Did I catch HIV from recieving oral and fingering a woman?

[Splitting]

Hello,

I am reaching out because I feel that I may have been infected.  I have read through a ton of the questions / replies for risk and figured that I would ask anyway.  I understand that both of the activities are low-risk and don’t believe that I am the anomaly.  No escuses, but on 28 April I engaged in receiving oral sex from a female that I don’t know.  While receiving oral from her, I fingered her vagina until I came in her mouth.  I bite my nails often to include the cuticles and can’t help but to believe that I was infected by this incident.  At 8-weeks time I began to feel the lymph nodes in my groin aching and about a week later is when my poor appetite began with vomiting, nausea and sore joints, muscle aches and a coated tongue. I have also lost about 15lbs.  I am sure of what I will be told about symptoms however I felt the need to mention them. It is now 31 October and I still have the poor appetite as well as a fullness in my stomach, sore lymph nodes and brown lines in my fingernails.  I can only pray that I didn’t step on it and become infected by such a selfish act.  Thank you for listening and I await your reply!  Thoughts?

[mike_no]

Your fears are irrational,  there is a lot of information on the internet,  the credibility of those information are in the grey and then there are facts which are hard to change because it is based on substantial logic.  Here,  the logic is the scope of transmission is simply missing. So you were at no risk whatsoever for HIV contraction.

Let us hypothetically assume that your partner was infected at the first place and you fingered her with open wounds on your finger - It would still defy the scope of transmission because there had to be a viral contact with your nervous system,  for that the wound had to be absolutely now - live!   with out clot formation and so much gapping that it would have been bleeding profusely.  

I suppose that was not the case and hence there was no scope of contraction.  So,  in a nutshell,  you're okay.  

[Splitting]

Thanks mike_no, AnxiousNoMore and CurfewX.  I pray that you are correct!  My wife hasn’t been feeling well and continues to get Strep Throat 2x in 2 months..  I also have not been feeling well along with all sorts of symptoms not to mention I have lost an enormous amount of weight because I do not have an appetite.  I had the worst joint pain ever when this all started and that I haven’t been able to shake.  Thank you for the information and I hope for the best.

[Splitting]

Okay, last question.  I noticed that on several posts replies were if the cut had a clot, you wouldn’t be infected.  The cut that I had wasn’t clotted and was actually bleeding.  Would this play a part in the infection being let into my bloodstream?

[Kirstie_MHModerator]

As noted, you had no risk for HIV.  Fingering is not a method of transmission, and there are no recorded cases of transmission via fingering, with or without cuts.

********* THREAD CLOSED *********

[AnxiousNoMore]

This answers all of your HIV questions, and if you can think of any more just reread about the 3. You had zero risk and a test would be a waste of time.
HIV is instantly inactivated in air and also in saliva which means it is effectively dead so it can't infect from touching, external rubbing or oral activities. It doesn't matter if you and they were actively bleeding or had cuts at the time either because the HIV is effectively dead.  
Only 3 adult risks are the following:
1. unprotected penetrating vaginal with a penis
2. unprotected penetrating anal sex with a penis
3. sharing needles that you inject with. Knowing these 3 are all you need to know to protect yourself against HIV. The situation you describe is a long way from any of these 3.
Even with blood, lactation, cuts, rashes, burns, etc the air or the saliva does not allow inactivated virus to infect from touching, external rubbing or oral activities. Doctors have calculated the risk from what you describe to be less than that of being hit by a meteor, therefore no one will get HIV from what you did in the next 40 years of your life either. The above HIV science is 40 years old and very well established, so no detail that you can add to your encounter will change it from zero risk.
Your understanding is incorrect because it is actually zero risk not low risk. you need to stop interchanging the 2 words as if they meant the same thing. You have never read here that it is low risk so your reading comprehension is being overcome by your anxiety.
You don't have any medical training, don't know how your lymph is supposed to feel or what lymph does, so should not be poking them and irritating them then claiming you have made a lymph diagnosis that has scared you.  

[Splitting]

AnxiousNoMore,

Thank you for the quick reply.  I don’t mean to question your reply and hope that you do take me at face value when I say that I believe your assessment.  What if she had sores in here vagina that produced blood, would this increase the risk if I had cuts on my fingers?  Also, would her viral load play a role in either route of infection?  I also continue to have ear aches, tonsils pain and coughing.  I am truly grateful for being able to reach out and speak with you and hope to hear from you soon.  Thanks

[Splitting]

Also, I did not pull my hand from her vagina for about 30 mins straight.  Could the prolonged event have increased risk being that HIV is basically nonexistent once exposed to the air?  

[AnxiousNoMore]

Reread about the 3, and 'long".

[Splitting]

Hello and thanks!  I did reread the 3, and long, however I am unable to wrap my head around it.  There is a guy on the net that claims that he was infected by fingering a woman and several doctors have supported his claims.   I may be overthinking this and being that I am not a professional have no clue.  One can only hope that what you have provided is true.  I am still unable to eat, have a white tongue and pain in the neck and groin that won’t go away, not to mention these lines in my nails that came out of nowhere... truly I am freaking out.

[CurfewX]

If someone was infected by fingering, they will be the first person ever, and you should see a case study published about it soon, since it has never happened.    I can find videos on the internet from people who claim to be filming unicorns - does not mean it is true.

You need to seek professional counseling if you aren't able to accept that you had no risk and do not have HIV.  

[AnxiousNoMore]

If you continue to Google for death on the internet you can read anything. We rely on the opinion of expert doctors instead so can't spend the day debating what someone wrote on the net. You are safe and should enjoy your life starting right now.