Anxiety over oral, kissing and fingering

[HighAnxiety40]

In mid August I had an encounter I regret and feel anxiety about to this day.

I'm a bisexual male and met a guy who was less than truthful about his status initially.

We kissed, both gave and received oral (without ejaculation but likely precum and he said he had masturbated 3 times that day and came earlier).

He fingered me and may have had precum on his finger along with lube. Fortunately it didn't go further than that, but it almost did (he would have wore a condom if he topped me but we stopped before that could happen).

I had a sore throat that day prior to the encounter and have gingivitis. My anus tends to bleed easily probably due to an almost hemorrhoid type condition that developed from years of lifting weights, etc.

I chatted with him more after our encounter at which time he admitted he was HIV+ but undetectable.

In my panic over this, I got a new baseline test 2 days afterwards and was negative (I had previously last been tested in 2010 and was negative). About 4 days afterwards I felt feverish for a day or so, but got checked out one afternoon and wasn't running a temperature as measured. I also went on PEP about 40 hours post exposure. (Truvada for 28 days). Towards the end of the month I developed a very bad sore throat, had it checked for strep and gonorrhea and both tests were negative. After the 28 day course on PEP i also had an HIV test which was negative. The meds made me pretty fatigued at times but i never vomited or had diarrhea during this time. I did eventually develop some folliculitis, but I attribute that to my body shaving practices and i had let my leg hair grow back in (which is where most of the ingrown pimples showed up at).

Now I am coming up on the 3 month mark. Due to my schedule I'm going next week to test again. It will be just shy of 3 months post exposure. My test will be on the 9th, techically 3 months would be Nov 14.

Do you think I'll be ok? I think I'll test again at 6 months, or maybe even a month from now since some people recommend 3 months post pep instead of instead of 3 months post exposure.

Thanks in advance for any information you could provide. I appreciate everyones time, I have definitely learned something from this stressful situation. Also please let me know if there is a way to donate to this helpful forum.

Sleepless in a town East of Seattle

[diver58]

You are OK and you will get a negative report once again. Reason is, you were never exposed to the risk, because there was no unprotected penetration involved. In my opinion, your PEP was un necessary as your contact does not qualify for a PEP.

Three month test is final and conclusive, forget 6 month mark. It is not for you

[zamzam4]

PEP was totally unwarranted in this situation and its a shame your provider didn't realise this.  nPEP is pretty strong stuff and should not be given out for no risk situations, which is what yours is.

I understand that you must have got a fright when he revealed his status to you but regardless of him being HIV positive or not you were never at a risk of tranmission in the activities you describe.

Do I think you will be ok?  Yes, I absolutely do.  Your test result will be negative.  When somebody has actually had a risk (you haven't) for a conclusive result you must add on an extra 4 weeks beacuse of the nPEP.

You did nothing that you need to worry about.  You fear, I suspect, has been compounded by a pysician who clearly is not knowledgeable about the tranmission routes of HIV giving you nPEP. You do not need to test out to 6 months.

When you collect your negative result, and you will, try and move on from this and realise that you were never actually at risk.

I am sorry you have had such a hard time and it disappoints me greatly to hear that you have not been advised correctly by a doctor xx

[HighAnxiety40]

Thank you both for the reply diver58 and zamzam4. I think I was extra worried because I've had a persistent sore throat and a feeling of mucus in the back of my throat for almost 3 months now. Given the fact that i had given unprotected oral i thought it could be the worst case due to that. They did test for throat gonorrhea and strep at 4 weeks and that was negative also. My sore throat is probably due to anxiety and persistent heartburn that I deal with.

I think if anything I'm at blame for convincing the doctor to give me PEP. I called the PEP hotline, then had him on the phone with the doctor at the clinic. He wouldn't have suggested it for the oral, but maybe for the fingering.

It was very expensive around $1200 for a month supply. While on it I also had the expense of monitoring kidney and liver function with blood tests at the beginning and 2 and 4 weeks. Geez, I am guessing this whole debacle will cost me over $2,000 by the end, plus major time googling and stress and anxiety.

Thanks again all and have a great weekend!

[HighAnxiety40]

Just wanted everyone to know that on Friday I got my test results back and was negative. Woohooo. I think the stress of it all caught up to me and on Saturday I slept half the day away. I learned a valuable and expensive lesson out of all of this. I will be extra careful who I get involved with, but also I will be more careful in terms of the medical advice I seek from doctors. In the end given my fear, I went ahead and took the PEP, I can see why lots of people probably do this when in fact they might not need to.

Thanks again to all.

[Teak]

Yes you wasted your money and put your health at risk for no reason what so ever.

[HighAnxiety40]

I agree Teak. I really want to volunteer to help people with HIV. I can't imagine how most people can afford these antiviral drugs. I know they are expensive. I sure appreciate all the great work you do and wish you continued good health. I hope that one day soon we can eradicate HIV and in particular help those who are afflicted with it now.