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condom broke
About 7 weeks ago I had a condom break with a csw in Tijuana. This is my only unprotected exposure asides from fingering and like 10 seconds of unprotected oral sex. But fingering is not a risk for hiv even if there is a minor cut according to this site. And unprotected oral sex is very very low risk. If the csw tested 7 weeks after the condom break(vaginal sex 1 minute) and its negative, do I still need to get tested for hiv? She went in today to get tested and she will get the results on the 15 of December. She got tested once already about week after the condom break and was negative. Perhaps this is not reliable because of the window period but what about 7 weeks later? I went today to get tested for Gono and Chlam and syphilis and will get the result next Monday. I plan to get tested for hiv next year but I just don't want to keep worrying about it. Its driving me insane.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
It may be true that anal abscess is more common in HIV infected people than those without HIV. But that's true for almost every infection that exists. It remains true that a miniscule proportion of people with such problems have HIV; and certainly this sort of problem would never be the only evidence of HIV.
You need to work to translate your numerical/probabilities understanding (at an intellectual level) to the emotional/subjective level. Heterosexually transmitted HIV is exceedingly rare from one-time exposures; virtually all cases occur in the regular partners (spouses etc) of infected persons. As suggested by the analysis above, people with your sort of sexual lifestyle simply never get infected -- or sufficiently rarely that you really should not be worried about it.
The other advice that comes to mind is the old saw "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen". In other words, stop your commercial exposures. But if you continue them, just use condoms consistently. Then stop worrying about HIV and avoid the temptation to repeatedly seek advice about every sexual exposure or every minor symptom. And I suggest you lay off the internet.
That will be all for this thread. Stay safe.
You need to work to translate your numerical/probabilities understanding (at an intellectual level) to the emotional/subjective level. Heterosexually transmitted HIV is exceedingly rare from one-time exposures; virtually all cases occur in the regular partners (spouses etc) of infected persons. As suggested by the analysis above, people with your sort of sexual lifestyle simply never get infected -- or sufficiently rarely that you really should not be worried about it.
The other advice that comes to mind is the old saw "If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen". In other words, stop your commercial exposures. But if you continue them, just use condoms consistently. Then stop worrying about HIV and avoid the temptation to repeatedly seek advice about every sexual exposure or every minor symptom. And I suggest you lay off the internet.
That will be all for this thread. Stay safe.
Dear Dr.Handsfield.
I was diagnosed with anal abscess about two months ago and had it drained. Now the same area is inflame again. I remember a few days ago I wiped hard and there was blood. I often have blood when I wipe and I do have some gastro problems. I read online that anal abscess (recurrent) might cause by hiv and aids. I had this problem before around I think was June and it was inflame and bleeding and it got better in about two weeks. I did not go see a doctor in June. I got tested for hiv at January of this year and did not have sex until early August with CSWs. Each time was protected with no breakage of condom. I did however had a small cut on one of my finger when I finger one of the girl in the vagina and one in the anus. I had the condom breakage after the anal abscess episode in August. Around late August I did feel a bit of pain or inflammation on my right armpit. No fever, sore throat, rash, etc... I am so paranoid about it I am going to get tested for HIV next week when I go get my other STD results.
Thanks for your help.
I was diagnosed with anal abscess about two months ago and had it drained. Now the same area is inflame again. I remember a few days ago I wiped hard and there was blood. I often have blood when I wipe and I do have some gastro problems. I read online that anal abscess (recurrent) might cause by hiv and aids. I had this problem before around I think was June and it was inflame and bleeding and it got better in about two weeks. I did not go see a doctor in June. I got tested for hiv at January of this year and did not have sex until early August with CSWs. Each time was protected with no breakage of condom. I did however had a small cut on one of my finger when I finger one of the girl in the vagina and one in the anus. I had the condom breakage after the anal abscess episode in August. Around late August I did feel a bit of pain or inflammation on my right armpit. No fever, sore throat, rash, etc... I am so paranoid about it I am going to get tested for HIV next week when I go get my other STD results.
Thanks for your help.
Dear Dr Handsfield.
She has not got her 7 week hiv result back yet but she will on Dec 15. She took a hiv test a week after the condom broke and it was negative. If her 7 week test comes back negative then I would not worry about it like you said. I will still get tested next year
Actually I am a number person. I have a Ph.D. in statistics and a couple other graduate degrees in math and stat. If I were to give advise I would say exactly what you just told me but some how I am so fearful of HIV.
Thank you for your reassurance!
She has not got her 7 week hiv result back yet but she will on Dec 15. She took a hiv test a week after the condom broke and it was negative. If her 7 week test comes back negative then I would not worry about it like you said. I will still get tested next year
Actually I am a number person. I have a Ph.D. in statistics and a couple other graduate degrees in math and stat. If I were to give advise I would say exactly what you just told me but some how I am so fearful of HIV.
Thank you for your reassurance!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Oh, and don't forget your seatbelt! ;-)
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome back to the forum.
As for all questions about HIV risk, this involves judgment of the statistical probabilities. Dr. Hook and I don't usually answer in numerical terms, but we're always thinking that way and sometimes it helps to spell it out.
Let's guess that 5% of Tijuana CSWs have HIV. (Most likely it's lower than that -- especially since condom use by CSWs usually means they aren't infected and intend to stay that way.) Odds of transmission through a single episode of unprotected vaginal sex, average 1 in 2,000 -- again, your risk probably is lower, since the exposure was brief after the condom broke. Therefore, even before you take her test result into account, the odds you caught HIV were 5% x 1/2000, i.e. 0.05 x 0.0005 = 0.000025. That's 25 chances in a million or 1 in 40,000.
Now let's factor in her test result. Virtually 100% of newly infected people have positive test results by 6-7 weeks. For sake of argument, let's say there's a 1% chance her test missed an infection, or that she was infected after that test. 1% of 40,000 is 4 million. In other words, there may be a 1 in 4 million chance you were infected. And for the reasons noted, this represents the highest possible chance; your actual risk is probably a lot low.
How low is that? Well, as a resident of the US, there is 1 chance in 1,756 that you'll be die accidentally in the next 12 months (data from the National Safety Council -- you can look online for the website). So the chance you'll die in an auto wreck, fall, drowning, etc, etc is more than 2,000 times higher than the likelihood you caught HIV.
Human emotions about risk being what they are, perhaps these statistics won't calm your fears -- and you have a track record on MedHelp forums of being pretty difficult to convince about low risks for HIV and STDs. If that's the case, get tested -- the negative result might be more reassuring than anything I could say. But if I were in your situation, I would not feel a need for testing.
Regards-- HHH, MD
As for all questions about HIV risk, this involves judgment of the statistical probabilities. Dr. Hook and I don't usually answer in numerical terms, but we're always thinking that way and sometimes it helps to spell it out.
Let's guess that 5% of Tijuana CSWs have HIV. (Most likely it's lower than that -- especially since condom use by CSWs usually means they aren't infected and intend to stay that way.) Odds of transmission through a single episode of unprotected vaginal sex, average 1 in 2,000 -- again, your risk probably is lower, since the exposure was brief after the condom broke. Therefore, even before you take her test result into account, the odds you caught HIV were 5% x 1/2000, i.e. 0.05 x 0.0005 = 0.000025. That's 25 chances in a million or 1 in 40,000.
Now let's factor in her test result. Virtually 100% of newly infected people have positive test results by 6-7 weeks. For sake of argument, let's say there's a 1% chance her test missed an infection, or that she was infected after that test. 1% of 40,000 is 4 million. In other words, there may be a 1 in 4 million chance you were infected. And for the reasons noted, this represents the highest possible chance; your actual risk is probably a lot low.
How low is that? Well, as a resident of the US, there is 1 chance in 1,756 that you'll be die accidentally in the next 12 months (data from the National Safety Council -- you can look online for the website). So the chance you'll die in an auto wreck, fall, drowning, etc, etc is more than 2,000 times higher than the likelihood you caught HIV.
Human emotions about risk being what they are, perhaps these statistics won't calm your fears -- and you have a track record on MedHelp forums of being pretty difficult to convince about low risks for HIV and STDs. If that's the case, get tested -- the negative result might be more reassuring than anything I could say. But if I were in your situation, I would not feel a need for testing.
Regards-- HHH, MD
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