Kissing and Transmission

[Hypochondriac]

Hi Everyone,

Bear with me, as my name suggests, i know im a hypochondriac. I'm the guy that gets tested after every sexual encounter regardless of the risk, status of partners, etc...I'm odd i know.

But this latest encounter has me perplexed and worried. So i made out with a guy one night for about 10 minutes, the next day, WHAM, i got hit with a throat infection which i later found out to be strep throat (w fever and headaches). Now i don't think the strep is HIV/ARS but my concern is, could the strep have weakened my immune system and natural defenses in my mouth and increased my chances of getting HIV through kissing? I did think my throat was a little dry feeling the night i made out with this guy but i didn't think nothing of it at the time.

And to make matters worse, the guy i made out with has turned out to be pretty sketchy and i'm not sure of his status at all. He's illusive when i talk about it.

If one of you could let me know your thoughts on this i would really appreciate it. I'm really worried and stressed out. I'm contemplating taking a NAAT or PCR test over this because it's stressing me out that much.

Thanks in advance.

[Matty the Damned]

Have you ever contemplated seeing a mental health profession about your obsession with HIV? Probably you should.

But whatever.

HIV is not transmitted via kissing. Not even if the person you kiss has strep throat. Makes no difference

HIV is transmitted via unprotected anal and vaginal sex, by sharing contaminated injecting equipment such as needles and syringes and in some cases from HIV positive mother to her unborn or nursing infant.

Please take the time to read our Welcome Thread and follow the links to our lessons on HIV transmission.

MtD

[Ann]

Hypo,

Not only is saliva not infectious, but it also contains over a dozen different proteins and enzymes that damage hiv and render it unable to infect. Kissing is not and never has been a risk for hiv infection. Not one person has ever been infected this way and you will not be the first.

I agree with Matty - it sounds like it's time for you to seek counselling over your intense hiv phobia. That's no way to live and you don't have to live like that.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!!!

Ann

[Hypochondriac]

Hi Everyone,

Thanks so much for responding and yes i do plan to see a therapist about my issues with HIV and my constant fear of catching it - I know its unhealthy.

So i was on antibiotics for the strep, felt better in a couple days, then two days after the antibiotics i get smacked with what feels like another bout of strep throat (fever, chills, headache, swollen throat, insomnia). Doctor put me on stronger antibiotics and now i'm waiting to see if this works. He sent the culture to the lab to see if they could figure out what it was and i should know by Friday.

This is only worrying me because i feel like my immune system isn't fighting this off. Could it be that this is a sign of a weakened immune system due to ARS? I know kissing is low risk but i've been hearing a lot of stuff about the guy i made out with and it's only making me question his status more and more. I'm at least happy i didn't have sex with him. Additionally, he and i smoked that night (i never smoke) so i'm just concerned about the strength of my throat to fight of diseases when it has strep and smoke damage?

Anyway your thoughts would be warmly appreciated. Thank you all for sharing your wisdom.

[Ann]

Hypo,

You're not listening. Kissing is NOT low risk, it is NO RISK. NO RISK. NO RISK.

Whatever is going on has nothing to do with hiv. You have not had a risk for hiv infection.

USE CONDOMS FOR ANAL OR VAGINAL INTERCOURSE AND YOU WILL AVOID HIV INFECTION!!! It really is that simple and it does not matter what you hear about someone. Condoms protect against hiv infection no matter who you are with. You should be using condoms with everyone, regardless of what you know or think you know about their life. It's not WHO you do, it's HOW you do it.

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.

ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT NEED TO TEST OVER KISSING, 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

[Hypochondriac]

Thanks Ann. Guess i just needed a kick in the rear to get that through my thick head. Again, thank you VERY much.

[Hypochondriac]

Just curious, how did the test go from the very first experience? I read a lot of posts on the forum about symptoms and worry but no one ever comes back to tell people how their testing ended up after the 3 month mark? So i'm just curious about how it went?

Thanks. Good luck and good health to you mafioso.

[Ann]

Hypo,

I removed your post (above) from someone else's thread and placed it here, in your own thread which is the ONLY place you should be posting. Make sure you read and abide by the posting rules found in our Welcome Thread or risk being banned from this site. Thank you for your cooperation.





People generally do come back to report their negative results and the ones who don't have surely tested negative. Otherwise, they'd end up posting in the other forums meant for positive people only.

If you feel unwell, see a doctor. You have not had a risk for hiv infection so whatever is going on has NOTHING to do with hiv. If you cannot bring yourself to believe us when we tell you that you had NO RISK, go test, collect your negative result and get on with your life.

When you read the Welcome Thread, make sure you take note of the following:

Anyone who continues to post excessively, questioning a conclusive negative result or no-risk situation, will be subject to a four week Time Out (a temporary ban from the Forums). If you continue to post excessively after one Time Out, you may be given a second Time Out which will last eight weeks. There is no third Time Out - it is a permanent ban. The purpose of a Time Out is to encourage you to seek the face-to-face help we cannot provide on this forum.

Please consider yourself warned!

Ann

[Hypochondriac]

Just a follow up on my situation.

I kissed a guy who may have had HIV, who knows, he's since seemed to vanish off the face of the earth... I acquired strep throat (bad bad strain) a couple days after. So of course i freaked out for weeks...

However, since this episode i went to the AHF clinic in LA three weeks post said incident and had a full throttle STD exam, HIV NAAT and Rapid Test done. Everything came back negative.

I just had some serious bad luck to have gotten sick after my make out session with this random dude. I still have a sore throat, going on two months now, it hasn't fully cleared up since i was first diagnosed with Strep Throat. What freaked me out more than anything was every-time i went to the doctor they kept saying "it may be viral." That word kept driving me insane, i kept thinking, viral, as in VIRAL LOAD? Anyway, symptoms like everyone on here says are bad for diagnosis, stick to the facts guys and you'll be okay (admittedly, its easier said than done).

So i want to say thank you to everyone on here who responded kindly and directly to all my requests and worry. You are all amazing and i thank you so much for your help. I wish you all the best and plan to poke my head around here quite a bit to learn more about this disease as it seems like knowledge is power, both if you do or do not have HIV. It's this lack of understanding that i think drives me insane. Well that and Catholicism.

[Ann]

Hypo,

Many illness in the world are viral. Influenza (the flu) is one of the most common and there are many, many others besides.

The main thing you need to know about hiv is that condoms have been proven to prevent hiv infection. Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple - despite what the Catholic Church (or any other religion) may want you to believe.

Ann

[jkinatl2]

Kissing is not a risk for HIV. Most of us here have been or are currently in relationships with HIV negative people. We kiss all the time.

Because we use condoms for anal and vaginal sex, our partners remain HIV negative. It really IS that simple.