hello there.
i write from chile. ten days ago i got very drunk and stopped a transvestite prostitute. he performed some oral sex to me while i wore a condom and then suggested that i penetrated him. in the most stupid decision of my life i accepted. it was all very awkward, inside my car and all. i "inserted it" three times and then stopped to check, and i realized with horror that the condom was laying on the passenger seat. that was it. i am almost sure i got it. i mean, EVERY transvestite prostitute has it, and if that is not so, its obvious that this guy had it, as he was really low-scale, an illegal immigrant from ecuador who practically did it for free (and please please please reply to someone as stupid as me). i even think that he deliberately removed the condom as he drove my penis in, and makes me think that this guy was on for revenge on being hiv+. i lapsed into an almost psychotic state, even fantasizing about cutting off my penis, burning it with a cigarette, or even jumping under the wheels of a car. i went to a shrink who put me on lorazepam, risperidone and lamotrigine (it sems my mind had not been working properly before, which might explain my idiotic act), and i calmed down a bit. but she also asked me to have a blood screening, which i took exactly one week after the incident. yesterday i got the results and the horror came back when i realized that my lymphocyte count was on 18.2% (normal range is 21%-40%) and my segmented leukocyte count was 70.5% (normal range is under 70%). both measures are consistent with hiv infection. all that is keeping me from crumbling apart right now is that, indeed, i was undergoing a period of months of intense emotional and occupational stress, whith a peak the day before the experience, and this strees only worsened after it, and i know that lymphocyte count can drop due to stress (probably out of cortisol abundance). so i have four questions: 1. are there any specific stats about the risk factor of such a short insertive exposure to a -let's assume it- hiv+ parnter, who probably has other risk-increasing STDs?; 2. what is the current window period for a standard hiv test (this is a 3rd world country but i am getting it at the top university clinical lab)?; 3. would it make sense to get a viral load test next week to cut the waiting time?; 4. should i just shoot myself right now?
kindest regards,
bi & stupid
Don't think so - the stats that exist cover very general situations and don't go into specifics like duration etc. They do assume a positive partner, though. For unprotected insertive anal sex with a known infected partner the risk is about 7 in 10,000. Yours might conceivably be lower due to the short duration.
Far from every transvestite has HIV by the way. Even if he had 'been around' it would be likely he didn't have it than he did.
2. what is the current window period for a standard hiv test (this is a 3rd world country but i am getting it at the top university clinical lab)? For a conclusive result, 3 months though a negative result at 6-8 week is unlikely to change on modern tests. Based on what other posters wrote I 3rd world countries usually use the same testing technology as elsewhere. A combined antigen/antibody might be indicative around 1 month (its conclusiveness at this point depends on which health agency you ask).
3. would it make sense to get a viral load test next week to cut the waiting time? You could do that - but it is not a universally approved means of testing and won't give a conclusive answer. But it is the only test that can tell you anything meaningful at this point if you can't wait.You might consider waiting for the regular test which you have to take anyway.
By the way, blood counts go up and down for all kinds of reasons during the day - and as you mention, stress. Besides you didn't even have the CD4 count taken which is the relevant number w.r.t. HIV (but a low count wouldn't imply you were positive - far from it).