hi. i'm a 31 year old straight Canadian male who just recently had unprotected oral sex with man who said he was "clean" about a week and a half ago. this was a "curious phase" and don't endeavor to do it again. he didn't ejaculate in my mouth and there was no form of penetration either and the oral lasted less than 10 minutes. i am not sure if he was gay or bi but he said he was clean. and now reading into the symptoms of hiv, my mind has me totally convinced that i may in trouble. i have body aches, i havent been eating much in the past 5 days and my stomach hurts from not eating. there was no fluid exchange to my knowledge and am concerned about the psychological stress my mind is putting my body through. i have taken 2 hiv tests because im scared out of my tree because the results arent in yet. again, my mind must be convincing my body about the symptoms and my anxiety is through the roof where i'm sick to the stomach. reading about symptoms on the internet is a bad thing to do is it not? i need help with this please!! we love you in Canada Br. Bob!!!!!

Hi "Curious Phase" Canadian Guy,

Oral sex carries a very low risk for HIV transmission/acquisition. I absolutely agree your guilt and anxiety are causing your current symptoms. This is probably much worse because this was your first guy-on-guy action. You can find many similar "bi-curious" and first-time "guy-on-guy" action scenarios causing severe guilt and often completely irrational HIV fears in the archives. Reading these testimonials may help you put your situation in better perspective. My advice to you is the same as it has been to the many others who found themselves in a similar situation:

1. If you are worried about HIV, and clearly you are, get a rapid HIV test at the three-month mark. (Results are available within 20 minutes!) HIV-antibody tests taken prior to the three-month mark are not considered to be definitive or conclusive.

2. Whether you are straight as a lawn dart or gay as the Christmas windows at Macy's, I would suggest you get psychological counseling to explore sexual orientation issues in addition to therapy for your irrational and unwarranted fears related to HIV.

3. Peruse the wealth of information on this Web site, in its archives and on the related links, paying particular attention to oral sex, HIV-transmission risks (sexual), HIV prevention (sexual), safer sex techniques and HIV diagnostic tests.

Good luck. I'm quite confident all will turn out well for you!

Dr. Bob