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Author Topic: I need your opinion please...........  (Read 4011 times)

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Offline aerts

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  • Posts: 3
I need your opinion please...........
« on: January 14, 2008, 01:27:54 pm »
Hello Ann and everybody,

I did a stupid thing, here is what happened. About 3 months ago I had insertive vaginal sex with CSW and the condom failed. I did not notice immediately and I think I may have been inside her for a couple of minutes unprotected before I realized. Her hiv status is unknown (she said she was negative, but refused to come take the test again, was somewhat offended because I did not believe her). 65 hours later I started PEP/ took Combivir for 30 days.

7 weeks post PEP (11 weeks post exposure): the evening I felt ear pain and strong headache, next morning woke up with high fever (103 F),  headache, ear pain, dental pain, dry cough, joint pain, lymphnodes in the neck were somewhat swollen, some difficulty in breathing. I took some over the counter medicine (ibuprofen) which alleviated the symptoms, by next morning fever was gone. The following week I did not have any fever, only mild ear pain and headache which I did not pay any importance.

8 weeks post PEP (12 weeks post exposure): symptoms came back. Again started with headache, ear pain then high fever (103), dry cough, some difficulty in breathing, also got some diarrhea (or loose stool) which lasted for the next week. Again took ibuprofen and by next morning symptoms were gone (apart form the loose stool), continued to take ibuprofen for the next week, no symptoms.

9 weeks post PEP (13 weeks post exposure): stopped taking ibuprofen. No fever, no diarrhea after stopping ibuprofen, only very mild ear pain and headache. Doctor today ruled out sinusitis or ear infection...

Here are my questions…

1) Are the above mentioned symptoms consistent with ARS given their on and off nature? (especially the high fever coming for one day then going away for a week then coming again for one day).

2) Would 7 weeks after finishing PEP (11 weeks post exposure) be too late for ARS symptoms to start?

3) I know this sounds stupid but I am very scared, what are the chances of becoming infected after this one episode? I know I will have to pluck up the courage and get a test and I will do that but before I did I needed your opinion.

Thank you so much.


Offline Matty the Damned

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Re: I need your opinion please...........
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2008, 01:45:59 pm »
Your symptoms have nothing to do with HIV.

PEP really wasn't warranted in this case and the chances of being infected from such an exposure are vanishingly small.

You should wait 12 weeks after you finished PEP, test then and collect your almost certain negative result.

MtD

Offline Andy Velez

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Re: I need your opinion please...........
« Reply #2 on: January 14, 2008, 06:06:24 pm »
Like Matty, I would say you WAY overreacted by doing PEP. HIV is not an easy virus to transmit. It's significantly harder to accomplish from female to male. Given this was a single incident during which you were protected until the condom broke, the odds are overwhelmingly in your favor against HIV transmission IF the woman is even HIV+.

Your various symptoms? Discuss them with your doctor. They are not in anyway HIV specific, which doesn't surprise me since it would both too early and your risk was so slight.

Also, asking someone about their status is understandable but never the way to go. Anytime you have had a risky incident, which hopefully won't happen again, you're responsible for your own health. That means you get your own test and know your status reliably for yourself.

I do expect you to come out of this ok as far as HIV is concerned. Good luck with your test.
Andy Velez

Offline aerts

  • Member
  • Posts: 3
Re: I need your opinion please...........
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2008, 01:00:02 pm »
Thank you so much Matty and Andy for your fast replies.....you have both helped me a lot, you are right, probably I overreacted, but I did not have anyone to talk about this at the time of the incident, I did not know about this forum and I lost it.... So just to make sure I understand, you think the timing of the symptoms I have described was somewhat too late to be consistent with ARS...do I get it right?

Thank you again....

Offline Andy Velez

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Re: I need your opinion please...........
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2008, 02:46:03 pm »
ARS at the point you're concerned about would be totally out of line with how things usually go. Your risk was so slight many would not have even considered testing to be necessary. I'm confident you will finally test negative.
Andy Velez

Offline aerts

  • Member
  • Posts: 3
Re: I need your opinion please...........
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2008, 05:17:23 pm »
Thank you Andy for your reply...

 


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