Welcome to the forum.
You had protected sex. Condoms work and hand-genital contact never transmits HIV. All the business about possible minor exposure to secretions despite the condomr about boils on your skin make no difference; HIV is harder to transmit than that. Your symptoms are not typical of HIV and should be no cause for worry; most of what you are experiencing are just the physical manifestations of anxiety and guilt over a sexual choice you regret. On top of all that, under 1% of sex workers (in most areas, under 1 in 1,000) have HIV -- so it is very unlikely you were exposed anyway.
The reliability of an HIV test at 19 days depends on exactly what test was done. If it is an antibody test, it's at least 50% reliable; if a combo test for both HIV antibody and p24 antigen, it's probably 75% reliable. An other antibody test at 6 weeks, or a combo test at 4 weeks, would be 100% reliable.
If I were in your situation, I would not feel any need for HIV testing and I would continue unprotected sex with my wife, with no fear of infecting her with HIV or anything else. I encourage you to resume sex with your wife. But since you're so worried, I recommend you have another HIV test despite being at no risk; another negative result probably will help reassure you more than my words can do. In the meantime, also consider this: in the 8+ years of this forum, not a single person had turned out to catch HIV from an exposure that concerned them. With a zero risk event like this, you're not going to be the first.
Really, mellow out. This was a zero risk event and you should not be at all worried. Don't confuse your feelings of guilt about your sexual choice with STD/HIV risk. They aren't the same.
Best wishes. I hope this has helped --- HHH, MD
See
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/1704700
Yes, 30 days is too late for onset of new herpes -- and a pimple at the base of the penis is not a likely herpes symptom anyway.
This time it really is my last comment. This thread is closed.
Hi doctor i'm so sorry to comment again, i just have one last question then i will not post again. I plan on going tomorrow and getting an antibody test done via rapid response finger prick at 35 days how conclusive can that be considered i see varying reports some say 90 percent while others dismiss this figure. please help me to remain calm, also is 30 days to late for a herpes pimple to appear on the base of my penis shaft its only one no others visible
These symptoms are not suggestive of a new HIV infection, regardless of what you think you learned online. Every symptom common in HIV is also common in innumerable other medical conditions, mostly mild. You simply cannot look at lists of HIV symptoms, check them off, and then judge the chance you have it. Things don't work that way.
My advice, in addition to the things I've said above, is that you totally stop any and all online searching about any of this. Like many anxious persons, you are being selectively drawn to information that inflames your fears and tend not to "see" the reassuring bits. Give it a rest.
That's my last comment on this thread.
thank you very much dr. i only have one more question, i find myself getting very warm the last 5-6 days and sweating even when i am not thinking about the possibility of having contracted it. that coupled with my severe diarrhea, and my slight sore throat has me worried about seroconversion,my first thought was that it was all stress related but even now after relaxing considerably it is still happening i do not have a fever nor have i developed any rashs as far as i could tell does this sound like it could be a possibility. is a feeling of warmth and sweating associated with seroconversion i know from research that diarrhea and sore throat are one also. And would my sore throat be severe or just a light soreness. thank you again so much for you time, this will be my last question.
Almost every vaginal sex exposure involves a certain amount of skin contact with vaginal secretions, even with a condom. But never sufficient to transmit HIV, which requires that large amounts of virus come into contact with susceptible cells. Even with entirely unprotected vaginal sex, if the woman has HIV, the average transmission risk to males partners is once for every 2,000 exposures -- which is one of the reasons many spouses of HIV infected people remain free of the virus for many years. HIV is indeed killed on exposure to air, but that doesn't matter. The biological reasons exposures like yours are low risk really don't matter; the fact is that nobody with exposures like yours ever turns up with HIV.
As for time to positive test results and conflicting advice, the reasons have been discussed several times on this forum. Here is one of the threads:
www.medhelp.org/posts/show/1704700
So do your best to accept the reasoned, science-based advice you have had, mellow out, and stop worrying about it. As I said, if I ever found myself in your situation, I wouldn't even be tested and I would continue unprotected sex with my wife. Really!
So you are saying that the possibility we vaginal fluids were transferred to her hand from the condom to my unprotected penis are non-existent? Also I have developed a slight sore throat the last few days it is worrying me that it could be an ars symptom, would the site throat be severe ? Also was the detail that I was given that HIV is killed when it hits the air true ? I also believe it was an antibody test, the rapid response finger prick test, at 6 weeks you say this is 100% accurate, then why was I told at the clinic it would take 3 months. I'm sorry to ask more questions I just remain a nervous wreck, while your answer helped to calm me considerably I finally got to sleep last night I prey that these last remaining question will put me totaly at ease so I can at least make it to the 6 week mark without losing my job, wife, and sanity! Thank you doctor