unprotected.....but not long

[under1min]

ill keep this short....

I'm 22, male, white, non drug user.

I have only had sex 2 times in my life, i like sex, but i like to be in a strong relationship before having sex.  The first time i had sex was with my girlfriend, we used protection so im now worried at all.  

The other day, I met up with an old friend i used to work with....we started drinking and we ended up having unproteced sex for 30 seconds...i pulled out becuase i could not last long.  I'm not to worried about it, but i ended up calling her and asking her about hiv.  She said she was tested 7 (negative) months ago and i trust her.  

It was 17 days ago, and no symptoms....the only thing is i can feel my lymph nodes, but i think i could feel them before all of this.  Real fast here are my questions.....

1) what kind of risk did i put myself at
2) do you think testing is needed (not too worried about it)
3) our sex was real soft and slow.....and short lol.  Does that make a diff
4)I read you said the lymph nodes swell all around your body...i feel 2 in my neck...so is that against hiv?

This is not the life style i live

Thank you Doc....have a great Sunday.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Assuming you are in the US or another industrialized country, you clearly have the typical, grossly inflated view of HIV risks of most young people today - the result of unbalanced education that makes sex seem far more riskly than it is.  If you have acquired HIV, you probably would be the first in the world (among the millions of HIV infections to day) after such exposures, not to mention being the most unlucky person alive.  The direct answers are: 1) Zero.  2) No, you don't need testing.  3) There are no data on the duration or vigor of sex as an HIV transmission factor.  If it makes any difference, it is small.  4) Self-diagnosis of enlarged lymph nodes is highly unreliable; and in any case everybody has a few easily-felt nodes in various parts of the body.  There is no realistic chance that yours--if they are lymph nodes at all--are due to HIV.

For more information, use the search link to look for 'HIV anxiety', 'HIV transmission risk', 'vaginal sex', and 'ARS symptoms'.  Or just pick any 10-15 threads at random.

You don't need to apologize to me for your sexual or lifestyle choices.  Most people in fact are (or intend to be) more sexually active than you plan.  If you reason for choosing a sexually conservative life is health protection, do a little research before you go overboard with it.

Thanks for the thanks--  HHH, MD

[under1min]

Well what if im the most unlucky dude in the world doc?????  I'm just playing.....thank you so much for your kind words and your answers.  What you do for all of us is great, what goes around come around, and I hope life treats you well.  Take care and God bless!