Aa
oral sex exposure
Dear Dr. Handsfield,
on Oct. 22nd, i had sex with a girl i was recently seeing. we had protected sex but i performed oral sex on her (which didnt take long, and she had washed her private area beforehand). i later found out that she had had unprotected sex with her 2 previous boyfriends.
that already got me worried. what is getting me rather freaked out is the following:
- for a week before our encounter, she had pain in her ear and throat, i only remember this in retrospect
- the day before yesterday she was vomiting
- 5 days later i started sneezing and developing itchiness in my throat before i got a full blown sore throat exactly a week after the encounter (yesterday Thursday Oct 29) with symptoms of flu like coughing, nausea and headache.
i have read in your forum and elsewhere that cunnilingus bears very low risk of HIV contraction, nevertheless i am getting pretty worried.
do you think there is a chance i may have caught it and i am going through Acute HIV Infection? the sore throat and the flu symptoms i got, so short after my encounter with her are getting me real worried.
also the girl persisted in saying that when she slept with her ex boyfriends, they never came inside of her. is there still a risk for HIV infection for her in such a case?
your advice would be most appreciated.
Many thanks
on Oct. 22nd, i had sex with a girl i was recently seeing. we had protected sex but i performed oral sex on her (which didnt take long, and she had washed her private area beforehand). i later found out that she had had unprotected sex with her 2 previous boyfriends.
that already got me worried. what is getting me rather freaked out is the following:
- for a week before our encounter, she had pain in her ear and throat, i only remember this in retrospect
- the day before yesterday she was vomiting
- 5 days later i started sneezing and developing itchiness in my throat before i got a full blown sore throat exactly a week after the encounter (yesterday Thursday Oct 29) with symptoms of flu like coughing, nausea and headache.
i have read in your forum and elsewhere that cunnilingus bears very low risk of HIV contraction, nevertheless i am getting pretty worried.
do you think there is a chance i may have caught it and i am going through Acute HIV Infection? the sore throat and the flu symptoms i got, so short after my encounter with her are getting me real worried.
also the girl persisted in saying that when she slept with her ex boyfriends, they never came inside of her. is there still a risk for HIV infection for her in such a case?
your advice would be most appreciated.
Many thanks
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I don't have time for this sort of silliness. It is a waste of your energy and time to be thinking this way.
Here's a final bit of advice, intended as friendly: Your questions and your choice of username all suggest you have an unrealistic and unhealthy obsession with HIV. And if you're really asking your sex partners (or potential partners) detailed questions about their past sexual experiences, you're going to have a devil of a time ever forging a healthy relationship yourself. These are not normal patterns of thought and it could be a sign of a serious underlying mental health disorder that might benefit from professional attention. I suggest it out of compassion, not criticism.
That's all for this thread.
Here's a final bit of advice, intended as friendly: Your questions and your choice of username all suggest you have an unrealistic and unhealthy obsession with HIV. And if you're really asking your sex partners (or potential partners) detailed questions about their past sexual experiences, you're going to have a devil of a time ever forging a healthy relationship yourself. These are not normal patterns of thought and it could be a sign of a serious underlying mental health disorder that might benefit from professional attention. I suggest it out of compassion, not criticism.
That's all for this thread.
thank you for all the advice doctor. very quick question related to my partner and that will be the last thing from me on this thread.
if she had unprotected sex with her previous boyfriends but they never came inside. is that considered very low risk exposure or is there a good chance to catch HIV assuming the other partner had it?
many thanks again for everything. you have been so helpful.
if she had unprotected sex with her previous boyfriends but they never came inside. is that considered very low risk exposure or is there a good chance to catch HIV assuming the other partner had it?
many thanks again for everything. you have been so helpful.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
You are way over concerned about HIV. I can understand how that anxiety has been reinforced by your equivocal ELISA results. But now that it has happened a couple of times, it should not be "traumatic" to be retested from time to time; you know exactly what to expect, and that will be negative WB results every time. Your lifestyle is obviously low risk, assuming you are strictly heterosexual and not bi, and assuming you use a little common sense in partner selection (e.g., no injection drug users, no unprotected commercial sex). If so, you can expect to go a lifetime without catching HIV. You definitely do not need to be tested any more often than once a year, and every 2-3 years should be fine unless you have a particularly high risk event, like sex with someone with known HIV.
In answer to your specific question: yes, your symptoms started too soon to be due to ARS -- yet another reason you should be having no worries about it.
In answer to your specific question: yes, your symptoms started too soon to be due to ARS -- yet another reason you should be having no worries about it.
many thanks Doctor, that is very helpful.i feel much better already.
also since symptoms started a week after exposure, this is a bit too early for Acute HIV Infection in any case, right?
i agree with you that i have to persiodically test myself. last time i tested was March 2009 and i am thinking of testing again.
testing for me however has always been traumatic.
for some reason, since i can remember, everytime i test for HIV through ELIZA or any antibody test, the result is always inconclusive. i only get a negative result after i do western blot or pcr. you can imagine in what state i become everytime this happens.
i have been told by doctors that this was a frequent occurence but i never understood why.
also i live in Dubai where HIV and other STDs are still considered taboos and you dont find many dedicated health clinics, hence i was never able to get a satisfactory answer.
also since symptoms started a week after exposure, this is a bit too early for Acute HIV Infection in any case, right?
i agree with you that i have to persiodically test myself. last time i tested was March 2009 and i am thinking of testing again.
testing for me however has always been traumatic.
for some reason, since i can remember, everytime i test for HIV through ELIZA or any antibody test, the result is always inconclusive. i only get a negative result after i do western blot or pcr. you can imagine in what state i become everytime this happens.
i have been told by doctors that this was a frequent occurence but i never understood why.
also i live in Dubai where HIV and other STDs are still considered taboos and you dont find many dedicated health clinics, hence i was never able to get a satisfactory answer.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the HIV forum. You can relax. You don't have HIV.
You describe a partner who almost certainly does not have HIV (assuming you are in the US or other industrialized country); an exposure that has extremely low risk of transmisison, even if she had been infected; and symptoms in both you and your partner that do not suggest HIV.
The "flu like" symptoms people talk about -- either for influenza itself or for infections that mimic it, like acute HIV -- mean fever, headache, muscle aching, and often (but not necessarily) sore throat. Cough occurs with real influenza, but not acute HIV. Sneezing, stuffy nose, ear symptoms, nausea, and vomiting are not typical for HIV -- they are not typical for influenza either, but could go along with it.
All things considered, HIV is an extremely unlikely explanation for the symptoms you describe. You and your partner are sharing a cold or other garden variety viral infection. Or maybe the flu itself; H1N1 influenza is going around, as you know from the news reports. Whatever the cause, one of you might have caught it from the other, or from anyone else in your environment. But there is not a hint of HIV (or any other STD) in this situation.
On the basis of these events, you do not need testing for HIV. However, all sexually active people (outside mutually monogamous relationships) should be tested from time to time for HIV and common STDS, like chlamydia and gonorrhea. Assuming you have not been tested for these infections recently, this would be a good time for both you and your partner, since is on your mind. But not because of this exposure and symptoms.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
You describe a partner who almost certainly does not have HIV (assuming you are in the US or other industrialized country); an exposure that has extremely low risk of transmisison, even if she had been infected; and symptoms in both you and your partner that do not suggest HIV.
The "flu like" symptoms people talk about -- either for influenza itself or for infections that mimic it, like acute HIV -- mean fever, headache, muscle aching, and often (but not necessarily) sore throat. Cough occurs with real influenza, but not acute HIV. Sneezing, stuffy nose, ear symptoms, nausea, and vomiting are not typical for HIV -- they are not typical for influenza either, but could go along with it.
All things considered, HIV is an extremely unlikely explanation for the symptoms you describe. You and your partner are sharing a cold or other garden variety viral infection. Or maybe the flu itself; H1N1 influenza is going around, as you know from the news reports. Whatever the cause, one of you might have caught it from the other, or from anyone else in your environment. But there is not a hint of HIV (or any other STD) in this situation.
On the basis of these events, you do not need testing for HIV. However, all sexually active people (outside mutually monogamous relationships) should be tested from time to time for HIV and common STDS, like chlamydia and gonorrhea. Assuming you have not been tested for these infections recently, this would be a good time for both you and your partner, since is on your mind. But not because of this exposure and symptoms.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
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