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HIV Risk - At Wits End
10 days ago I was on business in Kuala Lumpur and I got very drunk and ended up with a sex worker. She said she was from Vietnam and just arrived 3 days previous. According to Vietnam's government sources, about 24% of their sex workers are HIV positive. I also believe it has a big problem with Hepititus B. When we got back to the hotel, she said she didn't have a condom, however at that stage I was too drunk and it was too late to get one. We then performed masterbation and unprotected mutual oral sex on each other over a period of about 3 hours and also later when we woke up. I don't remember how many times. She ejaculated (or urinated) at some stage, which some of it went either in or near my mouth. I didn't notice any sores on her, however I suffer from time to time from jock itch, which had some cracked skin on my scrotum at that time. I also have a tight foreskin, which can sometimes crack. In the past, I have had genital warts and have tested positive for HSV-2 and HSV-1 although no sores at thge time. I also tend to chew my gum and bite my nails. About 1.5 days later I developed a sore throat, a coated tongue and a slight discharge from my penis. When I reached home in the west, I went to my doctor. He examined my mouth but didn't test for me STIs but gave me 21 tablets of Fluxacillin to be taken 3 times a day and Mycostatin for a yeast infection my tongue. Yeast infections in women can be a sign of HIV infection, right? Also, if they have thrush in their mouths, it can cause their tongue to bleed.
This is my second day on the medicine. I cannot sleep much. I am feeling very fluey now and head feels blocked up, a bit like sinuses and I am running a bit of a temperature.
I am really worried at the moment as this flu seems to be right on cue for HIV ARS i.e. 7-10 days.
I am really trying to assess what my risk to HIV and Hep-B was compared to those who say they had oral sex for a couple of minutes.
This is my second day on the medicine. I cannot sleep much. I am feeling very fluey now and head feels blocked up, a bit like sinuses and I am running a bit of a temperature.
I am really worried at the moment as this flu seems to be right on cue for HIV ARS i.e. 7-10 days.
I am really trying to assess what my risk to HIV and Hep-B was compared to those who say they had oral sex for a couple of minutes.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Thanks for the congratulations for Dr. Hook. You had no STD/HIV worries anyway, and you certainly can stop worrying now. No more comments, please; this thread is closed for good.
Congrats Dr Hook by the way.
Your award was well deserved.
Your award was well deserved.
Thank you very much for your advise and this site.
It has been a source of comfort over the past few weeks and helped me keep my sanity.
My 6 week result came back today, negative for HIV, HepB and HepC, thank God.
I was wondering, is this enough time for the HepB test to show up something, or should I have another one at 3 months?
I know that it was a low risk, but I have been having (and still am having) abdominal pain an discomfort around the upper right hand side, along with nausia, tiredness, headaches.
I can't see how this could be anxiety as the sensations are very real.
I'm determined not to get into a cycle of worrying and testing. I just want closure at this point.
Thanks again
It has been a source of comfort over the past few weeks and helped me keep my sanity.
My 6 week result came back today, negative for HIV, HepB and HepC, thank God.
I was wondering, is this enough time for the HepB test to show up something, or should I have another one at 3 months?
I know that it was a low risk, but I have been having (and still am having) abdominal pain an discomfort around the upper right hand side, along with nausia, tiredness, headaches.
I can't see how this could be anxiety as the sensations are very real.
I'm determined not to get into a cycle of worrying and testing. I just want closure at this point.
Thanks again
Understood.
Thank you for replying anyway.
At least I'm not left monitoring for a response.
Thank you for replying anyway.
At least I'm not left monitoring for a response.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Sorry, you may not come back with new anxiety provoked questions everytime your worry level rises. This is not a counseling site. The proper response to symptoms that concern you is to see your doctor. I will delete further questions or comments by anybody. This thread is over.
Dr Ed, I would value anything you had to say also of course
I'm sorry for getting back on this thread again, but I am really panicing now.
I have been having hot and cold flushes for the past few days and now today my spleen is swollen and sore.
I know I am not imagining this as I didn't even know where my spleen was or that it was a lymph gland before I noticed the swelling.
How soon after ARS would I be able to test to see if it is HIV?
Would the antibodies show up during ARS?
Is there anthing else this could be?
I'm sorry about the blabbering....I'm just frantic now.
The other symptoms are still persisting too.
I have been having hot and cold flushes for the past few days and now today my spleen is swollen and sore.
I know I am not imagining this as I didn't even know where my spleen was or that it was a lymph gland before I noticed the swelling.
How soon after ARS would I be able to test to see if it is HIV?
Would the antibodies show up during ARS?
Is there anthing else this could be?
I'm sorry about the blabbering....I'm just frantic now.
The other symptoms are still persisting too.
Thanks for your response Doc.
I wish I was as confident as you that I wasn't having ARS at the moment, but the symptoms and timings are a bit to fitting for comfort.
I guess I will test at 4 weeks.
Thanks again
I wish I was as confident as you that I wasn't having ARS at the moment, but the symptoms and timings are a bit to fitting for comfort.
I guess I will test at 4 weeks.
Thanks again
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The additional information does not change my judgment or advice.
1) The new timing is consistent with HIV. But the symptoms themselves are not suggestive, especially the absence of fever. Self-assessment that one's lymph nodes may be enlarged is meaningless without professional confirmation.
2) I suppose gonorrhea of the throat is possible, but a garden variety cold is much more likely.
3) Yeast does not increase STD or HIV transmission risk.
4) Yes, if someone had ARS, the 4 week test almost certainly would be positive.
You are correct: those were your last questions. Just mellow out. You don't have it.
1) The new timing is consistent with HIV. But the symptoms themselves are not suggestive, especially the absence of fever. Self-assessment that one's lymph nodes may be enlarged is meaningless without professional confirmation.
2) I suppose gonorrhea of the throat is possible, but a garden variety cold is much more likely.
3) Yeast does not increase STD or HIV transmission risk.
4) Yes, if someone had ARS, the 4 week test almost certainly would be positive.
You are correct: those were your last questions. Just mellow out. You don't have it.
Thanks Dr for your encouraging words however can I clear up a few things please and I will then leave it at that.
1. I have only really started getting symptoms today which is 10 days after the exposure. Head pressure, feeling that lymph nodes in neck are enlarged, even though they are not to touch, fatigue, persistant cough, headache, temperature. Would it be too soon to experience these?
2. The white tongue (with red patches at the tip) started within a couple of days. Could this have been gonorrhea of the throat?
3. Would the yeast infection make the lady in question more infectious i.e. gonorrhea, HIV etc?
4. If someone had early ARS, would a 4 week test likely show antibodies?
These are my last questions.
Thanks
1. I have only really started getting symptoms today which is 10 days after the exposure. Head pressure, feeling that lymph nodes in neck are enlarged, even though they are not to touch, fatigue, persistant cough, headache, temperature. Would it be too soon to experience these?
2. The white tongue (with red patches at the tip) started within a couple of days. Could this have been gonorrhea of the throat?
3. Would the yeast infection make the lady in question more infectious i.e. gonorrhea, HIV etc?
4. If someone had early ARS, would a 4 week test likely show antibodies?
These are my last questions.
Thanks
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
If you assume your partner in fact had HIV, and if you had participated in unprotected vaginal intercourse, the chance you would have caught HIV average 1 in 2,000. So your risk clearly is very much lower than that. Oral sex is extremely low risk (in both directions), mutual masturbation is no risk, and neither is getting genital secretions or urine in or around the mouth.
Your symptoms came on too soon to be due to HIV; it always takes a minimum of 7 days, usually 10-20 days before symptoms start. You caught a cold, probably before your sexual event (even colds typically require 2-3 days before symptoms start). White/coated tongue usually is not yeast; it happens with almost any viral infection. Yeast in women is not a sign of HIV; every woman in the world gets a yeast infection from time to time and some get it a lot, regardless of HIV.
Your urethral discharge suggests STD, perhaps gonorrhea; of the STDs that cause disharge, only gonorrhea can start 1.5 days later, but even that is much faster than usual, so even that might date back to a previous exposure, not the one you describe.
There are no data on the risk of hepatitis B virus transmission for any particular exposure. But it is low, especially without vaginal sex; oral sex is not known to be a signficant risk for HBV. Anyway, few commercial sex workers, even in Vietnam, are HBV carriers. I believe most children in Vietnam get HBV immunization routinely, so your SCW partner probably wasn't even at risk for HBV. However, your local doc probably knows more about this than I do.
So all in all, the risk you caught HIV or HBV is too low to lose sleep about. For peace of mind, have an HIV test 6-8 weeks after the exposure; you can expect negative results. Most likely you don't need HBV testing at all, but follow your local provider's advice. If testing is done, 6-8 weeks also would be about the right time.
Thanks for the thanks about the forum. Best wishes--- HHH, MD
Your symptoms came on too soon to be due to HIV; it always takes a minimum of 7 days, usually 10-20 days before symptoms start. You caught a cold, probably before your sexual event (even colds typically require 2-3 days before symptoms start). White/coated tongue usually is not yeast; it happens with almost any viral infection. Yeast in women is not a sign of HIV; every woman in the world gets a yeast infection from time to time and some get it a lot, regardless of HIV.
Your urethral discharge suggests STD, perhaps gonorrhea; of the STDs that cause disharge, only gonorrhea can start 1.5 days later, but even that is much faster than usual, so even that might date back to a previous exposure, not the one you describe.
There are no data on the risk of hepatitis B virus transmission for any particular exposure. But it is low, especially without vaginal sex; oral sex is not known to be a signficant risk for HBV. Anyway, few commercial sex workers, even in Vietnam, are HBV carriers. I believe most children in Vietnam get HBV immunization routinely, so your SCW partner probably wasn't even at risk for HBV. However, your local doc probably knows more about this than I do.
So all in all, the risk you caught HIV or HBV is too low to lose sleep about. For peace of mind, have an HIV test 6-8 weeks after the exposure; you can expect negative results. Most likely you don't need HBV testing at all, but follow your local provider's advice. If testing is done, 6-8 weeks also would be about the right time.
Thanks for the thanks about the forum. Best wishes--- HHH, MD
How about my risk to Hep-B?
Was this high or low risk?
Thanks
Was this high or low risk?
Thanks
oral and mutual masturbation is very low risk for hiv. Also yeast infections in women are not a "symptom" of hiv anybody can get them. Also are you aware that she could get HSV from you even if you aren't having a breakout....I would get a test at the 2-3 month range and call it a day. test at 3 months are considered conclusive...But most test positive within 6-8 weeks...
Sorry, ran out of space in the original posting.
I'd just like to say this is great work you guys are doing here.
Thank you so much for a fantastic resource, not just for me, but everyone.
I'd just like to say this is great work you guys are doing here.
Thank you so much for a fantastic resource, not just for me, but everyone.
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