I finished PEP last Saturday and since than I have developed pimples on My chest about 6-7 red dots and I developed a rash on both hands that quickly faded within 2 days. I’m terrified i may be seroconverting or Having ARS symptoms. 

 

My questions are as follow 

1. If My symptoms are Due to ARS or HIV would a Test 3 days Post PEP confirm if my symptoms are due to HIV/ARS or would it be possible I would get a False negative since I just got off pep and it may be suppressing the virus. 

2. Do you recommend I Test Now (3) days post pep or should I give it a week to let the PEP out of my system so I can confirm if my symptoms are due to ARS/HIV

3. Do you recommend I get A RNA/PCR test since it actually looks for the virus itself rather than a 4th gen? I heard PEP won’t affect testing with a RNA/PCR is this statement correct?

4. How long after you finish PEP does it fully get out of the body’s system?

5. What kind of Test can I take Post PEP to get the fastest conclusive Result 

6. Is it possible to Get symptoms 2 days off pep even tho Pep is still in the system? 

7. Does my symptoms sound Like seroconversion or ARS? 

My exposure was protected vaginal and oral with a Hooker. What made me get on pep was that I fingered the hooker with a finger that had a Gash on it. The gash wasn’t actively bleeding whatsoever but it did happen 2 days before I saw the escort so it wasn’t fully healed.

8. Did the Gash on my finger put me at high risk? 

I will update you doctor once I get my test done for the symptoms. Thank you 

This exposure was pretty much the same as the one your described in your previous thread 9 months ago. The only difference is fingering, but that is never a risk for HIV, even with cuts on the finger. You did not need PEP and I'm sorry you took it. The main result is that instead of knowing you didn't get HIV after 4-6 weeks, you now need to wait until 6 weeks after the last dose of drug.

ARS doesn't result in pimples, and the rash you describe also doesn't sound like ARS. And PEP is extremely unreliable and made it nearly impossible you have HIV, even if your risk was high.

1. If your symptoms are ARS, an HIV test would be positive. Blood tests always are positive if ARS is present; there are no exceptions.

2. I could answer this better if I knew more about your exposure. A negative result now will not prove you didn't catch HIV. But it WOULD show HIV isn't the cause of your symptoms.

3. You do not need a PCR test at this time; an AgAb or antibody test is sufficient to show your symptoms are not ARS. And it's too soon for any test to prove you didn't catch HIV.

4. The drugs are gone from your system after 4-5 days.

5. There are few good data on time to conclusive testing after PEP. A negative PCR 2 weeks after the last dose would mean you almost certainly are not infected, but conclusive testing requires an AgAb (4th generation) test 6 weeks after the last dose.

6. Asked and answered above. No, not possible.

7. Also answered above. No, this doesn't sound at all like ARS.

8. Answered above. This did not increase your risk, certainly not enough to take PEP.

I'll be happy to comment again when you have your test result. You definitely can expect it to be negative. In the meantime, I hope these comments are helpful.

HHH, MD

This isn’t an update to my testing but question I have due to something that occurred today. 

I was at a restaurant earlier today and when I finished my meal I went to go use the washroom. I washed my hands with soap in the sink and once I did that I spit into the sink. While I spat onto the sink my spit was very thick and wouldn’t get out of my mouth entirely My spit Touched the sink while the spit was still intact to my mouth and I sucked the spit back into my mouth due to it be so thick and not exiting my mouth. I than realized that the spit Had touched the sink and reentered my mouth. That’s when I started thinking what if somebody previous to me had Ejaculated in the sink or had blood or maybe just spat on the sink and since my spit that touched the sink while still intact to my mouth and reentered my mouth had Potentially put me at risk for another exposure? 

My questions are 

1. Is this a possible route to be infected by HIV since my spit was still intact to my mouth and re-entered my mouth and it touched the sink? 

2. Do I need to/ do you recommend I  restart the day of exposure back to Day 1 since this occurred? 

3. What was the risk evaluation due to this since maybe Semen was on the sink and my spit that touched the sink was still intact and Re-entered my mouth?  

4. Is this even theoretically  possible? 

Thanks and again I will update You once I get tested for the symptoms. I plan on doing the test next Monday which will be 9 days post PEP. 

5. Since I’m doing the Test  next week and the symptoms may have went away. Would the test still be accurate for the symptoms even though they went away? 

5. Yes, your test will be reliable. Test reliability has nothing to do with symptoms, only with time since exposure.

I have been taking A Herbal supplement called (KRATOM) which contains  many chemical compounds (known as bioactive alkaloids) such as Mitragyna speciosa which is the Kratom leaf and 7-OH mitragynine. It basically acts as an Opioid/opiate. I have been taking this to reduce my anxiety and stress 

DO NOT POST ANOTHER QUESTION ABOUT THESE EVENTS OR YOUR CONCERNS ABOUT HIV OR TESTING FOR IT. THE ANSWERS WILL NOT CHANGE.  In fact,  because repeated questions of the same type are not permitted, and all your questions (ten of them) have been about the same issues, even if the particular exposure were different, this will have to be your last one on the forum. Excessive anxiety driven questions may be deleted without reply and without refund of the posting fee. Thank you for your understanding. I do hope this last discussion has been helpful. Best wishes and stay safe.