You are right to be cautious in interpreting what you can find on the web. However, you can pretty much rely on information from heatlh departments and other professional sources, especially those that are professionally monitored. Just be selective and use common sense.
I don't know Wyoming's statistics off the top of my head, but I am sure they are on the low side for all risks related to heterosexual HIV transmission. Probably few infected heterosexual men and women live there, both in absolute numbers and as a proportion of the population. A bar pick-up in Cheyenne probably is quite a bit less likely to have HIV than one in New York, Washington DC, or Miami, for example.
Thanks for the thanks about the forum.
I am in the US, wyoming to be specific. I did read some of the posts by other people they were helpful. I did try and read some stuff on the internet and get some information but took most of the advice with a grain of salt. I wasn't sure what stuff to believe so I figured I had better get some professional advice. I usually don't do what I did, maybe thats why I was so worried. I am not quite sure what you mean with exposures like mine? Because of the fact that it was intercourse and I am male? Anyway, thank you so much now I can get back to my somewhat normal stressed life without this to worry about. You have no idea how much better you have made me feel. Thanks you once again, this site is awesome.
No risk here. You obviously have a major miconception of HIV risks. Despite what you assume or think you have learned, almost nobody in the US or industrialized countries catches HIV after exposures like yours. Do you really imagine that every person with a new, non-monogamous sexual encounter runs out to get PEP?
1) You don't say where you are. If in the US: chance your partner had HIV, average 1 in 1,000. Chance of catching HIV for each episode of unprotected vaginal sex with an infected woman, average 1 in 1,2000. (That's for sex that lasts a while. Your risk is lower.) That makes your risk of having caught HIV around 1 in 2 million, tops. How low is that? Living in the US, the odds you will be dead within a year from an accident are 1 in 1,756, which is 1,100 times higher than the chance you caught HIV. In other words, zero for practical purposes. (But don't forget to use your seat belt!)
2) PEP is around 70-80% effective, last I heard. But you won't be able to find any provider to prescribe it. You don't meet any agency's standard criteria for PEP. The risk has to be much higher than yours.
3) The chance of a fatal side effect from the drugs probably is higher than the chance you caught HIV. As for other side effects, address that with a provider if you can find one to prescribe it.
4) No. You don't even need HIV testing, based on the exposure you describe.
You can find many discussions about the low risk of HIV from heterosexual exposure by reading just about any 10-15 threads at random. Truly, you have no worries here.
Regards-- HHH, MD