discharge and sore neck-risky encounter

[likelihood?]

I'm glad a forun like this exists...thankyou for providing it. I recently had an encounter with a street prostitute and she performed oral sex on me for about 2-5 mins. then I fingered her but hole for about 1 min. my finger didn't have any cuts or abrasions on it nor did my penis. immediately after word i paniked a little and tried to wash my hands with snow and in the process cut my little finger with my finger nail. the next night i had a severe headache and the following night i had a puss-like discharge from my penis.(i admit my complete idiotic ignorance in not knowing it was at all likely to get an std from oral sex. the next morning there was more puss like discharge and a constant feeling of having to urinate. also the lymphnode in my neck began feeling sore(sharp spiky pains). 1.can the discharge be from anything else besides an std. and 2. what about the likelihood of another infection causing the severe headache and sore lymph nodes (it's been about 3 days since the encounter)thanks for your feedback.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

A discharge from the penis almost always means urethritis due to STD.  As forum regular Imdumb already responded (below), gonorrhea is a good bet.  Your headache and "swollen nodes" isn't due to any STD you acquired during the exposure you describe--but you might have caught a cold.  The risk of HIV is very low from oral sex, but is elevated a little bit by having caught urethritis.  Your finger contact with her anal and genital area carried no risk.



Anybody with a new STD should also be tested for HIV.  When you see a provider about your discharge, ask his/her advice about follow-up testing.



Good luck---  HHH, MD

[Imdumb]

It sounds like you caught gonnorrea. In general, the risk of getting an STD from receiving oral is very low, gonnorrea is possible and probably more likely when seeing street prostitutes. You should go to the STD clinic for testing and treatment. Your chance of getting HIV is pretty much zero. If that is your only exposure, you probably don't need testing. If you have never been tested, it is probably a good idea to have a test. Not because I think you have it, but just because it is good sexual health.

[likelihood?]

thanks a lot for your quick responses. I have a followup question though. when you say...my risk of getting HIV from recieving oral sex is very low but is elevated a little from my getting urethritis..I'm confused (i admit I was ignorant in not thinking I could get gonorrhea from recieving oral sex...it's really shaken me up...I thought the chances were negligable to the point of being relatively "safe"...) I never dreamed it was possible to get HIV from a blow job. How much is the little increase? Does the HIV "ride" along with the gonorrhea? In other words can the gonorrhea bacteria itself be infected with HIV and carry it along into my system?

[Imdumb]

I do not think there has ever been a documented case of HIV acquired by receiving oral sex and many experts do not think it is possible. I do not think HIV should be in consideration. I think the Dr was saying that in general, people with an STD have done things to put them at risk, not necessarily in your case.

[likelihood?]

thanks again for your quick response. I recieved some antibiotics today (the kind that are a one time shot of pills-1 big one and 4-5 little pink ones)from a clinic and am curious now about how soon I should wait before having sex again,though i'm not really in the mood....I didn't mention before I have a girlfriend-that's why I was so shocked at the prospect of getting something through oral sex-it was a stupid thing to do and I feel horrible at the thought of putting her at risk-I feel lucky my symptoms showed so quickly, most importantly we haven't had any sex since my idiotic encounter 3 days ago(Again, I feel so stupid, I never thought I could put her at risk with this!?) Is it true the pills would work for gonnorrhea in a few hours? I am getting a blood workup in 4 days. Should I assume my risk for HIV in this encounter was next to non-existent or does it make more sense to wait 10-12 weeks to get an HIV test before having unprotected sex again??

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

What was the diagnosis?  Gonorrhea usually can be diagnosed within a few minutes by examining the discharge under a microscope.  It sounds like that's what they treated you for.  If so, you can expect to see symptoms start to improve in 1-2 days and clear up entirely within a few days.  But you need to avoid sex for at least a week.



See my original response about HIV testing.  What did the provider who treated you say?



HHH, MD

[likelihood?]

the Dr. at the clinic was just going on my description. He took a couple swabs and gave me the pills. the swabs would take five days I was told. I had urinated about 20 min before he saw me and that might have cleared out the discharge, there wasn't any noticeable discharge when i saw him. First he said I'd need to have blood work in 3 months or so...I don't know if i looked distressed(i sure felt distressed) and that changed his mind, most likely it wasn't that...but anyway he then said I could have the blood work this saturday instead.(they were extremely busy at the time and I was just a walk-in so maybe that influenced his decision as well)I just told him about the oral sex...not the digit insertion (seemed irrelevant after your earlier reply). I'm going a little nuts though and keep thinking i'm feeling pains in my lymph nodes(groin, side of neck