Brief encounter - unprotected anal insertive

[sweetfunkystuff]

Hey, y'all.

So, on April 1st I hooked up with some dude (HIV status unknown) in a bookstore/movie theatre. After messing around for awhile, and in the heat of the moment, I put approximately 2" (in case it matters, of my approximately 8", but at any rate, at least my head) of my unprotected penis inside his anus (stupid, I know). Within five seconds (if even that long), I came to my senses and pulled out, and nothing else happened. (Well, I then put on a condom, but it broke before we could continue.) There was no ejaculation and, apart from what was required to enter him, no thrusting. And there were no cuts or sores on my penis. I cannot speak to the condition of his anus or rectum, i.e., whether he was bleeding inside or whether he still had sperm inside from a possible previous encounter the same evening.

Afterwards I didn't worry too much about it since I hadn't deeply penetrated him and since what penetration there was was so brief, but (here it comes) on April 9th, eight days post-possible exposure, I started feeling ill--muscle (but more joint) aches, a couple of bouts of diarrhea, a swollen lymph node on the right side of my neck, slight fatigue, and some unattributable sweating (I have no thermometer, so I couldn't take my temperature).  (As of today, the 11th, the symptoms have decreased appreciably, and I feel better.)  As you might imagine, I am now worried that I've exposed myself to HIV. (Yes, I know that you can't diagnose HIV infection via symptoms, but for me, this is too much of a coincidence to be a cold or some other virus.)

(Some other guy fingered me that night, too, and I also gave a couple of blowjobs--with no pre-cum or ejaculation--but I know that, under most conditions, these are not considered to be high-risk, so I'm not worried about that.)

I will of course get tested, first at one month out (unless I totally freak out and decide to pay for a PCR test), then, if that test is negative, after another month, but for now, how high do you think my risk was? Do you think that it's possible that the bogeyman has finally found me? More specifically, are depth of penetration and length of exposure factors in assessing risk/likelihood of transmission?

Oh, in case it matters in the scheme of things, I'm also diabetic (type II, insulin-dependent).

Thank you in advance.

[Andy Velez]

OK. You had a risk but I would not consider it to have been a high level one from what you described of the brief partial insertion. But it was a risk and for future reference you need to avoid any anal intercourse without a condom. Given this was a brief, one time incident and you were the insertive partner, the odds are in your favor you'll come out of this ok.

But remember, low risk is not the same as no risk. So keep condoms handy and use one everytime for anal sex.

None of the other activities you mentioned put you at risk for HIV. However, other STDs are much easier to acquire than HIV. So we advise anyone who is sexually active to have a full STD panel done regularly and not less than once a year.

As for testing for HIV this time, wait until 6 weeks after.At that point if you test negative it will point to likely testing negative at 3 months for a conclusive result. All but the smallest number of those who are going to seroconvert will do so within 4-6 weeks after an exposure.

None of your symptoms are in any way HIV specific but then neither the presence nor the absence of symptoms will ever tell you anything accurately about your HIV status. Only an HIV specific test can give you that answer.

Good luck with your test.

[sweetfunkystuff]

Thank you very much, Andy, for taking the time answer my query.

Though your response did help to alleviate my stress (after all, you and the other moderators on these boards know much more about this stuff than I do), I unfortunately cannot say that I don't still have moments of fear and panic, but I'll just deal with those moments the best way that I can until I test in a few weeks.

We'll see.

[Andy Velez]

I expect you to come out of this ok. Those bursts of anxiety and fear and not facts. They're just...feelings. If you make a real effort to focus on other matters in your life you will find the waiting time can pass more easily than you may imagine is possible.

Good luck with your test and keep us posted. I expect your news will be good.

[sweetfunkystuff]

Hey, Andy.

So, for the last couple of weeks (after that first week in which I'd experienced some muscle/joint aches and a couple bouts of diarrhea), I've been experiencing muscle/joint points in my legs (mostly the calves, but sometimes the inner thighs as well), ankles, feet, fingers, wrists, and neck, along with some nasal congestion, but nothing else.  As you might imagine, I became even more concerned than I previously I was that I'd acquired HIV, but I tried to remain calm.  That didn't work so well.

I was going to wait until the end of the semester before I got tested because I felt that if the result was negative, I wouldn't want that messing with my head while I tried to get through a final exam and a term paper; however, my therapist very rightly pointed out that not knowing was messing with my head, too, so I decided that it would be better for me to get tested, and if the result came back positive, at least I'd be dealing with the known, and not the unknow.  So, yesterday, May 1st, at 30 days post-incident, I got tested, and the result was non-reactive.

I am, as you might imagine, relieved.  But not so fast, because of course the very cute counselor told me that I would need to retest at the 3-month mark, which I already knew.  Having said that, from what I've read, and from what I've been told by various sources,  and from what the counselor told me, I stand a fairly decent chance of my 3-month test coming back negative.

What's your take?

At any rate, I want to thank you for responding to my queries and for making efforts to allieviate, as best you could and all things considered, my anxiety.  So thank you very much.

Oh, yes, I also took the opportunity to get tested for other STDs.  They took both a blood and a piss sample, and the guy told me that they would contact me within two weeks ONLY if any of those test came back positive.  Otherwise, he said, I'd be okay.

[Andy Velez]

Well of course any negative result is a happy thing. And a negative at 30 days does hold some significance because the average time to seroconversion is 22 days.

I continue to expect you to test negative. All of those symptoms are neither HIV-specific and can at least in part be stress-related. But we never get into discussing symptoms here, (or the lack of them), because that's never a reliable way to know anything about your HIV status.

That was a sharp observation on the part of your therapist about "messing with your head stuff." Move on now with whatever you need to do. I continue to expect you to come out of this ok.