POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: alien543 on October 27, 2013, 01:40:30 pm
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I had an encounter with sex worker about two weeks ago. She gave me oral with a condom but we also kissed. Now I have a habit of chewing and peeling on my lips, so it is possible I had peeled a layer away on the outside and inside of my lips. I didn't taste or notice any blood when I kissed her, but because of my current symptoms I'm worried she might have minor bleeding from a cut or an open sore that might have made contact with my peeled lip, either on the outer or inner part of the lip.
I have had the worst sore throat for the last two days with fever. I also have a bit of pain in the glands in my neck and my ears, and have started to feel a bit of pain on my tongue. I am also unable to breathe through my nose, there's a bit of stuffiness, and I realise that stuffiness is usually not a symptom of ARS so that's a bit of hope that it's just a common cold or flu. But my other symptoms, I usually don't get them like this and it feels a bit convenient that they come up 2 weeks after the encounter.
Could it be possible that a little amount of blood from her mouth came into contact with a peeled area on my lip (especially outside, no saliva protection there) without me noticing and I absorbed the HIV virus? Should I go for a test in 3 months?
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The risk factors for HIV are ...
Sharing IV drug needles immediately after use.
Unprotected anal and vaginal sex.
Mother to child during or shortly after birth
Very specific healthcare situations.
Kissing is not a risk for HIV and no one has ever been infected in that manner .
ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT NEED HIV TESTING AT THIS TIME for this incident , 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! .
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Thanks for replying Jeff. It is reassuring for me. I guess there's likely to be a different reason for my symptoms. I probably have just got a virus or an infection that is affecting me differently than usual.
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Thanks for replying Jeff. It is reassuring for me. I guess there's likely to be a different reason for my symptoms. I probably have just got a virus or an infection that is affecting me differently than usual.
You didn't have a risk in the situation you describe and your symptoms are not specific to HIV . If you are sick go see your doctor and find out why , its not HIV .