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Worried about Chances
Dear Dr.
I am 40y old male, in the SE United States, who had unprotected vaginal sex 53 days ago. I didn't know the woman very well but did indicate later that I was worried about STDs. She said she had some female procedure done "last year" and that her Dr. did not indicate any findings. I felt good about that but then a day later I start to feel some soreness in my right groin. I thought it might have just been some chafing since I had been to the beach but the next day in doing some searching on the internet I got really worried about herpes. I even started to feel tingling on parts of my penis and on both sides of my groin. I became so upset and was just waiting to see the outbreak. In the mean time I took a standard antibody blood test for HIV on the 25th day since the encounter. I know this might be the earliest but figured it was worth taking. It was negative and that made me feel better. In the meantime I found the skin peeling on my feet and and wondered if perhaps it might be tinea and not Herpes. I went to the dermatlogist last week and he said the area in my groin was a mild yeast infection. He also said he did not see any sign of a rash as I was still worried about HIV.
My real concern is still HIV. I will be at 8 weeks since the encounter took place this week. I am pretty much resigned to take the test again this week because I know there is still a chance the I could have it despite the 25 day test results. The main concern now is that I have a sore throat which really got worse last week a day before it would have been 7 weeks. However, it was already somewhat sore and actually started being sore the a day or so after the encounter. However it seemed to come and go during this time so I cannot say for sure if these are separate issues with my throat or if it has been one single issue. I am planning to see my primary Dr. as soon as I can since the pain has worsened.
I appreciate your advice.
I am 40y old male, in the SE United States, who had unprotected vaginal sex 53 days ago. I didn't know the woman very well but did indicate later that I was worried about STDs. She said she had some female procedure done "last year" and that her Dr. did not indicate any findings. I felt good about that but then a day later I start to feel some soreness in my right groin. I thought it might have just been some chafing since I had been to the beach but the next day in doing some searching on the internet I got really worried about herpes. I even started to feel tingling on parts of my penis and on both sides of my groin. I became so upset and was just waiting to see the outbreak. In the mean time I took a standard antibody blood test for HIV on the 25th day since the encounter. I know this might be the earliest but figured it was worth taking. It was negative and that made me feel better. In the meantime I found the skin peeling on my feet and and wondered if perhaps it might be tinea and not Herpes. I went to the dermatlogist last week and he said the area in my groin was a mild yeast infection. He also said he did not see any sign of a rash as I was still worried about HIV.
My real concern is still HIV. I will be at 8 weeks since the encounter took place this week. I am pretty much resigned to take the test again this week because I know there is still a chance the I could have it despite the 25 day test results. The main concern now is that I have a sore throat which really got worse last week a day before it would have been 7 weeks. However, it was already somewhat sore and actually started being sore the a day or so after the encounter. However it seemed to come and go during this time so I cannot say for sure if these are separate issues with my throat or if it has been one single issue. I am planning to see my primary Dr. as soon as I can since the pain has worsened.
I appreciate your advice.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The sore on your lip is not a sign of HIV infection and is almost certainly unrelated to your exposure. The sore throat is likewise most likely unrelated. EWH
Dr. Hook I am following up because I took a test on the same day you responded and it was negative. This would have been at the 53 day mark from the event I described above. I felt really good since I have seen that after 6 weeks the test is highly reliable. Then one week later I got an ulcer\canker sore in my mouth(inside of bottom lip) and I started to get worried again. I have had them before but it has been awhile. Further now I noticed a small red spot on my lip that is not painful but again is odd. I have no other symptoms except of a sore throat that I have had for over a month. I saw a Dr. who gave me an antibiotic that seemed to help the sore throat for about a week but now is sore again. I am going to see ENT soon about this but am just concerned again with what is happening with these sores.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to our Forum. Sometimes when we start to worry about a problem things seem to build upon themselves to amplify the importance of observations that, in other circumstances we would dismiss. I suspect that is what is going on for you.
Working through some of your observations, for starters the soreness that you noted in your groin occurred too soon to be a manifestation of herpes- typically herpes symptoms occur between 4 and 14 days after an exposure and they never occur within a day or two following an exposure. "Tingling" is a very common manifestation of over attention and vigilance for symptoms. It turns out that when you focus on an area you tend to perceive sensations that you would not notice, or dismiss otherwise.
I am confident that the rash on your feet is not herpes .
As for HIV, this was a low risk exposure. Your partner, on the basis of her gender is unlikely to have HIV. Further, even in the very unlikely situation that she had HIV, the risk for infection following a single unprotected exposure is only 1 infection in 1000 sexual exposures. Further you test at 25 days, while not entirely reliable, would have detected close to 90% of recent HIV infections and when that fact is combined with the low risk to start with makes is almost certain that you did not get HIV through this exposure.
I urge you not to worry. I hope my comments will help you to move forward. EWH
Working through some of your observations, for starters the soreness that you noted in your groin occurred too soon to be a manifestation of herpes- typically herpes symptoms occur between 4 and 14 days after an exposure and they never occur within a day or two following an exposure. "Tingling" is a very common manifestation of over attention and vigilance for symptoms. It turns out that when you focus on an area you tend to perceive sensations that you would not notice, or dismiss otherwise.
I am confident that the rash on your feet is not herpes .
As for HIV, this was a low risk exposure. Your partner, on the basis of her gender is unlikely to have HIV. Further, even in the very unlikely situation that she had HIV, the risk for infection following a single unprotected exposure is only 1 infection in 1000 sexual exposures. Further you test at 25 days, while not entirely reliable, would have detected close to 90% of recent HIV infections and when that fact is combined with the low risk to start with makes is almost certain that you did not get HIV through this exposure.
I urge you not to worry. I hope my comments will help you to move forward. EWH
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