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Condom failure and pep thereafter
On Saturday, (May 13, 2023) I engaged in anal sex being the receptive partner with a stranger. After the sex was over, I checked the condom and noticed it was busted on the side with a large whole. The sexual encounter happened approximately at 1:00 am. Thereafter, I went to the emergency room and was given PEP. The guy I slept with insisted that we have unprotected, while I insisted on using a condom. From the looks of the condom seemed tampered with. I'm suspecting if he was intentionally trying to expose me. I'm currently at day 5 in taking the medication and was also within the recommended time frame to start pep. Numerous of sites has informed that pep is not 100 percent effective and isn't likely to work. This information leaves me extremely scared and I strongly believe based on this event I will become positive. I'm hoping that the PEP really helps "ALL" individuals who have been truly exposed. Based on the information provided will I become infected with HIV. Also, I felt if semen was leaking from my anus.
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It is not clear if you have protected or unprotected anal sex .. you are not sure about presence of condom or no .
You started pep already and nothing to be done more now.
Does pep effective or no : this is very complicated question cause most of pep studies done on rats and to know exact pep effectiveness we need to know who was positive and pep succeeded to stop replication of virus before it occurs which look to be very difficult .people take pep then do the test then showed negative , this does not mean the pep succeeded cause simply we do not know if they been already infected or they just took pep as a placebo.
You started pep already and nothing to be done more now.
Does pep effective or no : this is very complicated question cause most of pep studies done on rats and to know exact pep effectiveness we need to know who was positive and pep succeeded to stop replication of virus before it occurs which look to be very difficult .people take pep then do the test then showed negative , this does not mean the pep succeeded cause simply we do not know if they been already infected or they just took pep as a placebo.
5 Comments
Continue pep - wear condom for any relation until you finish pep and test - take test 6 weeks after pep 4th generation- try to be busy all the time .if you can ask your friend to test this will help you to reduce stress and anxiety .
Peaceful43,
I agree and also disagree. There's been evidence of PEP effectiveness on hiv positive pregnant women. However, I do believe, "what might work for some may not work for all". Who's to say the people who remained negative after pep never truly had a risk to began with(meaning the hiv didn't really get in their body). What evidence we do have on HIV medication reliably is the effectiveness of treating patients already positive for hiv.
I agree and also disagree. There's been evidence of PEP effectiveness on hiv positive pregnant women. However, I do believe, "what might work for some may not work for all". Who's to say the people who remained negative after pep never truly had a risk to began with(meaning the hiv didn't really get in their body). What evidence we do have on HIV medication reliably is the effectiveness of treating patients already positive for hiv.
And as soon as someone do end up positive; the first conclusion they'll try to come up with is, "the person probably had ongoing risk or didn't adhere to the medication properly".
What you're saying amounts to nonsense. That's not how PEP works. People who take PEP and for whom it works are NEVER "already positive for HIV." PEP works by suppressing viral replication in the body, meaning that person would never become positive for HIV.
You have continually fabricated your own science, or repeated what you have gleaned from people who don't know the first thing about HIV prevention. Your first statement indicating it "isn't likely to work" proves that. You are welcome to believe whatever you want; however, this is an evidence-based forum, and you're not welcome to spread inaccurate information.
You have continually fabricated your own science, or repeated what you have gleaned from people who don't know the first thing about HIV prevention. Your first statement indicating it "isn't likely to work" proves that. You are welcome to believe whatever you want; however, this is an evidence-based forum, and you're not welcome to spread inaccurate information.
worriedwell wrote "And as soon as someone do end up positive; the first conclusion they'll try to come up with is, "the person probably had ongoing risk or didn't adhere to the medication properly"."
No, that's your fabricated claim, likely based on the fact that YOU jump to conclusions because you just stated that you distrust science. You cherry pick the facts that you think prove your point. In other words, you are preaching conspiracy theory about the studies - and you aren't going to convince anyone on this scientific guided board that your conspiracy theory is anything but fake news.
No, that's your fabricated claim, likely based on the fact that YOU jump to conclusions because you just stated that you distrust science. You cherry pick the facts that you think prove your point. In other words, you are preaching conspiracy theory about the studies - and you aren't going to convince anyone on this scientific guided board that your conspiracy theory is anything but fake news.
I don't really think there is anything else anyone can do for you here. You were told that your risk of a condom break has LESS THAN ONE PERCENT chance of HIV transmission. And that PEP is considered effective while may not be 100 percent. But as effective as it is, your one percent risk is negligible. None the less, finish pep I'd personally not have taken it for such a low risk rate but since you did . . .) and then test at 28 days past that. All the rumination and posting won't help. In fact, it makes your anxiety worse. Get off the internet and test at the appropriate time. I bet my right arm it will be negative. Then your worried well self may begin to question the test result. They call ocd the doubter's disease. But your first test taken if a 4th generation duo test at 28 days past the last day you took pep will give you a conclusive result.
My chances of catching HIV are extremely low as you stated, despite being on PEP. Is the part that scares me the most. Also, the CDC stated that PEP isn't gauranteed to work. 80 percent still leaves that 20 percent. Does the 20 percent account for PEP failure? I sure hope I won't be in that percentile.
6 Comments
You don't know that your partner was HIV+. Most people aren't.
What if he is
Obviously, you don't know, so that's why you took PEP as a precaution. There is NOTHING more you can do except take the rest of the PEP and test at the appropriate time. We don't provide anxiety support, but if you are overly anxious, you should talk to a therapist.
This event is new to me and has absolutely nothing to do with me being overly anxious. I understand the protocol of testing, but I am completely unsure of the reliability of PEP. Any person who may think they had a potential exposure to either someone with a KNOWN or UNKNOWN exposure will have several questions especially when their are not educated with HIV stuff (especially the medications), and their health is at risk. 80 percent is significant enough for me, which may may put me in belief that PEP is highly effective.
Test with a duo 4 weeks after you finish PEP. Unless you can get him to test, there is nothing else to do but wait for the test. You are best off forgetting about this as much as you can because it's 7 weeks off, and the test result will be conclusive. Not everyone gets hiv when they have sex with a positive person, so that's all I would think about for the next 7 weeks, other than he might be negative.
Good luck.
Good luck.
AnxiousNoMore,
That's the only thing I have been thinking of, because I would definitely feel comfortable with taking legal actions if I do in up positive.
That's the only thing I have been thinking of, because I would definitely feel comfortable with taking legal actions if I do in up positive.
COMMUNITY LEADER
I don't know where you read that PEP is unlikely to work, but PEP is HIGHLY effective at preventing HIV transmission. No medication works 100% of the time, but PEP works more than 80% of the time.
A one-time event, even without PEP, is very low risk. Plus, you don't know for sure that your partner is HIV+. Continue taking the full course of PEP, but your odds of contracting HIV are extremely low.
A one-time event, even without PEP, is very low risk. Plus, you don't know for sure that your partner is HIV+. Continue taking the full course of PEP, but your odds of contracting HIV are extremely low.
3 Comments
CurfewX,
I will most definitely let you know where I read this information from: the CDC, thebody.com, aidsmap, and iprep have all stated that PEP isn't " Guaranteed" to work. This is why testing at least 4 weeks after the last dose is recommended. Because, pep has been shown to fail in health care workers. FYI, this information provided from such reliable sources; such as the CDC, would make anyone taking PEP skeptical about their outcome of hiv status after finishing. It also, draws conclusion, what may work for one person may not work for the next. As for as me not knowing if my partner is Hiv positive, falls under the reasons why PEP is right for me. The only person HIV status I can truly be sure about is my owns. Lastly, any male who is participating in MSM are at increase RISK (especially with an UNKNOWN partner).
I will most definitely let you know where I read this information from: the CDC, thebody.com, aidsmap, and iprep have all stated that PEP isn't " Guaranteed" to work. This is why testing at least 4 weeks after the last dose is recommended. Because, pep has been shown to fail in health care workers. FYI, this information provided from such reliable sources; such as the CDC, would make anyone taking PEP skeptical about their outcome of hiv status after finishing. It also, draws conclusion, what may work for one person may not work for the next. As for as me not knowing if my partner is Hiv positive, falls under the reasons why PEP is right for me. The only person HIV status I can truly be sure about is my owns. Lastly, any male who is participating in MSM are at increase RISK (especially with an UNKNOWN partner).
https://www.aidsmap.com/about-hiv/how-effective-post-exposure-prophylaxis-pep
"Of the 1535 men who took PEP, 1487 remained HIV negative and 48 men acquired HIV. However, the details of the transmissions that did occur are important.
In 40 cases, HIV infection was attributed to ongoing risk behaviour after completing PEP. Among these 40 are 35 cases in which seroconversion occurred more than six months after starting PEP. These HIV transmissions are unlikely to be due to a failure of PEP.
8 cases are considered to represent potential PEP failures. This equates to 5.2 transmissions per 1000 PEP users (0.5%).
Even among these eight cases it is not certain that PEP failed. In three cases, very few details of the cases were recorded by researchers. Another four were diagnosed with HIV between three and six months after starting PEP, but no information on their sexual behaviour after finishing PEP was reported – it is possible that they acquired HIV due to further risky sex after completing PEP. One case might be due to a strain of HIV that was resistant to a drug included in the man’s PEP regimen."
"Of the 1535 men who took PEP, 1487 remained HIV negative and 48 men acquired HIV. However, the details of the transmissions that did occur are important.
In 40 cases, HIV infection was attributed to ongoing risk behaviour after completing PEP. Among these 40 are 35 cases in which seroconversion occurred more than six months after starting PEP. These HIV transmissions are unlikely to be due to a failure of PEP.
8 cases are considered to represent potential PEP failures. This equates to 5.2 transmissions per 1000 PEP users (0.5%).
Even among these eight cases it is not certain that PEP failed. In three cases, very few details of the cases were recorded by researchers. Another four were diagnosed with HIV between three and six months after starting PEP, but no information on their sexual behaviour after finishing PEP was reported – it is possible that they acquired HIV due to further risky sex after completing PEP. One case might be due to a strain of HIV that was resistant to a drug included in the man’s PEP regimen."
More from the article is below.
"The CDC identified a further 15 studies in other populations, including adults, adolescents and children. They may have been exposed to HIV through consensual sex, sexual assault, injecting drug use or needlestick injuries, depending on the individual study.
Of the 2209 people who took PEP, 2190 remained HIV negative and 19 were diagnosed with HIV.
In 18 cases, HIV acquisition could be explained by factors such as poor adherence or ongoing risk behaviour.
One case was attributed to PEP failure. This relates to a woman who began PEP within four hours of being sexually assaulted and completed the 28-day course, but seroconverted to HIV six weeks after starting PEP."
The 80% that you cited was a 1997 study.
"The CDC identified a further 15 studies in other populations, including adults, adolescents and children. They may have been exposed to HIV through consensual sex, sexual assault, injecting drug use or needlestick injuries, depending on the individual study.
Of the 2209 people who took PEP, 2190 remained HIV negative and 19 were diagnosed with HIV.
In 18 cases, HIV acquisition could be explained by factors such as poor adherence or ongoing risk behaviour.
One case was attributed to PEP failure. This relates to a woman who began PEP within four hours of being sexually assaulted and completed the 28-day course, but seroconverted to HIV six weeks after starting PEP."
The 80% that you cited was a 1997 study.
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