Welcome to our Forum. Let's go over the facts and figures. They will help you to make up your mind regarding questions related to your risk and what subsequent behavior is appropriate.
The chances are small that your partner had HIV. In addition to her statement, the fact of the matter is that only a small proportion of commercial sex workers/strippers have HIV in North America. Furthermore, even in the off chance that she has HIV, the risk of getting infected from a single sexual exposure is less than 1 in 1,000 sex acts. Thus, just base on these facts alone, assuming that the chance that your partner had HIV is 5%, your numerical risk is 1 in 20,000. Then, let's factor in your HIV test at 5 weeks an HIV test would detect almost 95% of infections, thereby now bringing your risk of being infected down to 1 in 400,000. The odds are very, very high that you did not get HIV from the encounter you describe.
Your questions betrays the problem about reading about risk on the internet. There are no good data that show that oral canker sores are either a risk factor for, or manifestation of, HIV infection. No one knows what causes canker sores but there is no association with canker sores despite the misinformation all too available on the internet. Stress can certainly contribute.
I hope my comments help. You risk for HIV at this time is tiny. If you wish to be completely sure, repeat your testing at about 8 weeks when well over 99% of persons with HIV will have developed positive tests. Your wife is not at meaningful risk.
Hope this helps. EWH
thanks, Dr. Hook. By the way, also thank you for the fantastic service you provide here. I just had a couple of follow up questions, if you don't mind.
You used the assumed there was a 5% chance she had HIV whereas in other posts in this forum I saw the figure 1 out of 1,000 used as well as 1 out of 2,000 for exposure risk. Did you do this to show a worst case type of scenario?
So I guess I shouldn't be overly concerned with the canker sore or other spot that I may speculate is a sore? I thought I read about the canker sore being a symptom in the HIV section on this site so it certainly got me worried and I thought of it as some sort of confirmation that I have terrible luck. I should not think of it this way, huh? Oh, and for the benefit of others, I did read that not only are the causes of cankers not known, but it is believed that they could be linked to stress, lack of sleep, and rapid weight loss (as well as many others). All these occurred with me. The weight loss is due to a thermogenic supplement that has worked for me and has many reviews where it worked for others.
Thought I wrote this at 5 weeks, the STD/HIV test was done at the 3 week (22 day) mark. How much does this deviate from the 95% you mentioned? My risk is still tiny, correct?
Lastly, if you were me, and you knew what you knew, would you have sex w/ your wife? Protected or unprotected? Thank you.
1. Yes, I used the 5% figure as an absolutely worst case scenario assuming she was a commerical sex worker. It was a very conservative estimate and in all likelyhood her risk was far lower.
2. You are correct about the canker sore. It is due to somehting other than HIV.
3. At 3 weeks an HIV test would detect about 75% of HIV infections, at 5 weeks close to 95%. Either way, all things considered, your risk is tiny.
4. I would not worry that your exposure will have given you HIV and therefore would not be concerned that you could give it to your wife.
EWH
Dr. Hook,
I have one last post, if you don't mind. The clinic I went to insists that I should come back at three months. When I clarified they wanted me to come back three months after possible exposure, they said three months after the last test. This seemed odd, especially considering what you said earlier.
Is it possible that they are using a lab that uses an older test that requires 3 months post possible exposure samples?
And very last question...I know this is more appropriate in the STD forum, but if I could respectfully slip it in here I would appreciate it. If I gave a urine sample for the common STDs that required me to fill approximately 3/4" of the cup (approx 3.5" or 4" tall cup) and filled it to about 1" or 1.25" then poured out the little extra so the urine would line up with the 3/4" line, would that screw up the results? I was told as long as I didn't fill the whole cup, I should be fine.
thank you!
Pouring out a little bit of urine will not effect your test results.
The recommendations for testing at 3 and even 6 months are the result of two factors- data from older tests no longer used (you really do not need to worry about which generation of tests you were tested with, at this time virtually all tests are far more sensitive that they were even 2-3 years ago when the 3 month recommendation was made) and secondly, the fact that some mostly governmental agencies which have to provide recommendations for virtually everyone without the sort of interactions such as those you get with your doctor or n-on personalized sites such as this, feel the cannot "afford" to be wrong and therefore make recommendations and guidelines which leave most people unnecessarily nervous for 4-6 weeks longer than the 6-8 weeks it takes virtually everyone to develop HIV antibodies. EWH
Dr. Hook,
Thank you for your advice and patience. I worry a lot and tend to overanalyze. Deep down I believe that I will be okay and found to be totally clean. I plan to get tested again at 8-weeks at which point I will post my results.
On a related note, my canker sore disappeared yesterday by mid-day. I will try to calm myself down and relax a little bit. Again, thank you.
Dr. Hook,
Okay, I really wasn't expecting to post again so soon, but now I have diarrhea. It started as soft stool/borderline diarrhea yesterday (Day 39) afternoon. Then in the middle of the night at 2 a.m. it became diarrhea. I had two more episodes at 5:15 a.m. and 5:30 a.m. My little boy (under 2 yrs old) had very loose stool yesterday as well that seemed like it was diarrhea in his diaper. I don't know if this is a coincidence and/or if we both ate something at the little kids birthday party yesterday that upset our stomachs. Now I worry because I read about diarrhea being a symptom.
How worried should I be about this? Is there a minimum number of days I should be concerned with having diarrhea?
I was stressed thinking about 8 week results virtually all day yesterday--I probably thought about it for literally about 10 hours yesterday. Could I have just stressed myself into having diarrhea?
Is the symptom window 2-6 weeks or 2-20 days? I've read both. Thank you.
The onset of symptoms related to early HIV infection typically occurs 2-4 weeks following exposure.
The chances that your diarrhea is due to HIV are tiny. Youmost likely got it from your son or from something you both were exposed to.
The time has come for this thread to end. There will be no further answers. You need to stop worrying that every problem you experience might be HIV. EWH
Dr. Hook,
Thank you for all of your help and wisdom. Also, thank you for not overreacting to my borderline-neurotic posts at a time I was feeling very guilty and scared.
I just received my results today and am relieved so I thought I would share. I got tested right at the 8 week mark at a LabCorp facility.
HIV-1 Antibody Test with Reflex to Western Blot Confirmation - NEGATIVE
HIV 1/O/2 Abs, Qual - NEGATIVE
and for good measure I also got tested for Syphilis.
Syphilis Rapid Plasma Reagin (RPR) Test with Reflex to Quantitative RPR and Confirmatory TP-PA - NEGATIVE
I feel healthy and great and have not shown any kind of actual symptoms sans what I mentioned above, but we know those weren't actually anything to worry about. I am not on any kind of anti-HIV or related treatment that would cause late seroconversion (I read about this in another post) so I take it that I am "in the clear."
I would just like to confirm that there is no reason for any further testing of any kind. Also, if you wouldn't mind telling me here, 8-week testing was good enough for Syphilis, too. I got tested for this too because I thought I read somewhere that the presence of Syphilis could affect HIV results. Thank you and please let me know if the site or ASHA accepts donations.
You do not have HIV or STD and no further testing is required. End of discussion. EWH