Aa
I'm an idiot
On Tuesday I had sex with an escort. I entered her vaginally without a condom but after 30-60 seconds I realized how stupid this was and I pulled out, put on a condom and finished. Now I have a sore throat and am wondering if perhaps tis is a sign of HIV coming on. The sore throat started late the next day and while I'll definitely get tested I know it's early to do that now. Am I overly freaking out?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum and thanks for your question.
You are correct that it was unwise to have sex with your escort partner without a condom, and I hope this will be a learning experience that will preclude similar decisions in the future. However, the chance you caught HIV is still very, very low. First, the large majority of escorts (expensive female sex worker by appointment) do not have HIV -- for sure less than 1% chance she is infected, and probably more like 1 in 1,000. Second, even if she was infected, your risk of catching it from a single episode of unprotected vaginal sex is around 1 in 2,000. Combining those two probabilities, the chance you caught HIV is in the range of 1 in 2 million -- probably lower, since the duration of unprotected sex was brief.
As for your sore throat, HIV cannot cause symptoms sooner than about 10 days after catching it. If you caught anything from your escort partner, it's a common cold, that's all. But probably not even that; 1 days is too soon for any infection at all. You probably caught your garden variety minor respiratory virus at least 2-3 days before your symptoms began.
So yes, you indeed are "overly freaking out". For reassurance, you could visit a doctor or clinic for a reliable urine test for gonorrhea and chlamydia after another 2-3 days; and in 6 weeks for HIV and syphilis testing. (Or 4 weeks for HIV, if you find a source for a combo test for both HIV antibody and p24 antigen). In the meantime, stay mellow; the risk for STD in general is low, and for HIV almost zero.
I hope this has helped. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
You are correct that it was unwise to have sex with your escort partner without a condom, and I hope this will be a learning experience that will preclude similar decisions in the future. However, the chance you caught HIV is still very, very low. First, the large majority of escorts (expensive female sex worker by appointment) do not have HIV -- for sure less than 1% chance she is infected, and probably more like 1 in 1,000. Second, even if she was infected, your risk of catching it from a single episode of unprotected vaginal sex is around 1 in 2,000. Combining those two probabilities, the chance you caught HIV is in the range of 1 in 2 million -- probably lower, since the duration of unprotected sex was brief.
As for your sore throat, HIV cannot cause symptoms sooner than about 10 days after catching it. If you caught anything from your escort partner, it's a common cold, that's all. But probably not even that; 1 days is too soon for any infection at all. You probably caught your garden variety minor respiratory virus at least 2-3 days before your symptoms began.
So yes, you indeed are "overly freaking out". For reassurance, you could visit a doctor or clinic for a reliable urine test for gonorrhea and chlamydia after another 2-3 days; and in 6 weeks for HIV and syphilis testing. (Or 4 weeks for HIV, if you find a source for a combo test for both HIV antibody and p24 antigen). In the meantime, stay mellow; the risk for STD in general is low, and for HIV almost zero.
I hope this has helped. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
Thank you doctor! I'll follow your advice and remember which head to think with in the future!
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