please help worried

i had sex with a girl she gave me unprotected oral sex very brief about 10 seconds and then protected sex about 90 seconds.i got up and took the condom off but it look like it wasnt all the way on but the head of the penis was covered. about the 8 to 10 days i started to have joint pain and some headaches and on the 12 day i have a little sore throat . is this to early for hiv symptoms? i know the girl been around.when i got off it was quick but i did it for just little longer. can the semen go down the shaft of the penis when you keep going? i know condoms is safe but worried about it wasnt all the way on and i do have genital herpes at the top of the penis but im sure i didnt have a breakout at the time of exposure. is the symptoms i have do to hiv symptoms or is it to early? very scared

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the Forum.  I note that this questions is a continuation of questions you have been asking on the HIV Prevention Community site.  I agree with the advice you have already received.  Please realize that the chances that your partner had HIV are very, very low even though she may have, as you put it, "been around" (a bit judgmental).  Even so, unless she was an IV drug user, your risk that she had HIV is still less than 1%.  Furthermore, your risk from brief, unprotected receipt of oral sex is virtually zero.  The same can be said of your protected vaginal sex. the fact that the condom had come part of the way off but remained over the head of your penis means that your exposure was protected and therefore you do not need to worry – the condom would work in this circumstance.  

As for your symptoms, they have begun a bit early to be the ARS which typically begins no sooner than two weeks following exposure.  Even more important however is, as we have said many times before, the symptoms of the ARS are TOTALLY non-specific, are shared with any number of non-STD viral infections acquired through the activities of normal life, and that when people experience "ARS symptoms" they are much more likely to have something else, usually some other, more typical virus infection.  When this has been studied in the US, less than 1% of persons seeking medical care for "ARS symptoms" are found to have HIV, the remainder having symptoms due to other processes. In contrast, over a given year, there is almost no one who has not had a viral illness, night sweats or both (sometimes on multiple occasions).  In addition, it is also important to realize that many persons who acquire HIV do not experience the ARS.  For a person to try to judge their HIV risk based on "ARS symptoms" is a waste of time.

To summarize, your chances of having HIV are virtually zero.  Your symptoms are just about certainly not the ARS.  My advice is to hold your anxiety in check.  Get an HIV test for your peace of mind 6-8 weeks following therapy.  Hope this helps. EWH

[josh11]

thanks you very much about answering me concerns. i have been on doxy  and rocephin cause they think she might have gave me gonorrhea or chlamydia. they put me on the meds and dont tested me cause i was havy clear discharge and testicle pain.do you think any of my symptoms are do to the meds they gave me?been taking them on and off for the last 3 months.the girl does do pills but i dont think she is iv drug user. what is the usual ars symptoms? my temp is running about 99.1 and just all over now. like i said this is the 12 th day

[josh11]

can the semen go along the side of the penis when the condom is on

[Edward W Hook, MD]

No, the semen does not track along the side of the condom.  I repeat, no risk.

I doubt that the symptoms you are expereincing are due to the medication.  you probably have a cold.  EWH

[josh11]

thank you doctor. i know i dont think that im at risk now. i was just wondering what symptoms of ars is. and the only reason i ask about the semen along the side was when i got off i kept doing it for a little bit and when i pulled the condom off i noticed that the penis was wet. i ask the girl last night about hiv she said no but she act funny about it and didnt want to say much about it. she said that she was defended about me asking.is 99.1 a temp or not. my sisterlaw has hiv and notice that she goes through alot and that is why i worry alot. i just have this joint pain and it *****

[josh11]

i just dont if that was semen  it was her fluild on the side of the penis. that is why im asking if you get going after you get off can the semen go down the side of the condom or does it stay in the tip of the condom. i always use a condom but this time it just was different. i know for sure i wipe something of but im sure that the tip was covered. i will dont ask know question . just please answer the last two thing i wrote. like i said it was worth 20 dollars to  talk to someone that knows something. thank you very much. dont trying to be a pain but more time you have it makes you think more

[josh11]

i just start to feel bad now. the sore throat joint achs and not feeling good and the 99.1 temp but it has went back down they said that it is dont a temp if it goes up and down. is that true? how does ars do? nomore question it seems like you a very nice about answering question just please answer them and i will be done

[josh11]

if you have muscle aches and joint pain is this usually do to a fever causes this if you have ars symptoms?

[josh11]

could you please answer this question.try to get a answer from the hiv forum but they did not know and erased my question. do you have to have a fever before you can get muscle aches or joint aches from ars symptoms or can you have them without a fever?will dont ask know more. alot of people here want to no that question and tried to find it on the net and can cnot find.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

This will be the last answer.  No further anxiety-driven questions will be answered. Should you continue to ask them, the entire thread will be deleted.

The symptoms aof the ARS are the same as those of the flu- sore throat, fever, rash, muscle aches, etc.  Please realize that for persons at risk, less than 1% of flu-like illnesses turn out to be the ARS. The rest of persons with flu-like symptoms are just symptoms due to the far more common viruses that people acquire all the time.  Your exposure was NO RISK!!  Your symptoms are not due to HIV.   You can test from now on for as long as you want, the results will be negative since this was a no risk exposure.  Thus, for you, testing due to the exposure you are concerned about is a waste of time. EWH