Aa
Anxiety
Hi Dr.
Over the last 6 months I have had been engaging in sexual encounters with female escorts. I am a 35 year old heterosexual male and have never engaged in unprotected sex or drug use.
I did have the condom break on me during one encounter and immediately pulled out.
All of my encounters with the female escorts were one offs and always with a condom when engaging in vaginal intercourse. I never performed anal intercourse with any of them. I did however receive unprotected oral sex from three specific encounters with a female escort.
I have not had any recognizable ARS symptoms, except for a cold every now and then and some stomach cramps and diahrea that i started getting recently on my lower abdomen about 3 weeks after one encounter. I went a doctor, got a full check up and he concluded that it was stress and gas.
Now I am all of sudden experiencing tremendous anxiety about HIV. Am I at high risk of hiv infection. I am starting to think that i have the hiv virus. everywhere I turn I see signs that it is inevitable, with my sexual activity, that I have the virus. I can't work, sleep, and feel totally down.
I went today to take my test, tmrw I will have the results, but I am freaking out...i just feel like I have the virus.
Thank you for the help.
Over the last 6 months I have had been engaging in sexual encounters with female escorts. I am a 35 year old heterosexual male and have never engaged in unprotected sex or drug use.
I did have the condom break on me during one encounter and immediately pulled out.
All of my encounters with the female escorts were one offs and always with a condom when engaging in vaginal intercourse. I never performed anal intercourse with any of them. I did however receive unprotected oral sex from three specific encounters with a female escort.
I have not had any recognizable ARS symptoms, except for a cold every now and then and some stomach cramps and diahrea that i started getting recently on my lower abdomen about 3 weeks after one encounter. I went a doctor, got a full check up and he concluded that it was stress and gas.
Now I am all of sudden experiencing tremendous anxiety about HIV. Am I at high risk of hiv infection. I am starting to think that i have the hiv virus. everywhere I turn I see signs that it is inevitable, with my sexual activity, that I have the virus. I can't work, sleep, and feel totally down.
I went today to take my test, tmrw I will have the results, but I am freaking out...i just feel like I have the virus.
Thank you for the help.
Yeah i heard about the bunny ranch in vegas !
A DUO at 4 weeks is estimated to be 98-99% reliable. You are very, very, very, very likely negative. Be safe in the future.
You ever heard of the Mustang Ranch in Reno or the Chicken Ranch in Vegas?
Stupid question what is a brothel-based sex worker?
Got my test results, negative. So all is good. I did have sex 4 days ago before my test, but it was 100% protected vaginal and oral with a condom, so I will not stress out about it, pretty safe encounter i imagine?
I see a lot of ELISA tests on the forum, my test was a CMIA for HIVAg(p24) and HIV Ab...is this what i read on forums is the duo test? Is this more effective, the same? Does it catch the HIV protein or antibody quicker after exposure? Thanks for the help, my last post, thanks again and I hope everyone is safe, this is the most important thing.
I see a lot of ELISA tests on the forum, my test was a CMIA for HIVAg(p24) and HIV Ab...is this what i read on forums is the duo test? Is this more effective, the same? Does it catch the HIV protein or antibody quicker after exposure? Thanks for the help, my last post, thanks again and I hope everyone is safe, this is the most important thing.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Relax; you're overreacting. Except in selected populations, heterosexually transmitted HIV remains uncommon in the US. You describe a pretty safe sexual behavior pattern with respect to STDs in general, and a very safe one in relation to HIV. Contrary to "inevitable", you could pursue your present practices for several lifetimes and never acquire HIV. First, the chance that any particular escort (i.e. a relatively expensive perhaps even highly educated woman) has HIV in the US is probably no higher than 1 in 1,000. (Many escorts do business only with partners more or less like you!) Second, the average chance of transmission for any single episode of vaginal sex is around 1 per 1000-2000 exposures. Third, condoms further reduce that risk by more than 90%, even considering the occational breakage. The combination of those probabilities works out to 0.001 x 0.001 x 0.1 = 0.0000001, or one in 10 million. For 100 such events, which probably is a lot more than you will have in the next few years, your HIV risk comes to no higher than 1 chance in 100,000. Your risk of dying tomorrow of an accident or sudden illness is a lot higher than that.
Of course I cannot guarantee you won't be the exception, and given the potential risk despite condoms, you would be smart to be tested once a year for HIV and common STDs (chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, maybe herpes), until such time as you are in a permanent, mutually monogamous relationship. And of course see a health care provider promtly if you get symptoms like discharge from the penis, painful urination, or genital sores. In the meantime, the odds are strongly in your favor. Just remember to stick with the condoms, and also use a little common sense in partner selection: most commercial escorts probably are much safer than streetwalkers, brothel-based sex workers, or non-commercial same-night pickups. Also ask about injection drug use and HIV status, and avoid partners who give the wrong answers or whose responses are evasive.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
Of course I cannot guarantee you won't be the exception, and given the potential risk despite condoms, you would be smart to be tested once a year for HIV and common STDs (chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, maybe herpes), until such time as you are in a permanent, mutually monogamous relationship. And of course see a health care provider promtly if you get symptoms like discharge from the penis, painful urination, or genital sores. In the meantime, the odds are strongly in your favor. Just remember to stick with the condoms, and also use a little common sense in partner selection: most commercial escorts probably are much safer than streetwalkers, brothel-based sex workers, or non-commercial same-night pickups. Also ask about injection drug use and HIV status, and avoid partners who give the wrong answers or whose responses are evasive.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
When the doc responds, he'll say your risk is too small to measure. If you're still anxious, get tested in 6-8 weeks after your last exposure. I am sure it'll be negative for HIV.
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