with tiredness and heaviness in my shoulders. I looked up syphilis, chlamydiae, herpes, nothing even remotely related to the syms i have except for hiv. The specialist has a "low suspicion" of hiv, but with the bad cuts in my mouth, i don't know.

Thanks a lot for ur warms words, i hope ur right, and if this turns out to be okay, i'll be an AIDS research donor for life.

cheers everyone.

[Andy Velez]

Neither the presence nor the absence of symptoms will ever tell you anything accurately about your HIV status. You would do well to stop surfing the net for more material to feed your fears. The only way you will know your status accurately is with an HIV test at the appropriate time.

In the meantime you need to turn your attention to other matters in your life. Doing that will make the waiting time pass much more easily than you may imagine is possible. And ultimately I expect you to come out of this ok.

Cheers.

[phill83]

Just wondering where does the 4-month window period come from if you were placed on PEP. My doc said he never heard of such thing and that testing at three months even if placed on PEP should be conclusive. Any cases that u know off where PEP delayed seroconversion ?

[RapidRod]

It's not 4 months, it is 3 months after your last dose of nPEP.

[Ann]

Phill,

Not all doctors are up-to-date with testing guidelines. When PEP is involved, you need to test four months (16 weeks) following the incident, or three months (12 weeks) following the last dose of PEP. However, as with situations where no PEP has been taken, a test at six weeks following the last dose of PEP is unlikely to change.

PEP in itself does not stop antibodies being formed. What happens is that if hiv is actually present, it will either eliminate it completely, or it may only suppress the virus. Either way, if there is insufficient virus in the blood, the immune system will not be stimulated to create antibodies.

If the virus has only been suppressed rather than eliminated, when PEP is ceased, the virus will once again become detectable in the blood and the immune system will be stimulated into creating antibodies.

The symptoms that sometimes accompany seroconversion are not a reaction to the virus itself. These symptoms are the body's reaction to the process the immune system goes through when creating antibodies.

Ann

[phill83]

Just tested negative at 3 1/2 months post exposure. The doc said this should be conclusive. The sore throat remains a mystery but it might be related to some heavy psychiatric meds that I was taking. I wanna thank everybody for their support and the wealth of information they made available. I'll be an AIDS donor for life and this will always be my community. Cheers to all and sorry for all the trouble I've caused on the PM's. 

[Andy Velez]

Even though I expect you to test negative, it's still always good news to get a negative result.

Good luck to you, Phill, and remember to always use a condom for anal intercourse. No exceptions.

Cheers.