Condom broke during sex. Help - Starting to have acute hiv symtoms :(

[adam456]

I am very worried:(

I am gay and a little over two weeks ago I had sex with another guy. I was top and he was the bottom. We used protection. During sex, something felt wrong with the condom and I pulled out after five minutes. I noticed some red stuff on my penis - it could have been feces or maybe even blood - I really have no idea. I went to wash it off.

About a week later I developed the following symptoms - sore throat, very tired, low grade fever, body aches all over, headache, and some night sweats. This lasted about 10 days until today. I'm still not well and I am really scared that I was infected with HIV and that these are the symptoms of acute HIV which happen during the first month of infection. I was last tested negative for all STD's before the summer.

As of today (about two and half weeks after the incident), I still don't have a rash or swollen lymph nodes yet, which I understand may also be symptoms. I'm freaking out everyday checking if I will get these symptoms.

I know it's hard to diagnose early HIV infection, but i am really worried. I always used protection during sex. Should I be worried?

[jkinatl2]

You used a condom. Had it broken it would be very obvious.

There is no risk in protected sex, which you had.

[adam456]

Thanks for your reply. I just wanted to be clear - the second I started to have sex, something felt wrong with the condom, but I continued anyway. Only after five minutes did I decide to pull out and notice that it was broken and there was red 'matter' on my penis.

[Ann]

Adam,

I have yet to see the insertive partner end up positive following a condom break and I do not expect you to be the first.

However, you have had a risk, although it is on the lower end of the scale.

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

You are not likely to end up positive over this broken condom incident, but you must test to be sure.

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. A correctly used condom rarely breaks.

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

[adam456]

Thank you for your reply. Would you consider this a typical 'condom breakage' case? We continued to have sex for about 5 minutes after feeling that something was wrong with the condom. It seemed to get more and more uncomfortable until we decided to stop. My penis was not 'clean' when I removed the condom.

I'm really scared because of this and because of all of my symptoms. I know I have to wait several more weeks to take the HIV test....

[Ann]

adam,

Yes, I consider it to be a "typical" case. And I hope it's a lesson to you to keep a better eye on what's happening to your condom. It's your responsibility.

Ann