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HIV symptoms after unprotected sex with females
Dear Dr Handsfield,
I am asking you directly because we appear to be in the same area and for some reason that reassures me. I'm near panic.
Are my symptoms a sign of ARS? See below.
I had two instance of unprotected sex recently:
January 8th I had unprotected vagina sex with a 21 year old I met. She is a former stripper and is currently going to college. She said she has a wild past, partying and getting wasted, but has settled down to go to college for the past year. The sex lasted 25 minutes. I met her on an adult dating site. She assures me she has been tested and is clean.
January 13th I had brief unprotected vagina sex with a woman 30 years old I met at a dive bar. We used condom for most of the sex, but we removed the condom at the end for the last 5-7 minutes.
In both cases there were no bleeding, although with the first girl my penis was a little red/raw looking on top. No obvious cuts though. Neither woman appeared to be IV drug user.
The symptoms:
January 17th, at night, I woke up with discomfort in my throat. It hurt a little.
January 18th this got worse and I stated coughing a little and getting worried.
January 19th-20th, I started sneezing and my nose starting running more. Have the sick feeling in my throat.
January 21st, I felt like I was getting sicker, sneezing more, nose running more, etc. I feel like it could be a flu and I'm feeling warm, but no temperature. The pressure in my head is getting bad so I took some over the counter sinus stuff before bed.
January 22nd, I woke up feeling better and decided to go out and around. Now my head and sinuses are very plugged up and my head is hurting a little from the pressure. I feel warm in the face area around my house and head, but no temp.
This was the first sexual experience in ~2 years and I am really worried. I'm not sure what got into me here.
I am 35 years old and live in the Northwest. Thank you for your time
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum. I'll try to help.
It is statistically very unlikely either of your partners has HIV. In 30+ years of STD/HIV business in the Seattle area, I'm not sure I've ever seen a case of heterosexually acquired HIV in anyone like your partners, "wild past" or not. Further, people rarely lie about HIV status when asked directly, makieng it even more unlikely your partners -- or at least the second one -- had HIV. Of course there must be exceptions, but they are rare. Of course it was dumb to have such contacts without condoms, but nevertheless the odds are very strongly in your favor.
As for your symptoms, they do not suggest a new HIV infection. Acute HIV infections can cause sore throat, but of course so do a few hundred other viruses, all more common than HIV. And HIV does not cause sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, or "sinus symptoms". You caught a cold (maybe from one of your partners, who knows?) -- but not HIV.
If you remain concerned, feel free to get tested. This doesn't imply I believe there is a significant chance you cought HIV; I do not. But a negative testing is likely to be more reassuring than any verbal reassurance I can give. If you're in or near Seattle, go on up to the Public Health STD/HIV clinic at Harborview for expert, lifestyle-sensitive care. Or any other local public health clinic. While you're at it, get tested for common STDs like chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. You're at much higher risk for these (especially chlamydia) than for HIV.
In the meantime, stay mellow. In the nearly 8 years of this forum, nobody has reported catching HIV -- and it is exceedingly unlikely you are the first.
Regards-- HHH, MD
It is statistically very unlikely either of your partners has HIV. In 30+ years of STD/HIV business in the Seattle area, I'm not sure I've ever seen a case of heterosexually acquired HIV in anyone like your partners, "wild past" or not. Further, people rarely lie about HIV status when asked directly, makieng it even more unlikely your partners -- or at least the second one -- had HIV. Of course there must be exceptions, but they are rare. Of course it was dumb to have such contacts without condoms, but nevertheless the odds are very strongly in your favor.
As for your symptoms, they do not suggest a new HIV infection. Acute HIV infections can cause sore throat, but of course so do a few hundred other viruses, all more common than HIV. And HIV does not cause sneezing, runny nose, nasal congestion, or "sinus symptoms". You caught a cold (maybe from one of your partners, who knows?) -- but not HIV.
If you remain concerned, feel free to get tested. This doesn't imply I believe there is a significant chance you cought HIV; I do not. But a negative testing is likely to be more reassuring than any verbal reassurance I can give. If you're in or near Seattle, go on up to the Public Health STD/HIV clinic at Harborview for expert, lifestyle-sensitive care. Or any other local public health clinic. While you're at it, get tested for common STDs like chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis. You're at much higher risk for these (especially chlamydia) than for HIV.
In the meantime, stay mellow. In the nearly 8 years of this forum, nobody has reported catching HIV -- and it is exceedingly unlikely you are the first.
Regards-- HHH, MD
Oh yes - both women are caucasian and from the NW.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Noted. Even more unlikely they have HIV.
Thank you for Dr, your words are reassuring.
People I work with are sneezing and coughing lately, it's likely I got a cold from one of them.
I will get tested for all STDs in a couple of weeks. In the meantime I'm not going to worry about HIV.
People I work with are sneezing and coughing lately, it's likely I got a cold from one of them.
I will get tested for all STDs in a couple of weeks. In the meantime I'm not going to worry about HIV.
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