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Could I have HIV ? I'm itchy!
Hello, I posted this question on the STD community and someone said I should ask my question about HIV in a separate post, so here we go.
I'm quite worried I might have HIV to the point I can't sleep at night. I am a 22 year old heterosexual female living in Switzerland. I've had two sexual encounters since my last boyfriend (who was clean and so was I). One was end of September, the guy had just come out of a long-term relationship and claimed he was clean and I was the first girl he had sex with since his ex. He also insisted on wearing a condom, which was a good thing, and which we did when we had vaginal sex. However, I gave him a blowjob without a condom twice (without swallowing but some semen might have gotten hit me near the mouth at some point) and he also went down on me briefly. I know oral doesn't present as high a risk but I'm still worried (I also tend to have chapped lips so maybe if the semen touched them it could have gone into my bloodstream)
The second encounter was five weeks ago with a guy I dated briefly. We only had sex once, he insisted he was sure he was clean. It was protected for the most part. At some point during the night, we had run out of condoms and in the heat of the moment, there was unprotected penetration for maybe 30-60 seconds, no more. I also gave him head without ejaculation and he went down on me briefly. I know it was a stupid thing to do and I regret it very much.
I asked him again a few days later to which extent he was sure he was clean and he claimed being very sure, that he had only had one other partner since his last test and she was tested afterwards and was clean. (He even claimed to have double checked with her and got back to me again later saying she said she was clean) However, I don't know him that well to trust him completely and don't know what exactly they got tested for. I didn't wanna seem too pushy by asking for more details and evidence.
So my question is : how likely am I to have contracted HIV ? (these two men are extremely unlikely to be drug users, and they're from Western Northern European countries if that helps at all). I want to get tested by the end of this week but will that be long enough to be at least a little bit sure (since the second encounter would have only been 5-6 weeks ago) ?
I have been feeling a bit itchy down there for quite a long time now. It happened first before I met the second guy. It has always been occasional itching, no pain, no unusual discharge, no other symptoms. I didn't understand why, I went to the clinic maybe twice or three times and they advised me to use OTC yeast infection medication, which I did, but it didn't really go away for long. I then went to the gynecologist and she used a swab test and said she hadn't detected anything so I didn't have a yeast infection (or maybe it went away after the medication I don't know). Then the itching went away for a couple weeks (specifically when I was seeing the second guy) but recently came back. As usual, just mild itching, no other symptoms. Maybe the itching episodes are unrelated, but it seems like every STD I look at has some other symptoms I should be showing. (I always shave my pubic and anal area completely, especially before sex, so pubic lice seems unlikely to me but I might be wrong). Could it be early HIV signs ?
It might be worth noting I've been on a new birth control pill since September and have been on and off it, which may be causing hormonal fluctuation.
Thanks a lot!
I'm quite worried I might have HIV to the point I can't sleep at night. I am a 22 year old heterosexual female living in Switzerland. I've had two sexual encounters since my last boyfriend (who was clean and so was I). One was end of September, the guy had just come out of a long-term relationship and claimed he was clean and I was the first girl he had sex with since his ex. He also insisted on wearing a condom, which was a good thing, and which we did when we had vaginal sex. However, I gave him a blowjob without a condom twice (without swallowing but some semen might have gotten hit me near the mouth at some point) and he also went down on me briefly. I know oral doesn't present as high a risk but I'm still worried (I also tend to have chapped lips so maybe if the semen touched them it could have gone into my bloodstream)
The second encounter was five weeks ago with a guy I dated briefly. We only had sex once, he insisted he was sure he was clean. It was protected for the most part. At some point during the night, we had run out of condoms and in the heat of the moment, there was unprotected penetration for maybe 30-60 seconds, no more. I also gave him head without ejaculation and he went down on me briefly. I know it was a stupid thing to do and I regret it very much.
I asked him again a few days later to which extent he was sure he was clean and he claimed being very sure, that he had only had one other partner since his last test and she was tested afterwards and was clean. (He even claimed to have double checked with her and got back to me again later saying she said she was clean) However, I don't know him that well to trust him completely and don't know what exactly they got tested for. I didn't wanna seem too pushy by asking for more details and evidence.
So my question is : how likely am I to have contracted HIV ? (these two men are extremely unlikely to be drug users, and they're from Western Northern European countries if that helps at all). I want to get tested by the end of this week but will that be long enough to be at least a little bit sure (since the second encounter would have only been 5-6 weeks ago) ?
I have been feeling a bit itchy down there for quite a long time now. It happened first before I met the second guy. It has always been occasional itching, no pain, no unusual discharge, no other symptoms. I didn't understand why, I went to the clinic maybe twice or three times and they advised me to use OTC yeast infection medication, which I did, but it didn't really go away for long. I then went to the gynecologist and she used a swab test and said she hadn't detected anything so I didn't have a yeast infection (or maybe it went away after the medication I don't know). Then the itching went away for a couple weeks (specifically when I was seeing the second guy) but recently came back. As usual, just mild itching, no other symptoms. Maybe the itching episodes are unrelated, but it seems like every STD I look at has some other symptoms I should be showing. (I always shave my pubic and anal area completely, especially before sex, so pubic lice seems unlikely to me but I might be wrong). Could it be early HIV signs ?
It might be worth noting I've been on a new birth control pill since September and have been on and off it, which may be causing hormonal fluctuation.
Thanks a lot!
Oral sex without condom is very low risk. But unprotected vaginal sex is high risk. Ignore symptoms unless you have fever and headache.
1 Comments
Thank you for your reply but I never mentioned symptoms ? I'm asking about 4th generation tests 6 weeks post-exposure. How conclusive they are and whether there are sub-types of 4th generation tests that are less conclusive than others.
Hello again. I wanted to give an update and I hope someone will reply to me.
I have been tested on Saturday (42nd day, 6 weeks) and my test came back negative (test where they draw your blood and then put in some sort of machine, the result was given to me after about 10 minutes). The doctors and nurses were unfortunately quite judgmental and not very friendly so I didn't feel comfortable asking them any question regarding the type of test that was used.
But I did my research online on the method used by the very hospital I visited and their official website mentions using a 4th generation "combined rapid test" (translating from French here so I'm assuming it's the DUO test) that detects Ag p24 as well as HIV antibodies. I've read on a lot of US websites that DUO tests are not the same as tests that give you an immediate result but it seems as if the technology here is a tad more advanced ? Many HIV/AIDS Swiss websites mention DUO rapid tests as one single entity so they definitely seem to be a thing here.
So I think I can assume that this was a 4th generation test. How likely is my result to change to positive when I get tested again in 6 weeks ? (the doctors there said 8 weeks would be even more sure, but to be 100% I should come back after three months past exposure. It seems to be a super conservative guideline though, according to what I read on most websites)
I have been tested on Saturday (42nd day, 6 weeks) and my test came back negative (test where they draw your blood and then put in some sort of machine, the result was given to me after about 10 minutes). The doctors and nurses were unfortunately quite judgmental and not very friendly so I didn't feel comfortable asking them any question regarding the type of test that was used.
But I did my research online on the method used by the very hospital I visited and their official website mentions using a 4th generation "combined rapid test" (translating from French here so I'm assuming it's the DUO test) that detects Ag p24 as well as HIV antibodies. I've read on a lot of US websites that DUO tests are not the same as tests that give you an immediate result but it seems as if the technology here is a tad more advanced ? Many HIV/AIDS Swiss websites mention DUO rapid tests as one single entity so they definitely seem to be a thing here.
So I think I can assume that this was a 4th generation test. How likely is my result to change to positive when I get tested again in 6 weeks ? (the doctors there said 8 weeks would be even more sure, but to be 100% I should come back after three months past exposure. It seems to be a super conservative guideline though, according to what I read on most websites)
1 Comments
Anyone has any thoughts ? Please ? Are rapid 4th generation tests as quick to detect an infection as 4th generation tests that take a few days ? I'm starting to worry again.
COMMUNITY LEADER
Don't worry about the oral sex - that isn't a risk.
You should go ahead and get tested for the unprotected vaginal encounter, but HIV isn't all that easy to contract, and you had a short, one-time exposure. Your test will mostly be to ease your concerns. If you take a 4th generation test any time now, your result will be conclusive.
You should go ahead and get tested for the unprotected vaginal encounter, but HIV isn't all that easy to contract, and you had a short, one-time exposure. Your test will mostly be to ease your concerns. If you take a 4th generation test any time now, your result will be conclusive.
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