[Question #9918] Scared - Receiving Oral

27 months ago

Hi Doctor,

Thank you for the responses on my earlier question. I did test for gonorrhoea and chlymydia (throat and penis) after a week of the exposure and it was negative. My exposure was getting unprotected oral (my penis was sucked by an older 50+ male, I am also male) and deep tongue kissing.

I am still concerned about HIV. I understand you say there is no risk, but unfortunately I decided to start googling and many sites say this is a risk as some people have gotten hiv from getting a blow job. I also tested negative for HIV when I did the sti test a week after the exposure (this was my only exposure outside of my primary relationship in the past 6+ months). We took a break and I got the blow job in that time.

27 months ago

I am back with my long term partner and am scared to engage in intercourse with them due to the unprotected blowjob I got from the other man. Is this unreasonable? I don’t want to put my partner at any risk for HIV.

I might get tested soon. It will be 4 weeks mid next week since the exposure.

27 months ago

Forgot to mention, I was doing fine, but since last week, I’ve gotten occasional sweating at night. Im not sure if it’s night sweats (which I understand is an ARS symptom). Typically only the portion of my body under my duvet gets sweaty, particularly my inner thighs. Today my PJ legs felt damp. My head (outside of the duvet) was not sweating. My sheets were also not soaked. I haven’t really felt any other symptoms besides fatigue (but that might be due to lack of sleep). I haven’t checked my temperature but I don’t think I have a fever.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

27 months ago

Welcome back to the forum, but I'm sorry you found it necessary.

You appear to be a victim of your own compulsions in searching for bad news. Anybody can write anything they want on the web. Some people say or believe they caught HIV from an oral-to-penile exposure, but the fact is that there have been no credible, scientifically documented cases of such exposure resulting in HIV transmission. Even among people who BELIEVE they caught HIV that way, CDC calculated a risk of one transmission for every 20,000 events with infected partners. That's equivalent to receiving BJs by HIV infected partners every day for 55 years before transmission of the virus might be likely.

You'll get more valid perspectives on HIV risk by avoiding websites run by and for people with HIV or at risk. Stick with sites run by professional organizations like academic medical centers and public health agencies, or professionally moderated sites like this one.

HIV almost never would be the cause of the symptoms you describe and there are plenty of other potential explanations for them.

There is no good reason to not resume sex with your regular partner. But feel free to be tested for HIV if you wish. It would be strictly for reassurance, not because there is any plausible risk.

HHH, MD

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27 months ago

Thank you Doctor. I now came down with a headache, sinus, slight fever and neck and leg pain, it might be sinuses but it’s gotten me concerned that it could be that 1 in 20000 chance and I'm going through ARS. It is now 24 days since the encounter. The symptoms started yesterday or a day before, worst today so far.

27 months ago

If I get tested at 4 weeks in a couple days (28/29 days) since the encounter, how conclusive would you consider the tests based on my exposure? I want to wait until 6 weeks just because I fear that too many tests can lead to false positives, I’m mainly concerned about infecting my partner. You have done some risk calculations for people before, that would help if possible.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

27 months ago

The symptoms of acute retroviral syndrome (ARS, i.e. new HIV infection) cannot start later than 10-14 days after exposure. And your symptoms are not typical of ARS anyway. (Among other things, ARS denote cause sinus symptoms like nasal congestion or drip. You caught a cold that has nothing to do with the sexual exposure on your mind.

Please continue sex with your partner as normal. If you insist on unnecessary testing, the AgAb blood tests (i.e. "4th generation") are nearly conclusive (98-99%) 4 weeks after exposure.

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26 months ago

Hi Doctor,

One more question. Would masturbating my penis with another man’s penis be a risk for HIV? Basically, we were laying facing each other, and placed our penises next to each so the underside touched each other and he masturbated both at the same time. I assume pre-seminal fluid could have gone from his penis to my urethra since they were in close proximity and could have even touched. He was uncut and I’m cut. Is this a risk for HIV? And any testing required?

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

26 months ago

There have been no reported cases of HIV being transmitted by penis-to-penis contact. I cannot say it can't happen, but when even the highest risk sexual practices -- like being the bottom partner in anal sex with an infected parter not on treatment -- has a risk of infection of under one chance in a hundred, I would judge penis-penis contact to be hundreds of times less likely. To be safest, I would recommend avoiding such contact with anyone whose HIV status you do not know, but I see no need for HIV testing, especially since you don't even know that your urethras were not in direct contact.

FYI, I see a typo in my follow up reply 26 days ago. "Denote" should be "does not" (thanks, Siri!). You probably understood that it was meant to read "...ARS does not cause sinus symptoms...."

That completes the two follow-up comments and replies included with each question and so ends this thread. I hope the discussion has been helpful. Best wishes and stay safe.

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