POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: fs1epop on February 04, 2010, 02:53:17 pm
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Hi
I am a 35 year old male living in France. About 10 days ago i had sex with a young guy I met out. I was the active partner, and we used a condom, but the condom broke. I can't say how long we were going at it before I noticed, I don't think it was that long but I was drunk so it's hard to say. I guess it was probably less that a minute before I noticed. After that, I put another one on a we finished.
The guy himself didn't seem that bothered. He said that he had had a test in December and he was negative, but to be honest I don't know him from Adam.
The next day however, i spoke to my friend who is a nurse and he told me that I should go to hospital and ask for the PEP, which I did. They gave me 2 days worth at first and told me to go and see the HIV doctor at the hospital the next day to discuss the risk and whether I should continue the treatment for the full 28 days.
So I went to see the doctor who told me that, although the risk wasn't great, there was a risk and she told me to continue the treatment. In France there is no charge for the PEP (except for the high taxes we pay) so the cost wasn't really an issue.
The problem for me is the side effects. It's not so much the stomach problems that are bothering me, but the very intense spaced out headachy feeling that seems to prevent me wanting to do anything except for sit down on the couch. I feel that I am functioning at about 60% of capacity. It's a horrible horrible feeling. No chance of doing anything vaguely active or sport. I have just sold my business and am preparing for a 3 month trip to India at the beginning of March, so, although I am not working, I have a lot to do. I'm not sure i'm going to be able to get it all done.
I am considering stopping taking the treatment. I know that there is a risk but I fear I may have overreacted and am going through a month of feeling like shite for no reason. I am also concerned that the PEP will screw my body for India - where there is a real risk of getting ill with Malaria, Dysentry etc. I am due to come off the PEP on 20th Feb or so and I leave for India on 8th March but I am worried that the side effects will linger on.
I am also undergoing my vacination programme and I don't know whether all this is putting too much strain on my body.
My other big question to you guys - who really seem to know what you are talking about is. What is the real risk when the condom breaks when you are the insertive partner with another man? All my tests so far have come back negative.
Much much appreciated.
Tommy
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Sorry I should have said
My PEP regime - Kaletra and Truvada
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Hi Tommy,
Ultimately you will have to make a final decision about whether or not to continue PEP. But I will say that I consider the risk to have been VERY low. Now VERY LOW is not the same as NO RISK, but I don't think I've ever seen a case of infection to have occured when a condom broke. Further, this was a single, brief incident. As the active partner you were less at risk than the receptive partner. Putting all of that together I don't see the need to take PEP.
It's hard to say how long the after effects may linger from PEP. Those are powerful medications and people have different reactions to them.
In the future avoid mixing excessive drinking and casual sex. It's a dangerous combination and can result in your doing risky things. As long as you consistently use condoms for anal intercourse you will be well protected and by doing so it doesn't matter if your partner is HIV+ or not.
To test for HIV after taking PEP you need to test at 13 weeks after you have stopped taking PEP. You can do an initial test at 6 weeks. Assuming you get the negative result at 6 weeks that I expect for you, then it's very likely you will continue to test negative.
Good luck.
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OK. Thank you Andy
That is what I thought. Funnily enough, I kind of feel I will be letting down the doctors if I stop the PEP, weird I know.
Are you saying that normally there has to be an ejaculation for transmission to occur?
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No, whether you ejaculated or not is totally irrelevant as far as risk to you. It's more about the length of time of possible exposure as well as whether you're insertive or receptive partner. And that this was a one-time event.
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Hi Andy
Just had the follow up meeting with the doctor today. It seems that they prescribe PEP for everyone here. Hetero and Homo, sometime even for oral sex.
Do you think that a case like mine would not be given PEP in the US?
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fs,
The US PEP guidelines indicate that you would not be given PEP unless your partner was confirmed to be hiv positive, and even then it would be up to the doctor's discretion. As the unprotected part of your incident was relatively brief, you probably wouldn't be given PEP.
PEP or no PEP, I fully expect you to test negative. I've yet to see the insertive partner end up positive following a condom break.
Ann
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Hi
I just had sex with a guy (top) and the condom broke. I noticed straight away and was only inside him for a second or so.
It's actually the second time it's happened - the last time I was prescribed PEP but it made me feel like absolute shit. I can't face going through that again.
Do you guys think that PEP is necessary in this instance? I don't know the guy's HIV status, but I have been seeing him for a few weeks and he told me he is negative.
Tommy
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Please do not start a new thread every time you have another question or thought - regardless if you think your questions are related to each other or not. It helps us to help you when you keep all your thoughts or questions in one thread and it helps other readers to follow the discussion. Additional threads will be merged.
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FS, I have merged your threads here. In the future please follow our rule and keep all of your entries in this same thread.
As to your latest problem, given that it was a one-time and very, very brief instance of insertion after you realized the condom had broken, I agree that PEP is NOT called for. Just to confirm your negative status I do suggest that you get tested at 13 weeks.
Since this has happened to you twice you might make sure that you are wearing condoms that fit you properly.
I do expect you to test negative when you get tested.
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Hi All
I am probably worrying needlessly but...
A few weeks ago I had protected anal sex with a guy as the top. I didn't cum inside him but when I pulled out I noticed that there was blood around the condom.
I didn't think much of this, but these last few days I have been feeling quite under the weather, fevery etc. I am now starting to worry (probably needlessly) that there might have been some kind of infection.
Funnily enough, between then and now I went for my annual STD check up and and the instant HIV test came back negative.
Am I being paranoid or could this be any kind of risk? Would I need to go for another test?
Thanks
Tim
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fs,
Once again, I've merged your new thread into your original thread - where you should post all your additional thoughts or questions. It helps us to help you when you keep everything in one thread. It doesn't matter how long it has been since you last posted in your thread or if the subject matter is different.
If you need help finding your thread when you come here, click on the "Show own posts" link under your name in the left-hand column of any forum page.
Please also read through the Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0) so you can familiarize yourself with our Forum Posting Guidelines. Thank you for your cooperation.
Protected intercourse is just that - protected. It doesn't matter if there was blood present or not, the condom protected you.
There have been three long-term studies of couples where one is positive and one is negative. In the couples who used condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, but no barrier for oral activities, not one of the negative partners became infected with hiv. Not one.
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 FOR HIV SPECIFICALLY FOLLOWING PROTECTED INTERCOURSE, 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
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Hi Guys
The same thing just happened to me again. I went to the sauna tonight for the first time in a long time, started to have sex with a guy as the insertive partner and the condom broke. I noticed it very quickly, probably after about 5 seconds or so and pulled out.
I didn't continue as the moment had gone.
I know what you said last time, but I wanted to confirm. Do you think that PEP is necessary for this encounter? Also at what point should i test for HIV and which test should I do, the pinprick test of the send away one?
Best
Tim
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Tim, your risk level was low as you were protected until the condom broke and this was a single incident in which you as I understood it was the insertive partner. All of those factos weigh significantly in your favor against the necessity of doing PEP.
I think you will come through this ok without PEP, but ultimately you have to decide about whether to do it or not. And IF you are going to do it, the sooner the better within 72 hours max.
Any approved test will give you a reliable result. If you do not do PEP, you can test initially at 6 weeks. If that result is negative then you will in all likelihood test conclusively negative at 3 months.
If you do PEP the countdown time for testing begins upon completion of the PEP regimen which is for 28 days.
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Thanks Andy
Yes you are right I was the top in this incident, and as I say I was probably only inside him for about 5-10 seconds in total including the break.
We had a talk afterwards and he told me he was negative, tested 6 weeks ago, but as you say who knows. I would take his status as unknown.
I have heard you and others on this forum say that you have never seen the top infected after a condom break. Is this during heterosexual vaginal sex or does it include homosexual anal sex?
Best
Tim
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I have heard you and others on this forum say that you have never seen the top infected after a condom break. Is this during heterosexual vaginal sex or does it include homosexual anal sex?
When we say condom breaks and brief insertions rarely lead to HIV infections for the insertive partner we mean anal or vaginal . Just test at the appropriate time and you will will be OK .
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Sorry Andy
One thing I forgot to mention is that I originally entered him with the condom then lost my erection. I pulled out, took the condom off, got hard again, then put it back on and went back in. That's why it broke I think.
I'm also concerned that I put the condom on inside out the second time around. Could this be a risk (ie having pick up some anal mucus)?
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Sexual fluids are not infectious once outside the body so what you describe about putting the condom back on did not increase your risk. At the end of the day testing is the only way to know your HIV status .
Hiv is a fragile, difficult to transmit virus that is primarily transmitted INSIDE the human body, as in UNPROTECTED anal or vaginal intercourse where the virus never leaves the confines of the two bodies. Once hiv finds itself outside the body, small changes in temperature, and pH and moisture levels all quickly damage the virus and render it unable to infect.