Worried about HIV

[butterfly11]

hello,I have had unprotected sexual intercourse with 3 different partners, but only one time each.(one night stands so to speak). I know that was extremely dumb of me, however there was no ejaculation inside of me, but as I understand the pre-ejaculation can be enough to infect someone.is that correct?
     According to my partners they are clear of disease, but i don't know for sure. I'm scared of the consequences because of that pre-ejaculation. I've been reading on the initial symptoms of being infected with HIV and it stated that shortness of breath and dry coughs are two of them, but they didn't state how long these early symptoms would last. i had a dry cough a few days after the last sexual activity, but it didn't last long at all and i had shortness of breath while i was jogging, which i never do. i'm not sure if i'm just being too paranoid, or if they are signs of early stages. what do u think? I’ve alsoe had occasional headaches, which I never used to get.
       other than that i really haven't felt any different. My last questions are how long do the symptoms last?
      as i read they go away and the person is left to be their normal self, but just infected. Also, Do you think my chances of being infected are at risk? even though i've read that the chances of being infected by unprotected sex with a partner during ONE occasion, has low chances of infection. Please help! I could use all the expert opinion I can get.
  Thank you for your time. :)

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

You don't say your sex, but I'm assuming you're a woman.  If you are a man, then unprotected anal sex (if that's what you mean by intercourse) with casual partners of  course is very high risk for HIV and other STDs.  But as a woman, your actual risks for HIV probably were very low.  Of course this depends a lot on your partners' sexual histories, which you don't know.  But if they are outwardly heterosexual and therefore unlikely to have had regular sex with other men, and if they were not injection drug users, former prisoners, or immigrants from countries with high rates of HIV/AIDS, then the chance they had HIV is very low.  Even if infected, the average chance of HIV transmission is around 1 in every 1,000 episodes of unprotected vaginal intercourse.

Just about every symptom of most infections can be associated with HIV.  However, dry cough for a few days is not evidence of HIV; and nobody with acute retroviral syndrome (ARS, acute HIV infection) has only one or two symptoms, but several of them.  And fever is just about always present.  Almost certainly you just caught a cold or have a garden variety allergy or bronchitis.

But the thing to do to relieve your anxieties is to stop seeking answers from websites, or even from forums like this one, and have an HIV test.  Testing any time 6 weeks or more after the last possible exposure is highly reliable.  Almost certainly the result will be negative.  And also get tested for common STDs, especially gonorrhea and chlamydia; your risk for those infections is far higher than for HIV.  Also have a syphilis blood test to be safe.

Oh, yeah.  Don't forget condoms next time.  It is truly dumb to have casual sex with unknown partners without a condom.  Sounds like you need to start carrying them with you wherever you go.

Best wishes--  HHH, MD

[regularjoey]

Every adult should get tested once in a while, so do it.
But expect negative results, your risk was low.

[SoStumped]

Symptoms are never a good indicator of HIV. Get tested if your that worried. I read soo many forums and Dr. H taught me alot.  Your not playing it safe though...You should aways use a condom.  Stop researching symptoms of HIV..it will make you more paranoid. Just get tested in approx. 6-8 weeks and until then take it easy. If your partners were high risk- get tested again at 3months.  ARS symptoms dont come earlier than 7-10 days so i doubt your cough is related to that....perhaps stress?

God bless..Good luck....hope that helped alittle...

[butterfly11]

i'm sorry, i did forget to mention I am a heterosexual female and my partners I know for a fact have not dealt with any injections or homosexual activity.
and i did mean unprotected vaginal intercourse.

Although, I know i played it unsafe and i will be taking a test soon, i was also wondering how long those symptoms last at the beginning which could be possible signs. I never had a fever nor did i feel different from those minimum symptoms i described earlier. i just want to know if my exposure with those partners were at low risk, which u said they were. also, what are the chances that i could be infected. you said 1 out of every 1000 times, which sounds good for me. i know i'm just being very paranoid, but unfortunately i was that stupid a few times, so i'm having anxiety b/c of it.

thank you everyone for your comments though! i really appreciate it. any other comments would definitely help as well.

[nasty symptoms]

Yes but please do not forget that condoms can and do break and there is no such thing as truely safe sex!!!! Only safer sex.  Use condoms of course, and maybe the extra strength kind for a little extra piece of mind.

Best bet is long term relationship where both partners are tested.