Freaked

[John1258]

I had my 1st and only encounter with a gay man on Jan 17. 4 days later, I had a vasectomy. I was receiving anal with a condom. Before intercourse, he rubbed his penis against my anus. I did feel pre-***. During the 20 minutes or so anal, the condom was secure & didnt break. He didn't ejaculate. Then he took his condom off and I gave him a handjob until he orgasmed. Some landed in my bellybutton for 5 minutes before I took a shower. There was no other contact.

I asked beforehand, 2x (email), if he was disease free, and specifically hiv. He said he was clean on all accounts - since his test -- 3rd week of Dec. Although he said he was hiv negative, he did sound shaky. Not sure why I didnt pick up on it then. He then told me that he was with one other guy since that test, but he didnt go into the encounter.

So, on Feb 2, I carried 3 cases of water about 50 yds, then 2 hours later, my groin lymph nodes became swollen. Then I had small sores in my mouth. 5 sores over the next 2 days. They healed very quickly. I just chalked up the swollen nodes to a post-vasectomy issue, & the mouth sores up to herpes, which I've had for yrs. Although, outbreaks are rare.

This quickly turned to stress. I lost my appetite (didn't eat for 3 days), & I've had night sweats the last 3 days. Not profuse, but noticable. Also, I hardly sleep lately. A few hrs here & there, waking up abruptly, and scared. I've had some numbness in my extremeties, & my last 2 bowel movements have been diarrhea. Lastly, I have seborrhic dermatitis in my outer left ear now.

These are my only symptoms.

A rapid hiv test is scheduled for Feb 9 -- 23 days since the episode.

Should I be worried about my result?

I'm hoping my stress (possibly psychosymatic) is the actual cause for most of my symptoms.

I called this guy back a few days ago, and asked him again about his hiv stauts. He says he's negative, but says it with a lack of conviction.

I'm very stressed. Please help. Thank you, Sir.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

You do not have HIV.  I say this emphatically.  Even if your partner did have HIV, you used a condom during your rectal exposure and otherwise had no meaningful contact.  HIV has never been spread by simply rubbing or by exposure to another's genital secretions in the context of masturbation.  In fact, it is perfectly typical for there to be some contact with a partner's secretions during episodes of mutual masturbation.

As for your "symptoms", they do not suggest HIV at all either.  Lymph node swelling for HIV does not arise suddenly and is a non-specific finding.   Oral ulcers and seborrheic dermatitis occur in person with and with HIV with most cases occurring in persons who do not have HIV.  Diarrhea is readily induced by stress.

My advice. You have NOTHING to worry about.  Your test at 23 days will be negative.  Repeat it at 6 weeks,.  that test will also be negative and will provide you with final proof that you do not have HIV.  Please do not worry.  There is no plausible medical reason to do so.  EWH

[John1258]

Thanks so, so much. Last question: Would the sperm antibodies my body is producing, becasue of the vasectomy, cause a false positive on an hiv test?