possible ars symptoms, please help!

[john1472]

Hey all, I'm not used to writing in forums  so i will keep it short!
23 m
straight
I was on vacation in prague and had unprotected sex with a local girl (unknown status) i met in a karaoke bar. vaginal and oral, yes stupid i know! 6 days later i was very sick with a flu( i hope) symptoms include fever(gone now), sore throat to which i still have(3 days later) night sweats for first 2 nights(gone now), diarrhea (gone now and lasted 2 days), slight nausea but that could be from the crabs treatment i applied 3-4 times just to be sure!
i know i caught crabs from her which i have treated, also have an std test for thursday, my questions are is it possible to get ARS symptoms so early and if yes could the symptoms pass so quickly, also i noticed a spot of blood on the bed the next day so im also curious if it was her period would that place me at higher risk? there were no abrasions on my penis area that were visible, but this is my first time having unprotected sex out of a regular relationship and im freaked out! how high risk is my situation?

Thanks in advance for the replies!

[Andy Velez]

It would be unusual to have ARS symptoms so early after a risk.

HIV is not an easy virus to transmit. It is significantly harder to accomplish from female to male as contrasted with the other way around. And it was a single possible exposure. Those factors all make it unlikely that you will have been infected with HIV from this incident.

But lower risk is not the same as no risk so you do need to get tested. You can do an initial test at 6 weeks. If you test negative at that point then it is likely you will continue to test negative for a conclusive result at 3 months.

None of your symptoms are in any way HIV-specific. And neither the presence nor the absence of symptoms is a reliable way of knowing your HIV status. Only an HIV specific test at the right time can give you that answer.

Lastly, you need to learn from this experience. You can have intercourse with anyone you want to regardless of their HIV status. But you need to do it the safer way. That means always using a condom for vaginal and anal intercourse. No exceptions.

Good luck with your testing. The odds are in your favor that you will come out of this ok.

[Ann]

John,

Neither symptoms nor the lack of symptoms will ever tell you a single thing about your hiv status. ONLY testing will. We do not discuss symptoms here. If you feel unwell, see a doctor.

You say this is the first time you've had unprotected intercourse outside a "regular" relationship, but that's just bullshit. ANY time you have unprotected intercourse, you are putting yourself at risk for not only hiv, but other STIs as well. Wise up and start using condoms, and use them until you're in a securely monogamous relationship where you've both tested hiv negative TOGETHER!

It never ceases to amaze me that people go around having unprotected intercourse with people they date, never worrying about the possibility of hiv. (But he/she looks healthy! He/she isn't promiscuous! He/she's too nice to have hiv!) They only freak out after having sex with a sex worker or a bit of random strange. Hiv doesn't discriminate and neither should you. You'd never guess in a million years that I'm poz - I'm just a regular middle-aged woman.

Hiv is a fragile, difficult to transmit virus and is more difficult to transmit from a woman to a man, regardless of whether or not she is on her period.

However, you HAVE had a risk and you DO need to test.

The earliest you should test for hiv is at six weeks. The vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks, with the average time to seroconversion being only 22 days. A six week negative must be confirmed at the three month point, but is highly unlikely to change.

While you do have a very good chance of testing negative, you do need to test. You also need to learn from this and protect yourself in future.

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

[john1472]

When i say regular intercourse i mean with a girl i was in a relationship for 6 years with, which is in no way careless, and as far as i know monogamous until the end.

apart from that thanks for the info you really put my mind at ease, i will get checked on the 6 week mark!

also i would like to say thank you, i can see this site helps many, many people and it is appreciated

Thank You!

[Ann]

When i say regular intercourse i mean with a girl i was in a relationship for 6 years with, which is in no way careless, and as far as i know monogamous until the end.

Ah, but did you both have full STI check ups before you stopped using condoms? It doesn't matter how much you love someone or how long you're together - you both need to have negative STI results before you stop using condoms. Please take this seriously! Protect yourself at all times. As I said above, sex without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.

Also, not all STIs have obvious symptoms, so the only way to know is to test for them. Just because you haven't noticed any symptoms doesn't mean you haven't been infected with something. Chlamydia and gonorrhea are notorious for not having obvious symptoms, and primary syphilis chancres often go unnoticed as they are painless.

Does that frighten you? It should. Make sure you use condoms in future, please.

And you're welcome, by the way. Hopefully you've learned from this situation and you will test hiv negative now and in the future. If you use condoms, you will remain hiv negative.

Ann
(who learned the hard way)