Very Worried do to exposures

[veryworried8686]

Hi,
First i wanted to say that you guys run a great service and thank you for answering my post.

I'm a 26 year old, straight, male. Over the past 10 months, I've had sex with 6-7 girls, unfortunately all unprotected. They were all one time exposures and very breif, about a minute, maybe a minute and a half. These were terrible lapses of judgement and I don't know what I was thinking....needless to say, I'm paying for it now. I've been in contact with most of these women and they've assured me that they've been tested and are HIV negative.

I've also had some instances of oral sex from women, but as  I read on this site, these WERE NOT risks. 

I started having a few symptoms a couple weeks ago. I started having weird skin sensations/itching and also some weird rashes/blemishes on my skin. I googled some of these symptoms and came across HIV as a possible cause. This sent my mind into a tailspin and I've been completely ridden with anxiety for the last two weeks or so. It's affecting my school, work, and personal life. I just feel like sleeping all day. When I'm not sleeping, I'm constantly examinig my body for spots, rashes, etc. It seems like everyday I find something new. I've convinced myself that I've been infected and taking a toll on my life.

This past Thursday, I went top a local public health clinic and had a full STD panel - a swab for ghonorreah, chlamydia and a blood test for syphillis/HIV. The doctor said that the swabs looked completely normal and they told me to come back in a week for the blood test results. Needless to say, I don't know how i'm going to make it through this week.

SO I guess my questions are what/how high were my risks and any words to quell this anxiety. Thank you.

[jkinatl2]

First off, congratulations! YOu are doing the right thing by getting tested. Every sexually active person who isn't in a mutually monogamous relationship owed it to his partners and him/herself to get a full STD panel (including, of course, an HIV test) at least twice a year.

That having been said, condoms! Seriously. Wearing a condom for penetrative vaginal and/or anal sex will eliminate HIV from the STD equation.

As far as your situation goes, I am afraid there's nothing but vague answers. As Moderator Ann likes to say, "How long is a piece of string?" The variables are just too complex. Each person and each sexual encounter has it's own set of unique circumstances and these circumstances can affect the level of likelihood of transmission.

Even if all the women were HIV positive and had high viral loads (we always assume that when giving out risk assessments here) HIV is significantly more difficult to transmit from female to male (or, in male/male sex, from the receptive partner to the insertive one.) That having been said, it is certainly not impossible, as the several straight, non IV-drug-needle-sharing people on the support side of this forum can attest.

But generally unlikely. Which is, of course, not much comfort to the people who manage.

Yes, you had risks, and testing was a smart move. I certainly wish I could be more help, or show more than cautious optimism. But if this week of fear while waiting for the results makes you more likely to wear a condom in the future, then maybe it will have been emotion well spent.

I absolutely hope everything turns out well for you. Please post your results if you can.