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Oral Crisis
Hello, three months ago I had oral sex with a woman. She was white and in her late 30's, she is not a IV drug user she does, however, have multiple partners. When I asked her, her status she said she, she doensn't have HIV and was tested last time in 2007. She likes to give oral sex and has a tendency to swallow with the tow guys she has been with. I know she has herpes and was up front about that. We did was engage in Oral sex, I gave it to her. My tongue did not go into her vagina, I stayed on her clit and hood. I have read that the chance of contracting HIV during oral sex is 1 in 10,000 if the person is infected and I was fine with that stat, until I got what I think is thrush. Now I have not had it diagnosed by a professional, I just woke up on morning with a coating on my tongue. I scraped it off and there were no sores, or bleeding and it has not come back. But since then I have a sore throat, the roof of my mouth has been tender for 3 days. I don't know if I am obessesing or if I have a real concern here. I don't know what I should be looking for, or who to see if I think I have thrush, my doctor or dentist. The coating has not returned either. I was tested last year for HIV and it came back negative, but I feel as though I should take another test. I am just worried that my Thrush might mean I have HIV. I read that it is difficult to catch STD and HIV via oral sex and that there is no reported history that proves this case. But are my concerns realistic? I don't want to retest if I dont have to, but this discomfort I am having in my mouth is distrubing.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Oh good grief. You're the one who decided to get tested, or at least suggested you might do it. I just said if you're going to do that, it's best to go through a health care provider. Re-read my reply above and try not to split hairs about anything I said either there or in follow-up comments.
Are you suggesting the I see my primary physician? I thought you said I wasn't at risk for anything HIV related. I was stating if my anxiety towards the situation continued, that I would seek testing. But other than that I had no plans on seeking another opinion other than the one you gave me. My main concern was my risk for HIV, then I would go from there.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Glad to have helped. But getting tested through LabCore is not the smartest move, in my opinion. When new problems are symptoms are present, most people who depend on selecting their own tests through lab services, without professional assessment, lose money in the long run and often pay overt or hidden costs in poor quality of care. Such services are fine for screening tests, such as routine HIV test every couple of years if at risk, cholesterol check-up, etc. But they definitely are not a substitute for professional evaluation of acute medical problems or when symptoms are present.
This is certainly reassuring, and has eased the nervous feelings I was having. I will look into my mouth issues. But I will no longer attribute them to HIV and my unprotected incident. I might take a test if, it continues to bother me. I am in the states and I usually just go to labcorp for a test, so no physican is avaiable for exam. Thanks again
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the HIV forum.
Starting with the opening line of your question, before I read anything else: Oral sex rarely transmits HIV. Transmission by oral-vaginal contact (cunnilingus) is not known to occur, even though it seems theoretically possible; and oral-to-penile transmission has been estimated to have a risk no higher than once per 20,000 exposures, if the oral partner has HIV. (That's equivalent to receiving oral sex by HIV infected partners once a day for 55 years and maybe never getting infected.) Second, if you are in the US or other industrialized countries, the chance your partner had HIV probably is very low. So unless there is surprising information after the first line, most likely you should be having no HIV worries on account of your recent sexual adventures. These issues have been discussed innumerable times on the forum, among the most common of all questions asked. (Did you heed the advice in the Disclaimer message to look for similar questions and replies?)
Now I have read the rest of your question. Guess what? (But I'm happy to see that in fact you have looked at other threads and have a general idea about the low risks here.)
As I said, cunnlingus carries no known risk, and you describe a partner who almost certainly didn't have HIV. Whether or not you had an oral yeast infection (thrush) afterward makes no difference. Not all white spots in the mouth or coated tongue is due to yeast, so maybe that's not what you had; but in any case, oral yeast infections can be acquired by oral sex if the female partner has a vaginal yeast infection, and such infections do not indicate immune deficiency. (It once happened to me, so I can relate.)
Your partner's history of (genital?) herpes raises the slight possibility that you acquried an oral HSV infection. However, that would usually be a lot more severe than you seem to have had; the symptoms would have started within a few days of exposure; and then they would have definitely cleared up long before now.
From a strictly medical or risk assessment perspective, you don't need HIV tesing. But since you're nervous about it, you should have a test to prove to yourself that you don't have it. The provider who does the test can also check out your oral symptoms. If you are in the UK (that's a guess because the term "thrush" is common there but not common in the US), visit your local NHS GUM clinic for highly expert evaluation, HIV testing, and reassurance. Or visit the equivalent sort of STD/HIV service in whatever country you reside.
In the meantime, don't lose a lot of sleep over this. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
Starting with the opening line of your question, before I read anything else: Oral sex rarely transmits HIV. Transmission by oral-vaginal contact (cunnilingus) is not known to occur, even though it seems theoretically possible; and oral-to-penile transmission has been estimated to have a risk no higher than once per 20,000 exposures, if the oral partner has HIV. (That's equivalent to receiving oral sex by HIV infected partners once a day for 55 years and maybe never getting infected.) Second, if you are in the US or other industrialized countries, the chance your partner had HIV probably is very low. So unless there is surprising information after the first line, most likely you should be having no HIV worries on account of your recent sexual adventures. These issues have been discussed innumerable times on the forum, among the most common of all questions asked. (Did you heed the advice in the Disclaimer message to look for similar questions and replies?)
Now I have read the rest of your question. Guess what? (But I'm happy to see that in fact you have looked at other threads and have a general idea about the low risks here.)
As I said, cunnlingus carries no known risk, and you describe a partner who almost certainly didn't have HIV. Whether or not you had an oral yeast infection (thrush) afterward makes no difference. Not all white spots in the mouth or coated tongue is due to yeast, so maybe that's not what you had; but in any case, oral yeast infections can be acquired by oral sex if the female partner has a vaginal yeast infection, and such infections do not indicate immune deficiency. (It once happened to me, so I can relate.)
Your partner's history of (genital?) herpes raises the slight possibility that you acquried an oral HSV infection. However, that would usually be a lot more severe than you seem to have had; the symptoms would have started within a few days of exposure; and then they would have definitely cleared up long before now.
From a strictly medical or risk assessment perspective, you don't need HIV tesing. But since you're nervous about it, you should have a test to prove to yourself that you don't have it. The provider who does the test can also check out your oral symptoms. If you are in the UK (that's a guess because the term "thrush" is common there but not common in the US), visit your local NHS GUM clinic for highly expert evaluation, HIV testing, and reassurance. Or visit the equivalent sort of STD/HIV service in whatever country you reside.
In the meantime, don't lose a lot of sleep over this. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
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