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HIV exposure risk
Hello, i am a 58 year old bisexual who how little sexual contact with others and for the most part have been solosexual for several years. 4 weeks ago, I did however enage in mutual masturbation with 3 other gentleman in a small group setting. I did not know these men or their HIV status but figured, hand / genitial contact was very safe. Im fact, before the activity, i checked my hands for fresh cuts ot nicks and there were none.
Driving home, i looked at my left thumb on the steering while and there a very small amount of bood on the front of my big thumb at the bottom edge where it meets the skin, The weather had been very cold it the skin seems ot have split. Again, very small to the point it was hard to see the source of the small blood stain on my thumb. I have to assum it happened during the masturbaction activity and I am very fearful somebody's precum may have found its way into the small cut.
12 days later I can down with a nasty fold, mostly nasal congestion and runny nose. Some chills and nightsweats. I was out in the rain and in the NYC city subway system a few days before the onset of the cold so it's possible i picked up a cold or flu.
I saw my doctor 15 days out who took a full battery of blood tests including HIV, Flu swab, Covid swab and I'll be getting the results tomorrow. He didn't believe the virus could have been transmitted through the small split skin at the base of my thumb. I am finally over the nasal congestion and post nasal drip cough but just this morning I'm thinking I'm seeing a rash developing around the collar bone which is another HIV early symptom. I never did fun a fever through this although the night sweats were pretty bad for a few nights at one point.
I've been scouting the internet and 80% of simialar stories state the the odds of contracting HIV through a small but, even fresh from precum on extrememely low but I'm still preparing myself for the worst in case this cold/flu was not a coincidnece in time.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated
Ralph
Driving home, i looked at my left thumb on the steering while and there a very small amount of bood on the front of my big thumb at the bottom edge where it meets the skin, The weather had been very cold it the skin seems ot have split. Again, very small to the point it was hard to see the source of the small blood stain on my thumb. I have to assum it happened during the masturbaction activity and I am very fearful somebody's precum may have found its way into the small cut.
12 days later I can down with a nasty fold, mostly nasal congestion and runny nose. Some chills and nightsweats. I was out in the rain and in the NYC city subway system a few days before the onset of the cold so it's possible i picked up a cold or flu.
I saw my doctor 15 days out who took a full battery of blood tests including HIV, Flu swab, Covid swab and I'll be getting the results tomorrow. He didn't believe the virus could have been transmitted through the small split skin at the base of my thumb. I am finally over the nasal congestion and post nasal drip cough but just this morning I'm thinking I'm seeing a rash developing around the collar bone which is another HIV early symptom. I never did fun a fever through this although the night sweats were pretty bad for a few nights at one point.
I've been scouting the internet and 80% of simialar stories state the the odds of contracting HIV through a small but, even fresh from precum on extrememely low but I'm still preparing myself for the worst in case this cold/flu was not a coincidnece in time.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated
Ralph
I can tell you are worried and you seem to take good care of yourself. But you didn't have a risk at all from this. Mutual masturbation, fingering, hand jobs, etc. even if you find blood are not risks for HIV transmission. The only ways adults get HIV is to have unprotected vaginal or anal sex or share IV drug needles. Air and saliva inactivate the virus. So, you do not need to worry about HIV on the list of causes for why you feel bad. I have a nasty cold myself right now, swollen throat, headache, not feeling good at all. Because I have a basic virus. Your anxiety takes you to HIV when every day viruses are all around you. Don't do that.
4 Comments
Thanks for your reply GuitarRox - I do appreciated the reassurance. With all the reassurance and the science you've reiterated, I won't be able to relax until I hear the result from my doctor. I wish I didn't have this obsessive trait as it takes a toll on the quality of my life. As I mentioned initially, I rarely have sexual contact with others preferring the safety of masturbation. From my earliest sexual experimentation with women and men in my 20's I would often wind up at a clinic or doctor with psychosomatic STD symtoms. I wish I knew the root of this problem. Probably something to explore in therapy.
Well, we can't force you to not test but it is absolutely a waste of time and money. If you don't have a risk, you don't have HIV. Do you do anything about your anxiety? That is treatable.
Hi Guitar,
My general doctor took blood when I went to see him with the cold/flu and I explained my fear last Monday. He agreed with you that I wasn't at risk but ordered the HIV test anyway to satisfy me. I explained my anxiety to him that day and he did prescribe a medication.
Thanks again.
My general doctor took blood when I went to see him with the cold/flu and I explained my fear last Monday. He agreed with you that I wasn't at risk but ordered the HIV test anyway to satisfy me. I explained my anxiety to him that day and he did prescribe a medication.
Thanks again.
Ya, I think, unfortunately, a lot of doctors do this to appease anxious patients and get them out of their offices when it really isn't the right thing to do as it sends a mixed message. You don't need to test and he knew it. Anxiety doesn't mean you should test, testing is giving into irrational anxiety. So, it's up to you. But you didn't have a risk and you do not need any testing. If anxiety plagues you, again, work on that. THAT is the issue that is going to cause you problems in life.
Hey Ralph,
Just quickly - this was NO RISK.
No need to worry.
Mutual masturbation does not spread any STI - or so rarely that it can be ignored. It never and never will spread HIV.
Not that it matters but also your symptoms sounds nothing like HIV - early HIV does cause flu like symptoms called ARS but this virtually never causes congestion of the type you have described.
Hope this helps.
No what if's, nothing you can say will change that this was completely safe.
Thanks for the question.
Just quickly - this was NO RISK.
No need to worry.
Mutual masturbation does not spread any STI - or so rarely that it can be ignored. It never and never will spread HIV.
Not that it matters but also your symptoms sounds nothing like HIV - early HIV does cause flu like symptoms called ARS but this virtually never causes congestion of the type you have described.
Hope this helps.
No what if's, nothing you can say will change that this was completely safe.
Thanks for the question.
2 Comments
Thanks so much for the quick reply Dadz! Please put my mind at ease and acknowledge that the small cut on the thumb which MAY mabe been actively bleeding during the activity does not change your assessment? Sorry to be a pest but I'm in panic mode today and reading this would calm me greatly. I promise no more follow-ups :)
You are not been a pest. No it doesn't change my assessment at all, all experts believe and know that mutual masturbation's is no risk for HIV, this includes if the unavoidable exchange of sexual fluid is shared on hands. It just doesn't happen. Even if you had a cut on your finger, still no risk.
If you think about it we all have cracked fingers from time to time, as well as how often people play with each other and never once has this spread HIV
and then there is the Science. HIV dies almost immediately when it contacts air, also another FACT of HIV is it requires a lot of the virus to infect, "just one wont do it" this makes it somewhat different to say the measles which is far more infectious.
Honestly this is NO RISK!. no testing needed, no stress needed.
and you don't need to promise "No more follow ups" i don't mind answering anything!. but seriously No risk. :-)
If you think about it we all have cracked fingers from time to time, as well as how often people play with each other and never once has this spread HIV
and then there is the Science. HIV dies almost immediately when it contacts air, also another FACT of HIV is it requires a lot of the virus to infect, "just one wont do it" this makes it somewhat different to say the measles which is far more infectious.
Honestly this is NO RISK!. no testing needed, no stress needed.
and you don't need to promise "No more follow ups" i don't mind answering anything!. but seriously No risk. :-)
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