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HIV Prevention (Expert Forum)
Four weeks after unprotected sex
Answered by
Edward W Hook, MD - HIV Prevention, stds
Four weeks after unprotected sex
by 909891, Nov 10, 2009 07:31PM
Hello,
I'm 22, male, student, in average physical condition
I was out on the town nearly four weeks ago, got drunk and met a girl living in a student complex. She invited me into her apartment and we had unprotected vaginal and oral sex, I never saw that girl again. At my friend's advice, got tested several days later for Gonnorhea and Chlyamidia - NEGATIVE.
A week or so later, I was suffering from anxiety attacks due to my worrying over if I had caught HIV, I had burning skin, headaches, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue; as well a sore throat from a previous cold creeping back up. All cleared up within four days except headaches that persisted for over a week until they too cleared.
I thought I was going to be alright, but Sunday night I developed a swelling in my left armpit. There's a bit of a sore pain to it, but no indication of redness of a rash. As well, I cannot seem to find any lymph nodes, or at least any enlarged ones. The only thing is that the flesh in and around the left armpit feels fatter or swollen than the right, as well, my left pectoral muscle feels a bit swollen. Also, I can feel some pain around my upper abdominal area around the same time as the armpit, but it is not persistant. I want to know if that can be linked to HIV or hopefully just to my anxiety.
I do plan to get a p24 antigen test later on this week, but I want to be prepared or at least have a little reassurance.
Thank you
I'm 22, male, student, in average physical condition
I was out on the town nearly four weeks ago, got drunk and met a girl living in a student complex. She invited me into her apartment and we had unprotected vaginal and oral sex, I never saw that girl again. At my friend's advice, got tested several days later for Gonnorhea and Chlyamidia - NEGATIVE.
A week or so later, I was suffering from anxiety attacks due to my worrying over if I had caught HIV, I had burning skin, headaches, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue; as well a sore throat from a previous cold creeping back up. All cleared up within four days except headaches that persisted for over a week until they too cleared.
I thought I was going to be alright, but Sunday night I developed a swelling in my left armpit. There's a bit of a sore pain to it, but no indication of redness of a rash. As well, I cannot seem to find any lymph nodes, or at least any enlarged ones. The only thing is that the flesh in and around the left armpit feels fatter or swollen than the right, as well, my left pectoral muscle feels a bit swollen. Also, I can feel some pain around my upper abdominal area around the same time as the armpit, but it is not persistant. I want to know if that can be linked to HIV or hopefully just to my anxiety.
I do plan to get a p24 antigen test later on this week, but I want to be prepared or at least have a little reassurance.
Thank you
Doctor's Answer
by Edward W Hook, MD, Nov 10, 2009 10:17PM
, Nov 10, 2009 10:17PM
Your risk for HIV is tiny. Assuming that you are in North Americas and your partner was not an IV drug user, the chance she had HIV is less than 1 in 1000. If she had HIV, there is virtually no chance of getting it form oral sex and the risk from a single episode of unprotected vaginal sex is less than 1 infection per 1000 exposures. Thus, statistically the chance that you got HIV is about 1 in a million.
Stop poking around for lymph nodes or looking for symptoms. It is a waste of time. Just go on an get tested. It will be negative. Best to wait to be tested however until after 6-8 weeks. At that time the results will be more completely reliable at 4 weeks when only about 90% of infections would be detected by testing.
Hope this helps. Your really have just about nothing to worry about.. EWH
Stop poking around for lymph nodes or looking for symptoms. It is a waste of time. Just go on an get tested. It will be negative. Best to wait to be tested however until after 6-8 weeks. At that time the results will be more completely reliable at 4 weeks when only about 90% of infections would be detected by testing.
Hope this helps. Your really have just about nothing to worry about.. EWH
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