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This is my story, can someone answer these questions?
by scared83, Jan 30, 2007 12:00AM
I live in New York City and attend college. In mid-December I got a little drunk after a final and all my inhibitions went. I went home late and went to a “working-girl” from China who was around 40. First time I’d ever done something as putrid as that and the only time I will ever. I will regret it until my dying days. Well, we had protective inserted vaginal and she gave me a blowjob. I know protected sex is low risk exposure. Well the condom was not rolled up the entire way. And I had a scab that I had picked on top of my penis (open cut). Also, My fingers had touched the woman’s vagina and she was wet. And I got all over my finger. I had a huge cut on my finger as well
Well the next morning I woke up tremendously fatigued and felt sick. I couldn’t move a muscle. Before I went to bed, I took a Meflaquin pill (Malaria, because I was scheduled to go to Africa the next week). The next morning, I felt EVER WORSE.
I went on PEP and finished up about two weeks ago.I wasn’t sick in that month but I did have the many side-effects of the drugs.After I was done with PEP I went for another HIV test and that came back negative. I haven’t been Sick (other than the two days after the exposure). The diarrhea is persistent and has not gone away even after I’ve stopped PEP. It’s a pain. It happens 2/3/4 times a day.And my hemorrhoids are out of control now. My heartbeat is also whopping (it has been between 90 and 110 since the day I visited the working girl). My head and throat are also very warm (but I haven’t had a temperature over 98).And I feel fatigued now (Jan 30th).HELP
Well the next morning I woke up tremendously fatigued and felt sick. I couldn’t move a muscle. Before I went to bed, I took a Meflaquin pill (Malaria, because I was scheduled to go to Africa the next week). The next morning, I felt EVER WORSE.
I went on PEP and finished up about two weeks ago.I wasn’t sick in that month but I did have the many side-effects of the drugs.After I was done with PEP I went for another HIV test and that came back negative. I haven’t been Sick (other than the two days after the exposure). The diarrhea is persistent and has not gone away even after I’ve stopped PEP. It’s a pain. It happens 2/3/4 times a day.And my hemorrhoids are out of control now. My heartbeat is also whopping (it has been between 90 and 110 since the day I visited the working girl). My head and throat are also very warm (but I haven’t had a temperature over 98).And I feel fatigued now (Jan 30th).HELP
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Thanks
But this quote pretty much sums up the infinitessimal chance you have:
"I went on PEP and finished up about two weeks ago.I wasn't sick in that month but I did have the many side-effects of the drugs.After I was done with PEP I went for another HIV test and that came back negative."
A couple of things to put your mind at ease.
You tested for HIV and it was negative. I don't think you said how long after exposure, but if this was at 6 weeks post-exposure, you can be pretty confident of it as the standard Ab tests would pick up 90-95% of seroconversions by then.
If your cut was covered by the condom, you're still protected. Zero risk. Even if it wasn't, you said it had scabbed over which again would make HIV transmission impossible through such a contact.
There are no documented cases of hand-genital transmission of HIV so you don't have to worry about that either.
The risk of receiving unprotected oral sex is also incredibly low (estimated 1 in 20000) and may well be zero depending on the studies you look at (there's a Spanish study that recorded 19000 events of unprotected oral sex between 135 HIV+ and HIV- couples over 10 years with no seroconversions).
Your symptoms were way too fast for ARS. It normally takes 2-3 weeks for symptoms to develop and even then, it doesn't occur in all people who seroconvert. I'm no doctor, but it looks like a lot of symptoms were more due to the anti-malarials and PEP you were taking...
That's what I'm scared (very) about. I'm hoping the PEP worked but only GOD knows. I don't know why I still have crazy diarrhea.
I know from experience.
You do not have HIV. Neither do I.
Lets try to raise ourselves out of this psychosomatic pit of hell.
This possibility is as close to 100% as you can get. No, actually it is 100%
Next, look at all the things that can cause diarrhea and fatigue. Aside from countless bacteria and viruses in the world, you have the possibility that your stress and anxiety from the last 3 months have finally caught up with you.
You also have the possibilty that the PEP caused some digestive problems for you.
Who knows what it is?
These thoughts of doom are a habit, and I know that it is hard to talk yourself out of it, but it is the only way to do it.
I too am a bit surprised that you would have been prescribed PEP for the encounter that you described. I'd be curious to hear what the doctor would think of this. I would have thought that the risk of an adverse reaction to PEP, which may have serious side effects, would have far outweighed the risk that you might have contracted HIV, thus, it would not have been indicated. Then again, I'm not a doctor, so...
Having said all of this, let's put aside the debate about whether PEP was warranted in this situation, and let us discuss instead your HIV test, which was negative 5 full weeks after finishing PEP. From what I have read, except in cases of coinfection with Hepatitis, PEP would not delay seroconversion much at all, if any. Thus, a negative test 5 weeks after finishing PEP, and 28 days after the initial encounter, really is an excellent indicator that you are indeed HIV negative. I am sure your doctor will want to follow up with a final test at 13 weeks, but, your negative combined with the initial risk factor sounds like you are going to be just fine.
Oops, left something out. Considering that PEP was administered in this case, whether it was warranted or not, your doctor may want to follow up with testing at both 13 weeks/6 months after possible exposure. Sorry about that.
Thank You
Actually, yes, as, from what I have read (I hasten to point out, if I have not done so, that I am not a doctor) PEP is not likely to delay seroconversion. Given that a vast majority will seroconvert by the 6th week, your 5 week test is indeed very, very encouraging.