[Question #11624] Curiosity About HIV

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13 months ago
I’ve been divorced for 4 years. My ex wife has HSV2 and passed it to me. I get around 1 small breakout a year. Two years ago I decided to date men. I know from reading the questions asked on this site how to weigh my risk. I met a white males in his 50’s around two years ago. We went down on each other and I asked his status and he said he was clean. Now I’m not interested in anal but he is. We compromised and we lubed my anus and he would rub his penis against my anus. It was intense rubbing and he did try to go inside but I stopped him. I went down on him and he did not tell me he was going to cum and he came in my mouth and eyes. I was not happy. I asked him to affirm his clean status and he looked nervous. Now I know I would have felt a penis going inside me and my anal entry was sore from the intense rubbing. I waited a year to take the orasure HIV test and it was negative. Now 2 years later when I wipe it hurts and I touched around and notice a bump around my anus (not on my actual anus but like the walls). It does not hurt while defecating just when wiping. Can I trust my negative HIV test and can this bump be non related. I know if he lied and had HIV I still a low probability. 
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
13 months ago
Welcome to the forum. Thanks for your confidence in our services.

Since you mention your HSV2 at the start, I wonder if you're concerned it has something to do with your anal bump and discomfort. You don't say so, but I'm just putting two and two together (but maybe coming up with five). Anyway, the answer is no. You do not have anal HSV2:  having already had it genitally, you cannot catch HSV2 again at a new body site. Could it be herpes due to HSV1? Conceivably yes, but unlikely without oral-anal contact (since HSV1 is the main cause of oral herpes).

And I am equally convinced your anal symptoms are not due to anything that happened during the sexual event two years ago. Anal irritation is among the most common symptoms experienced by all humans, and it's an increasingly common problem as people age. Sometimes it's an anal fissure -- although usually that would be likely to result in occasional bleeding. I don't see how the anal rubbing at the time of that event has anything to do with your current symptoms. Maybe syphilis? Or an irritated anal wart? There's no way to know based only on your symptoms, but both are exceedingly unlikely. In any case, this is all speculation:  my advice is for you to see a physician about it.

There is nothing in your sexual history or your symptoms that suggests your symptoms have anything to do with HIV, and no reason to suspect you are infected. The oral fluids test (Oraquick) misses a few percent of infections, so for additional reassurance you might want to have a lab-based HIV blood test. And for completeness, a syphilis blood test. But if you are tested I'm sure the results would be negative.

I hope these comments are helpful. Let me know if anything isn't clear.

HHH, MD
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13 months ago
Thank you for the clarification. Like I stated I did date a man for the first time but decided I was only curious. He try to go in and I could feel pain so I told him no. He apologized and I’ve always wonder during the encounter did he slip it in without me knowing but it’s obvious I would have felt it. Yes I’ve had irritation in my anal area before. The bump is located in a place where hair normally grows. I felt a tingling in the area so I did have a fear that I was getting a HSV2 breakout in the anal area even though all my genital breakout for the past 4 years have been in the same area. They say tingling is a precursor to a breakout. I have that tingling weeks after a breakout but I tend to think it’s my own mind focusing on the area. I had a CBC because on pancreatitis. The doctor said my labs were normal. Would HIV show on those test. I have a phobia of blood so seeing how statistically the orasure and the degree of my exposure is low I think I will just go with that. The man I did this with is in his 50 and a professional white male. Like you said most people don’t lie when asked directly about their status and in the event that he did the odds are on my favor. Thanks Doc
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H. Hunter Handsfield, MD
13 months ago
This information doesn't change my assessment or advice. Tingling can precede a herpes outbreak, but ongoing or long lasting tingling is not a symptom of herpes. And you certainly can rely on the Oraquick test result. Thanks for the thanks.---