Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 29, 2024, 05:39:51 am

Login with username, password and session length


Members
  • Total Members: 37614
  • Latest: bondann
Stats
  • Total Posts: 772950
  • Total Topics: 66311
  • Online Today: 741
  • Online Ever: 5484
  • (June 18, 2021, 11:15:29 pm)
Users Online
Users: 0
Guests: 450
Total: 450

Welcome


Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and others concerned about HIV/AIDS.  Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning:  Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

  • The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own physician.

  • All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

  • Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators of these forums. Click here for “Do I Have HIV?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ community forums.

  • We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are true and correct to their knowledge.

  • Product advertisement—including links; banners; editorial content; and clinical trial, study or survey participation—is strictly prohibited by forums members unless permission has been secured from POZ.

To change forums navigation language settings, click here (members only), Register now

Para cambiar sus preferencias de los foros en español, haz clic aquí (sólo miembros), Regístrate ahora

Finished Reading This? You can collapse this or any other box on this page by clicking the symbol in each box.

Welcome to Do I Have HIV?

Welcome to the "Do I Have HIV?" POZ forum.

This special section of the POZ forum is for individuals who have concerns about whether or not they are HIV positive. Individuals are permitted to post up to three questions or responses in this forum.

Ongoing participation in the "Do I Have HIV?" forum (posting more than three questions or responses) requires a paid subscription, with secure payments made via PayPal.

A seven-day subscription is $9.99, a 30-day subscription is $14.99 and a 90-day subscription is $24.99.

Anyone who needs to post more than three messages in the "Do I Have HIV?" forum -- including past, present and future POZ Forums members -- will need to subscribe, with secure payments made via PayPal.

There is no charge to read threads in the "Do I Have HIV?" forum, nor will there be a charge for participating in any of the other POZ forums. In addition, the POZ Basics "HIV Transmission and Risks" and "HIV Testing" basics, will remain accessible to all.

NOTE: HIV testing questions will still need to be posted in the "Do I Have HIV?" forum; attempts to post HIV symptoms or testing questions in any other forums will be considered violations of our rules of membership and subject to time-outs and permanent bans.

To learn how to upgrade your Forums account to participate beyond three posts in the "Do I Have HIV?" Forum, please click here.

Thank you for your understanding and future support of the best online support service for people living with, affected by and at risk for HIV.

Author Topic: Insertive anal / Poz bottom.  (Read 6486 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline stupidinser

  • Member
  • Posts: 3
Insertive anal / Poz bottom.
« on: September 22, 2012, 05:26:14 pm »
Hi all,

First off, thank you for the forum, I've been spending quite a bit of time reading through everyone's posts.

My situation is the following: I met a nice guy whom I started dating. We discussed status before moving forward to having sex, and he told me he was negative. One night, in the heat of the moment, we ended up having sex twice, with me being the insertive partner. We did not use condoms nor lube, which I deeply regret now. We had sex twice on that night. I didn't notice any blood, although there was clearly some white mucus, and washed my penis each time after sex, with water and soap.

As I was quite worried about the incident and was unsure as to whether this guy was indeed negative or not, I asked him to go and get tested. He did so five days later, and the test came back positive. On that same day I had a rapid HIV test which was negative. I was put on PEP (Truvada + Kaletra) and am now on my 5th day of meds.

Obviously, I am in a very dark place right now. I cannot believe how stupid I was in trusting this guy, and really regret my poor decisions. I am fully aware of the statistics, and know that my chances of coming out of this all right, in the full spectrum of HIV transmission rates, are not fantastic - what I did was quite high risk.

I would however like to know about your experience dealing with people at risk for HIV regarding the following:

- do you frequently see in your clinical practice tops seroconverting after episodes like this? I know this seems like a silly question, but stats are not real life and I need some reassurance, if indeed the chances of me becoming positive are not that high.

- how effective would my PEP regime be if started five days after exposure? Again, I am fully aware of the fact that it should have been started within 72 hours, but the doctors still decided to put me on it. I was wondering if PEP failures are frequent, and if you see people taking these meds later than they should end up seroconverting. Needless to say, I have been taking my meds religiously ever since I started them, and know that the nausea is a small price to pay if I come out of this okay.

Thank you for your time. I know there's nothing I can do now but take my meds and wait for the test post-PEP.

Best,
Marc

Offline Ann

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 28,134
  • It just is, OK?
    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
Re: Insertive anal / Poz bottom.
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2012, 07:49:11 am »
Marc,

You started PEP FIVE DAYS after this incident? You may as well stop taking it because you started way too late. Did you tell whoever prescribed you PEP when the unprotected sex took place and that you were the insertive partner?

If you did and they still gave you PEP, they had no business doing so and obviously don't understand how PEP works or the prescribing guidelines.

The window period for PEP initiation is 72 hours (three days) at the very latest - within the first 24-36 is best.

And honestly, as the insertive partner you're unlikely to become positive as the top in only two encounters.

This isn't a clinical practice nor are we doctors. However, I've been answering questions in this forum for over eleven years and I don't recall a top ever ending up poz after two encounters, PEP or no PEP. That doesn't mean you haven't had a risk though - it just means you have a good chance of coming out of this ok.

I just read the bottom half of your post - I was so shocked that you were given PEP a full five days later that I launched right in with my answer.

It's totally up to you if you want to continue with PEP. A friend of mine (a top) was prescribed PEP a day later than you, even though his risk was low and even though it was way too late. I'm fully convinced the clinic only gave him PEP as a punishing reminder to use condoms in future. And yes, he tested conclusively hiv negative at the appropriate time.

Good luck. I expect you'll come out of this ok.

Ann
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline stupidinser

  • Member
  • Posts: 3
Re: Insertive anal / Poz bottom.
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2012, 02:27:36 pm »
Hi Ann,

Many thanks for your reply. I am still taking the medication as I don't want to feel any regrets in case I don't take it as I should and end up testing positive.

Also, today I got a message from the positive guy I had sex with saying that he'd been to the clinic for his first appointment post-diagnosis and was told that the virus in his body was very very low and that there was nearly no chance he could have infected me as a bottom. Obviously, I am not sure whether 'very very low' means undetectable in this case, but how important would a low viral load in this guy be in preventing infection? He's not on meds - would this also affect the viral amounts in his rectal secretions?

Thanks again for your time.
Best,
M.

Offline Ann

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 28,134
  • It just is, OK?
    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
Re: Insertive anal / Poz bottom.
« Reply #3 on: September 28, 2012, 05:55:47 am »
M,

The lower the viral load, the less chance of transmission occurring.

This is why people who are very recently infected are probably at the most infectious point they'll ever be - because in the first few weeks/months of infection, the viral load can be in the millions before the body starts to gain some control over the virus. In your friend's case, a "very very low" viral load is probably under 10,000, which is low and does lessen your risk.

You have every chance of coming out of this ok and I fully expect you will. Yes, you did have a risk, but no, you're not likely to end up poz.

Hang in there and test at the appropriate time.

Ann
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline Ann

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 28,134
  • It just is, OK?
    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
Re: Insertive anal / Poz bottom.
« Reply #4 on: September 28, 2012, 06:00:29 am »
M,

Re-reading your thread, I realised I neglected to give you the information on testing at the "appropriate time".

The earliest you should test post-PEP is at six weeks after your last dose. A six week negative is highly unlikely to change, but must be confirmed at the three month (post-PEP) point.

Again, I expect you to come out of this ok - and I hope it's been a lesson to be more careful in future. You can have all the sex you want with as many people as you like, just make sure you're using condoms.

Ann
Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Offline stupidinser

  • Member
  • Posts: 3
Re: Insertive anal / Poz bottom.
« Reply #5 on: October 19, 2012, 02:01:35 pm »
Hi Ann,

Sorry to bother you again.

My std checkup came back and I'm negative for chlamydia and gonorrhea.

I finished my pep course a week ago. 5 days later, I started experiencing dry cough, headaches, sore neck and a very annoying post-nasal drip which won't go away and is irritating my throat. I haven't fever so far, I don't have a rash and my lymph nodes are not swollen, but as you can imagine I'm quite terrified I might be seroconverting.

My questions are the following: if my pep regimen had failed, would symptoms appear as soon as 5 days after finishing the meds? How well does not having fever bode for me? And do you think these symptoms justify getting a viral load or p24 test at this point?

Thanks again for your time.
Best,
M.

Offline jkinatl2

  • Member
  • Posts: 6,007
  • Doo. Dah. Dipp-ity.
Re: Insertive anal / Poz bottom.
« Reply #6 on: October 19, 2012, 03:02:44 pm »
I for one cannot answer your question, as in the ten years I have been on this forum I have never seen an instance of properly administered  PEP to fail.
"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

-Kimberly Page-Shafer, PhD, MPH

Welcome Thread

Offline Ann

  • Administrator
  • Member
  • Posts: 28,134
  • It just is, OK?
    • Num is sum qui mentiar tibi?
Re: Insertive anal / Poz bottom.
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2012, 10:59:36 am »
M,

There are plenty of bugs going around the UK right now that produce exactly the same symptoms you're complaining about. I myself am just getting over the very same thing - and it's absolutely nothing to do with hiv. Go see your GP.

I still fully expect you to test hiv negative - when you test at the appropriate time.

Ann

Condoms are a girl's best friend

Condom and Lube Info  

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

 


Terms of Membership for these forums
 

© 2024 Smart + Strong. All Rights Reserved.   terms of use and your privacy
Smart + Strong® is a registered trademark of CDM Publishing, LLC.