When can I get tested for HIV after oral sex?

[Momo_93]

Hi all!

So, obviously I've been reading a lot about oral sex and HIV on the forum. I'm a guy. I'm still worried about a possible exposure (blowing a guy of unknown status and swallowing semen) four weeks ago. I'm aware it's considered practically no risk, but a week later I started having intense night sweats. That is when I thought I should get tested. Can anyone tell me if now (today is day 25) would be too early? I'm a bit confused because there is so much information on the internet. One hotline told me not to get tested at all, another one said swallowing is medium risk.

Thanks in advance for your advice!

[Sara_MHModerator]

our question has now been fully answered.  We wish you the best.

***  thread closed ***

[Momo_93]

Hi all! Sorry for bothering you again. I was just wondering if it would change your assessments of my situation if I started feeling a metallic taste in my mouth. Have you ever heard of that in relation to HIV? Thanks.

[Chima7]

This is a repetitive, anxiety-driven question which serves no purpose other than to continue your merry go round of "what-if" questions. Your exposure question has been fully answered and there's nothing more to add. If you're unable to accept the advise that has been given, please seek a therapist with whom to discuss your issues. You do not have an HIV problem but you do have a mental problem.

[Momo_93]

Thank you!! It’s so hard to calm down...

[Momo_93]

Thank you, that makes sense. There are a couple of older threads on this forum where doctors mention the risk from oral to be 1/10,000 — based on the latest research you mention, would you say that estimate is too high? Or is it just another way of making the same claim?

[Chima7]

I would say that only people who suffer from unrealistic health anxiety concern themselves with calculating the odds of it happening to them. And furthermore that those people would be better off seeking therapy for their anxiety rather than seeking out minutia about diseases that don't have anything to do with them.

[Momo_93]

Thanks! Sorry, I didn’t mean to offend anyone.

[Chima7]

I'm not offended. I'm just trying to get you to see that you're asking unnecessary questions about something that isn't even a concern of yours. Re-read all of the advice that you have received and try to see why your next step needs to be counseling if you're unable to put this behind you.

[Momo_93]

Got it. Thanks again!

[Momo_93]

Thanks! I think it’s so bewildering how far assessments diverge from one another. Thanks for your input. I do hope my night sweats are caused by anxiety.

[Chima7]

It's not that bewildering. Not everyone keeps up with the latest advances in medicine. Unless someone attends health conferences on a regular basis and reads the new literature, they won't know what's newly discovered.

[Momo_93]

Hi all! A follow up question (apologies for going on about this). Over here HIV organizations make a distinction between oral sex with swallowing and oral sex without. The latter is believed to be of no concern whatsoever, whereas the former is considered not entirely safe. Am I correct to believe that in this forum, experts don’t make this distinction?

[mike_no]

Ingesting infected fluid won't let you acquire this virus. Practically, even if you drink a glass full of infected blood there won't be a risk as it only enters your digestive system, the gastric acids and saliva should render the virus uninfectious.

This virus has to enter through blood stream - the nervous system of your body in order to release it's RNA and an enzyme called reverse transcriptase, with out this enzyme the virus will not be able to incorporate itself in the host cell and fail to replicate. Therefore, oral sex is not a risk.

[Momo_93]

Thank you very much! It feels good to read such confident assessments while I’m quite distressed! I hope you are all right.

[Momo_93]

Thank you both! This helped calming me a lot. I know it's useless to discuss symptoms, but perhaps you could answer one more question. Night sweats alone are not a symptom, I understand, but could other symptoms like a fever or swollen lymph nodes be there without me noticing them? At no point over the past weeks have I been unable to go to work or anything. Just wondering if it might be a possibility. The night sweats were rather intense which is why I freaked out in the first place. Other than that my right knee felt hot for a couple of days last week. Sorry for asking a symptom-related question!

[Chima7]

Since no HIV specialist would ever diagnose HIV by symptoms, it's not relevant to the discussion. The first question they would ask is, what was your exposure? You had no exposure in your case and they would tell you that. For someone who did have an exposure (again, not you), they would recommend testing at the appropriate time. At no time would they ever use symptoms as an indication of whether or not someone has been infected. Therefore, we do not comment on symptoms.

[mike_no]

Please don't worry about what most HIV hotlines have to tell you reading from computers through their scripts.

As stated by CurfewX, majority of experts won't consider oral sex as risk, also there have been numerous studies to support that.

Ingesting infected fluid is not the correct route of transmission as presence of gastric acid and saliva can inhibit the virus.

Your symptoms are unrelated to HIV since you were never exposed, a very large population of posters here complain about similar symptoms in spite of non exposures, they are mostly classic anxiety symptoms. Practically speaking, your chances of getting struck by meteoroid tonight is astronomically higher than acquiring HIV from your event.

It's advisable to move on from this without any worry.

[Momo_93]

Thanks for getting back to me! So in my case — if it weren’t for anxiety — you would not think testing is warranted?

[mike_no]

No. We don't think you need to test. If it helps you subside your anxiety go for it, it's inevitably going to be negative.

[CurfewX]

Any time.  Regardless of what the hotlines stated, expert physicians in the field do not consider oral sex to be a risk.  Therefore, any test you take at any time will be negative.

If you must test - only to alleviate anxiety, and not because you had a risk - a 4th or 5th generation test at 28 days post-event will be conclusive.  If you do test, it will be negative.  As an aside, night sweats alone, without other symptoms, would not be a symptom of HIV.

[Momo_93]

Thanks so much for your rapid and reassuring reply! Would you say it’s irrelevant whether the guy has recently been infected (not saying I have reason to believe so but still). Also, could the night sweats be a sign of my anxiety? My oral hygiene is good although I was drinking and smoking heavily that night. Thanks again!