Oral exposure with swallowing has me concerned

[BDuff]

Hi Doc. I have been in a long term relationship for several years. I had sex out of it a few times this year, all with oral and protected anal, but one time a month ago I did insert the first inch or so of my penis into someone's anus for a few seconds. Also about a month ago I swallowed two people's ejaculate. It was something I had not done before. They said they were neg. Not sure though. My most recent oral encounter was 8 days ago. I deep throated for a while, he came on my chest and some got *** on my face and i licked some that was on my lips. He says he is neg, but here is the scenario--5 days ago I began getting  a horrible sore throat/inflamed lymph nodes in neck. I woke up with a fever that night and for the past 4 nights/5 days it has not gone away. My throat has horrible looking white patches in the back that are not improving. The doc had me on amoxil 500mg since 4 days ago to no improvement. What do you think is occurring? Do you think I could be experiencing ARS from one of the month-ago blow jobs I swallowed ***, or did I get another STD that my doc would not have considered (I didn't mention an STD to him because it was not on my mind then. I figured I had strep. Do STDs cause white patches and fever. Please answer, I am filled with anxiety over everything I read. Would a general virus actually cause a sore throat with white patches and fever with nothing else for this long?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

For starters this sis not ARS.  Several reasons:

1..  Your partner said he was negative.  Most people tell the truth
2.  Oral sex almost never leads to HIV.  The odds of getting HIV from oral sex are less than 1 in 10,000 and, if anything, that estimate is overly conservative.  Neither of us has ever seen or heard of a well documented case in which HIV was transmitted by oral sex.  The mouth is a hostile environment for HIV and the stomach is even worse.  Swallowing does not increase your risk.
3.  The timing is wrong for ARS.  The typical onset is about 2 weeks after exposure.  In addition, your symptoms really don't fit.  Finally, as we say every day on this site, symptoms are too non-specific to be an indicator of HIV.

My guess is that you caught a plain old routine viral sore throat not too long after your exposure.  The symptoms you describe do not sound like STD.  Most STDs of the throat are asymptomatic.

Bottom line. Little to worry about.  you sore throat should get better in a few days.  EWH

[concerned_to]

Feeling better BDuff?

[concerned_to]

Just to tell you my white patches tested negative for gonorrhea and chlamydia. Still waiting to get out of the window period and test for HIV. Stay strong bro as I'm sure you will be fine.

[concerned_to]

BDuff - how are you feeling now given that its been another week since your last post. I had exactly the same symptoms as you and would be very curious to see how you make out. My sore throat is gone but now I'm dealing with muscle aches, crackling ears and GERD (plust massive stomach noises and constipation). I got put on an anti-anxiety med and it has helped with the mucsle spasms and the aches. Lets see how things play out. Will keep you and the doc posted.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

What you read would be unusual for gonorrhea.  EWH

[BDuff]

Thanks. I guess my concern was the white patches combined with fever. I read online that gonorrhea can present itself in the throat with white patches, but I wasn't sure about that or the fever aspect.