Thank God for this Forum - Question Answered

[chicago]

So I made a horrible mistake tonight and had an encounter with an escort/prostitute. We had protected vaginal sex and I allowed her to perform unprotected oral sex on me. All the way home I panicked and my brain raced. She's from Thailand and I know the HIV rate is high there and so I freaked out.

I kept thinking about PEP pills and how I would acquire them.

But I went on this forum immediately after getting home and read all the previous threads about unprotected oral sex. Thank God I am not at risk for HIV.

Having said that, I can now focus on going to therapy and figuring out the causes and conditions for what is REALLY wrong with me. Thank you all so much for the information. I may have a lot of problems, but it appears HIV is not one of them.

I will be getting STD tests to see if I did acquire syphillis or some other nasty bug. Thanks all!

[RapidRod]

You never had an exposure and you don't need nPEP.

[chicago]

Yeah I'm incredibly relieved. Now I can focus on why I would put myself in a position like that to begin with. This forum really is a great resource and I appreciate the people who post here consistently.

Thank you all.

[Ann]

Chicago,

Yeah, so you had sex with a sex worker. You're not the first and you won't be the last - so don't over-think it. People (men in particular) have been paying for sex for as long as people have lived on this planet - it's called "the oldest profession" for a reason. Provided you treated the woman with respect, it's nothing to beat yourself up over, so knock it off. OK?

Now that we got the "you're a normal male" stuff out of the way, I'm glad you understand that you weren't at risk for hiv.

You are wise to get a complete sexual health care check up, but this should be something you do at least once a year, not just after you visit a sex worker. It's not only sex workers who may carry infections - anyone can and many people do.

Some STIs can be present with no obvious symptoms (notably syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia) so the only way to know for sure is to test. Please note that syphilis shares a three month testing window period with hiv for a conclusive negative result.

Just in case you didn't read this elsewhere on these forums, 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.

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.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!

Ann