Sore throat, weird symptoms right after close encounter with stripper...

[somewhereinthesouth]

Dear Dr. Handsfield,
A month ago I went to a dirty strip club in a bad part of the city that has one-on-one private VIP rooms. The stripper gave me a hand-job and allowed me to kiss her breasts and stomach and suck on her nipples hard. At one point when I was having difficulty ejaculating, her hand briefly went down to my rectal area.   A day or two later, I developed some cold/flu like symptoms, including sore throat and a symptom I've never experienced before:  my mouth felt a little swollen and weird, like something was wrong there.  Also had some coughing and definite post nasal drip. Two weeks later, worrying about the incident, plus other things led to my immune system totally crashing at which time, it finally manifested itself into a *severe* cough/sore throat. Went to urgent care and the PA gave me an antibiotic and some other medication, but didn't think it was related to the incident and saw nothing weird in my mouth- just a sore throat and post nasal drip, but did mention that gonorreah can sometimes cause a sore throat, so she told me to keep an eye on it and they could do a culture if they needed to. A month later, the cough is now a lot better, but the constant post nasal drip, the sore throat and the overall "weird" feeling in my mouth seem to persist day after day. I have a lot of anxiety over this incident and initial exposure to HIV even crossed my mind. Thanks so much for all of the work you do.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

The chance of getting any STD from that exposure was zero, for practical purposes.  Gonorrhea isn't an issue, and no STD causes cought, nasal drip, or 'weird feelings' of the mouth. You caught a cold, nothing more.

Good luck--  HHH, MD

[sparkeler]

Your sore throat has nothing at all do with the stripper incident.

[worryhell]

Not to overly concern this fellow , but isn't a chronic post nasal drip/mucous a sign of possible HIV infection. I know this was a very low /non risk event but I seem to read a lot about ongoing sinus problem / infection/ chronic nasal drip as a often seen symtom.  I'm dealing with the same issue 9 mos after a "strip club" incident also (rec oral 30 seconds) also and after still have inflamed throat and post nasal drip.  I havent seen this symtom discussed very often on your forum. Is it because it isn't a primary symtom or because it really isnt anything related at all in your opinion?

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

No, chronic post nasal drip/mucous is not a sign of possible HIV infection, especially early infection. I suppose some people with advanced HIV/AIDS can get chronic sinusitis, but of every million people with that problem, I'll bet no more than one or two have HIV.

[somewhereinthesouth]

Dr. Handsfield - Thank you so much for your reply.  Have a nice weekend!

(To "Worryhell":)  Based on Dr. Handsfield's response, it sounds like a non-issue, thankfully.  I read through the forum quite a bit before formulating my question and regarding HIV, one thing I noted was a comment that "symptoms are never a reliable indicator of HIV infection."  Therefore I would focus on risk assessment of the act you described (which sounds low), not the symptoms, but I am certainly not the expert.

[worryhell]

Thanks for  your response, Dr HHH and for your kind words "somewhereinthesouth". I've finally worked up the courage,got tested and get results back in a few days.  I know logically this was very low risk and my only risk event (that included some digital play also) but I have a real bad feeling about the results. Married man with children and I've just been killing myself over this. Hope Dr. HHH's historical record on this forum re: risk continues unbroken here. Will post results...