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Help Please High Risk Exposure
Hi doctor thankyou for your time.I am from New Westminster, British Columia,Canada About 4.5 weeks ago i had unprotected receptive anal sex i was the bottom. I am bi 26 years of age and it was with an older man about 55 years of age, and he did not ejaculate in me and it was very breif i also used lube i asked him if he has any std or has hiv and he said he does not or he doesn't think he is.The anal sex lasted about 5 minutes. That was my first time having receptive anal sex.Two to three weeks later i had what feels like swollen lymph nodes around my neck and collarbone areas both sides also behind the ear and under the chin the jaw. I had a headache once.I never had a flu or fever and i did not get a sore throat.I also did not get diarria Some times i woke up and i am sweaty or i guess they call it night sweats. My hands and feet have been clamy like sweaty for the same time. I have not lost my appetite.I feel aches and pains here and there all over my body and these symptoms have been there 1.5 to 2 weeks. I went to family doctor and he thinks i am having anxiety stress over this but he did not feel around my neck or body for the lymph nodes. I then went to a walk in clinic and the doctor said that i had a little swelling of lymph nodes under my jaw or chin because i have a nasal problem i am always clogged up, and the rest of them feel normal. I got a hiv serology and a vdrl done at the 4 week mark of exposure but the results are not in yet.Those symptoms are still coming on and off. I am still in contact with the guy and asked him if he has a hiv test done lately he said no he goes for phisicals and check ups every year.He told me he is marriedand he has kids and does this very rarely and is into sucking **** and anal sex he has never been a bottom during anal. and uses condoms usually.But i dont know what to beleive.I have been so stressed out for the whole time and have not slept very well, i am still in contact with him via phone and e-mail, Thank You.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Almost everybody with ARS symptoms would have a positive HIV antibody test at 4 weeks. Whether or not I have had a patient who was negative for HIV at 4 weeks and positive later is pretty much irrelevant. It can happen. But the issue has never come up among my patients, because I have never had one who was positive after a single sexual exposure. Almost all persons with newly diagnosed HIV infections have had many possible exposures and do not know which event resulted in transmission. So this issue rarely comes up.
Please accept the reassurance you have had. Learn from the experience. But almost certainly you didn't catch HIV and I expect any and all future test results to be negative.
That should end this thread. Take care.
Please accept the reassurance you have had. Learn from the experience. But almost certainly you didn't catch HIV and I expect any and all future test results to be negative.
That should end this thread. Take care.
Thankyou for answering my question i just went to see my doctor my hiv serology and vdrl came back in today and it was all hiv negative and also i have no sti. I was wondering if you were having symptoms of ars and you did the blood test would it come back positive? The test was done at 4 weeks after exposure while i was having these symptoms, when would i go back and do another test, and what r my chances it might be hiv positve? Have You ever had a patient or heard of someone who is hiv negative after 4 weeks, then after 8 weeks test positive?Thank you for helping me out through this difficult time in my life.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the HIV forum.
Yes, this was a high risk exposure. You can hardly get more risky than being topped by a male partner of uncertain HIV status. That said, it sounds quite unlikely your partner has HIV. People generally don't lie about HIV status -- or, for that matter, about their sexual risks. And your symptoms are not typical of acute HIV infection, as you apparently were told by your doctors -- and I certainly agree that much of what you describe sounds like anxiety more than anything else.
For those reasons, you can expect your HIV test to be negative. About 90-95% of newly infected people would have positive tests by then, so your negative result will be very reassuring -- but you'll still want to have another test in a few weeks. Follow your doctors' advice about it. (Alternatively, if your anal sex partner gets retested and is negative, you would know for sure you weren't at risk.)
Perhaps you don't need "the lecture"; it sounds like you understand how dumb your sexual choice was 4 weeks ago. Still, I give it whenever appropriate, hoping to influence other forum users in addition to the person asking the question.
To the extent you continue sex with other men, please never have anal sex without discussing mutual HIV status with your partner beforehand. Avoid anal sex -- top or bottom, even with a condom -- with men who are positive, don't know, or are evasive about it. And for all other partners, use condoms for anal sex. Follow these rules and all will be well. Consistently fail to do so and there's a good chance HIV is in your future.
But for now, I suspect all is well. Feel free to return and let me know your test result.
Regards-- HHH, MD
Yes, this was a high risk exposure. You can hardly get more risky than being topped by a male partner of uncertain HIV status. That said, it sounds quite unlikely your partner has HIV. People generally don't lie about HIV status -- or, for that matter, about their sexual risks. And your symptoms are not typical of acute HIV infection, as you apparently were told by your doctors -- and I certainly agree that much of what you describe sounds like anxiety more than anything else.
For those reasons, you can expect your HIV test to be negative. About 90-95% of newly infected people would have positive tests by then, so your negative result will be very reassuring -- but you'll still want to have another test in a few weeks. Follow your doctors' advice about it. (Alternatively, if your anal sex partner gets retested and is negative, you would know for sure you weren't at risk.)
Perhaps you don't need "the lecture"; it sounds like you understand how dumb your sexual choice was 4 weeks ago. Still, I give it whenever appropriate, hoping to influence other forum users in addition to the person asking the question.
To the extent you continue sex with other men, please never have anal sex without discussing mutual HIV status with your partner beforehand. Avoid anal sex -- top or bottom, even with a condom -- with men who are positive, don't know, or are evasive about it. And for all other partners, use condoms for anal sex. Follow these rules and all will be well. Consistently fail to do so and there's a good chance HIV is in your future.
But for now, I suspect all is well. Feel free to return and let me know your test result.
Regards-- HHH, MD
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