[Question #13332] Should I retest?
6 days ago
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I had unprotected sex with a man last month. I usually take PrEP 2-1-1 rather than daily PrEP but that night I vomited a small amount about an hour after I took the two pills of Truvada due to an upset stomach. I had unprotected sex with another man 8 hours later, having forgotten that I'd possibly vomited the medication.
He performed oral sex me and then I topped when we had anal sex but the intercourse didn't last long because I could not stay hard. Nobody ejaculated.
I proceeded to finish the PrEP 2-1-1 regiment by taking another pill 24 hours after the first two, and then one more 24 hours after that.
I later found out that the man I had sex with was not on PrEP at all and had had sexual encounters with at least two other men since he last got tested.
I got tested 30 days later and results are negative. Should I retest again for even more accuracy, given incubation timelines for HIV?
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Edward W. Hook M.D.
6 days ago
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Welcome to the Forum. Thanks for your questions. I'll be glad to comment. About an hour following the first to tablets of your PrEP on Demand, some of the medication you had taken would have been absorbed from your stomach even before you vomited- possibly most of it although absorption varies from person to person. Your two subsequent medication doses added to the protective effect. Your 30 day test results are further strong, but not perfect evidence that you did not get HIV from the encounters you describe. After all, remember, not only did you take the PrEP but you do not know that your partners had untreated HIV (statistically unlikely) and even if one was, most single encounters to not lead to infection. Even if one of your partners were infected and without PrEP there would be a less than 1% chance you were infected
My sense is that you were not infected and that the PrEP you took would have offered protection had you been exposed. are your results entirely conclusive- no although they make it most unlikely that you were infected. Testing is always a personal choice. Testing at 6 weeks will provide entirely conclusive proof if you choose to test. Personally, I'm not sure I would bother.
I hope this information is helpful. EWH
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