[Question #10872] Oral hiv risk

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19 months ago
Hello, I am a 37 year old male and on October 25th I met up with another male and gave him oral sex with no condom. No ejaculation happened in mouth that I know of. I asked him his HIV status before and after. Each time he said he was negative. This was the only male on male activity of my life. On Dec 4th I started feeling pains in the back of my leg and in my testicles. I also noticed two reddish marks in my pubic area that are still there today. Didn’t think much of it until a couple weeks later when I had two incidents of painful ejaculation. I went to the doctor and they gave me an ultrasound and found two small hydroceles but everything else was clean. They also tested my urine and found no infection. They gave me 10 days worth of doxocylin. It helped a tiny bit but the pain came back and went away, depending on the day. On December 15th I noticed a rash that looked like cat scratches with some red spots around them on my buttocks and upper thigh. They were hot to touch and had a burning sensation. Cold compresses would help. I had a headache most of December and was extremely tired. On January 15th, I noticed I had a white tongue maybe oral thrush and a canker sore on the roof of my mouth. This is when I found google and started to make the link to HIV. I am basically looking for your view on the situation while I wait to go take my test this afternoon. Thank you for your services. 
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19 months ago
Forgot to mention that when I had the rash on my buttocks and thighs that they were extremely sore. Like I had worked them out. That lasted about two weeks. 
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19 months ago
Sorry for the third update and don’t know if this has anything to do with anything. But my brain the last week or so has almost felt like it’s struggling to keep up. Maybe just my mental state but it sure feels strange almost like it’s lagging. 
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
19 months ago
Welcome to our Forum.  Thank you for your detailed description of your exposure and your subsequent symptoms.  

The exposure you describe was very low risk.  Your partner said he did not have HIV (twice) and most people tell the truth.  Even if he did have untreated HIV, your risk is VERY low.  The risk of acquiring HIV from performing oral sex on an untreated, infected partner is less than 1 infection per 10,000 exposures.  In other words, IF he had HIV (and he probably did not), there is a more than 99.99% chance that you were not infected.

Further, please don't be misled by the internet.  When symptoms are asked about on the internet, HIV is suggested unrealistically in many situations.  

The onset of your symptoms was too late to be due to HIV- the symptoms of recently acquired HIV occur within 30 days of exposure.  Further, the symptoms you describe are not suggestive of HIV.

I understand that you are worried.  For that reason, and NOT because I think you have HIV, I would suggest you get an HIV test. I am confident that the results will be negative for HIV and if your symptoms were due to HIV, the test would certainly be positive.  After you test and get your negative result, I encourage you to move forward without concern.  EWH
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