Hi,

Any advice is much appreciated. Let me give you the history:

9 weeks ago I had my first man / man experience and am scared I may have contracted HIV. The guy I was with and I discussed at length his HIV status and he told me he was negative. I told him I was as well. The only test I ever had was for life insurance 5 months ago and that was negative. I had no other sexual encounters between my test and the night 8 weeks ago.

We engaged in oral sex, no ejaculation, and unprotected anal sex (insertive on my part), no ejaculation, then mutual jo. The day following the we spoke again about his HIV status and he assured me he was clean. Three days following that night I became very nauseous and unable to eat. I didn't have a full blown fever but did experience hot flashes and cold sweats on occasion and a sore throat, not too many body aches and no diarrhea. They symptoms lasted for 4 days or so and have gone away.

Two weeks after the encounter I had an HIV test and it was negative, the nurse suggested I get tested again in 3 months which is mid December. I'm wondering if a test now, 9 weeks after would give me some sort of relief from the anxiety I'm experiencing.

I have no real reason to believe the guy is not being honest with me about his status but I can't help but think I caught something.

Please let me know my risk and again, anything you can tell me would be very helpful and I appreciate it very much.

Thanks.

Hello,

You "discussed at length his HIV status . . ." and despite obviously being aware and concerned about contracting AIDS, you willingly decided to have unprotected anal sex with this guy your first man/man experience!?!? Dude, what were you thinking? You obviously had enough knowledge to know this was risky business. You even broached the topic "at length" with "Mr. Right Now" and still you willingly decided to go commando!? Simply rolling on a thin piece of latex would have prevented all this worry. I certainly hope this is a lapse in judgment you'll never repeat.

Regarding HIV-antibody tests, tests taken prior to the 3-month mark are not considered to be definitive or conclusive. Consequently I don't recommend them.

As for symptoms, they are notoriously unreliable in determining who is or is not HIV infected. Consequently, I don't find them helpful. The reason to get an HIV test is a potential HIV exposure, whether or not "symptoms" occur.

I wish you luck and hope you've learned a valuable (potentially life-saving) lesson from this unfortunate and easily preventable situation.

Dr. Bob