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Avatar universal

Need a Dr.'s opinion on my situation.

Hi Dr.

  I am a male who is a daily marijuana smoker for the last 8 yrs. On 7-28-08 I had  protected vaginal sex with a prositute. After I ejaculated, I continued having intercourse for about 1 to 2 mins. When I went to pull out I realized the condom was no longer on my penis, but in her vagina. She pulled out the condom an showed me that indeed I had ejaculated in the condom. So my guess is during the 1-2 mins after I ejaculated the condom must of slipped off. That said, 2 wks later, My lymph glands under my jaw were feeling mildly sore and I started having mild night sweats around my neck and upper chest. I still have the night sweats on and off till this day, but the sore lymph glands kinda went away after about a week. I'm not so concerned with the symptoms because: 1) Symptoms don't really mean much, 2) Everybody at my work place was also getting sick due to flu/cold virus that was going around. Since the possible hiv exposure I have had:

1) Home Access Hiv-1 Test ( at 2 wks ) Negative
2) Hiv Dna Pcr Test ( at 3 wks ) Not Detected - Negative
3) Hiv Antigen/Antibody Blood Test ( at 4 wks ) Negative
4) Hiv Antigen/Antibody Blood Test ( at 8 wks ) Negative
5) Hepatitis A,B.C and Syphilis ( at 8 wks ) All Negative

  So my main question is, do you think from me smoking marijuana for such a long time daily affect my test results? Is it possible that my antibody tests are negative because my body is not producing enough antibodies to show on the tests. I still plan on getting my 3 month antibody test done in 3wks. Do you think a negative result at 3 months be conclusive for me. I have dramatically reduced my smoking habits about a month ago. Symptom wise, I am feeling pretty good other than some on and off mild night sweats. Please help shed some light on my situation!!

Thank You.
3 Responses
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300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
You have nothing whatsoever to worry about and do not need further testing.  That is the punch line.  Now let's back up and explain the basis for my statements:

1.  There are no good studies that show that regular pot smoking leads to meaningful immunosuppression or diminished response to  infection.  Thus all of the tests you have  had should be expected to perform normally in you.
2.  Your exposure was low risk.  In the situations you describe, the condom is most likely to have come off when you withdrew from your partner, not following ejaculation.  thus, I would consider your exposure to be protected and therefore very, very low risk.
3.  If you were unprotected and if she had HIV (both of which are unlikely) your chances of having gotten infected are only 1 in 1000, on average.
4.  If you go on your antibody tests alone, your 8 week test was taken at a time when 98-99% of tests would be expected to already be positive.  when you add in that you also had PCR and antigen tests, I am confident that you did not get HIV from the exposure you describe.

In my opinion, you can stop worrying.  You did not get HIV, hepatitis, or syphilis form the exposure you describe.  it is time to forget about it and move on.  No further testing is needed.  EWH
Helpful - 1
300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Regarding the first question, someone infected by a partner with a low virus concentration is likely to develop infection (and positive tests) at the same rate as if they were infected by a person with a highconcnetration.

the answer to the second question is very s imple -NO!  EWH

Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
  Thank you for clearing that up for me. My general doctor ( same doctor who did the antigen/antibody blood tests for me ) also kinda said the same thing, but I never did go over with him about the smoking marijuana part. At the time I didn't feel it was important. Only later after reading some info on smoking marijuana on the internet, did I think it might be a concern. From what I read, marijuana could lower your immune system, therefore also lower your antibody count that fights virus. So as you might suspect, I started getting worried that all those years of smoking marijuana daily might have had a much slower than normal response on my immune system. Therefore, causing me to always test negative on my antibody tests. Thank for helping me feel much better Dr. Hook.

If I could, may I bother you for two more question? If a hiv infected person with a very low viral count, infects another person. Does that mean that the person that has just been infected will only built up the virus very slowly within them. Being that they were only infected with such a small amount. In other words, would it be possible that the newly infected person might take a very long time ( more than 3,6 or 9 months ) to turn up hiv positive in a antibody test. Because they were infected with such a small hiv virus amount.

  And my second question is ( I'll make it short ). Let's say a person has tested negative all the way through their 3rd month, but still has tons of symptoms. Is it possible that person is really hiv positive, but it doesn't show on a antibody test because their immune system is just not producing enough antibodies to show positive results on their tests.

These are just some questions that seem to linger in the back of my head. It's would be awesome if you could answer them for me.

Thanks Again Dr. Hook for your knowledge!



  
Helpful - 0

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