Sexual Health Screening in Ireland ....

[SteveB]

Well, you have done the right thing and got medical advice. While it is unwise to be complacent, STIs are not that easily caught, even in the very unlikely chance that an escort was infected.

Psychosomatic illnesses are quite common I think.
If you are worried or stressed it suppresses your immune system and makes it more likely that you get some sort of everyday virus. If I get stressed at work I tend to find I can get sore throats and other ailments.
Also, could just be a coincidence.

In any case, after so many tests and medical advice I would have thought it was time to stop worrying. If there was a problem I would have thought the doctor would be at least suspicious of something.

[MidlifeCrisis]

You are right to get checked, but you don't seem to be thinking straight about the risks. Even if this girl were HIV positive and not on treatment, the risk to you from a single burst condom would be very small. Google it - I do not want to put numbers up here, because they vary from different sources but they are all very low.

Other STI's are more easily transmitted, but only if she has one, which again is very unlikely. If you have picked up one of those, it is probably 100% curable.

As Steve says, it is much more likely that the stress is the main cause of your symtoms.

If this happened to me, I would take it seriously and get tested thoroughly, but I would consider myself very unlucky if I picked something up as a result.

There is a good chance that the girl is getting extra testing as well, but does not want you involved in her business.

[Ninja86]

Thanks a million for your responses. I did get a complete std screen at 30 days and they all came back negative. I am just worried because the official window period for HIV is 30 days. They say almost 95 percent infections will be picked up by 28 days. I am worried because the lady is a South American and possibly could have HIV 2 which has a longer seroconversion period. I know I'm just being paranoid. I would be at ease if she got tested.

[Ninja86]

Sorry, the official window for HIV is 90 days. I apologise if I am making this a rant, but I am just in dire need of some reassurance. Anyone here who has been in a similar situation with an escort from the forum ? How did you go about it ? She is an older lady and does not speak English. But she was nice enough to try and calm me down after the incident. And I do want to believe her when she kept repeating she is healthy. When I got in touch with her a couple of weeks later when I started panicking and noticing symptoms she told me she would get tested in April when she is in Dublin. I offered to pay for her to get tested in a better2know clinic but she refused. I think she probably felt I was being disrespectful. She being an older lady and not getting English very well I think contributed to the misunderstanding. I am just looking for any pointers. I have another test scheduled at 60 days and hopefully will have good news. Anyone here heard of a negative 30 day 4th gen HIV test turning positive later ?

I am so thankful for those of you who responded with kindness. I do not have anyone here I can share this with. I am thankful for your advise.

[Ninja86]

Thank you for saying that. I hope it goes well. I couldn't sleep for 2 weeks and had developed bad insomnia. Doc prescribed sleeping pills. But I didn't take them cos I thought I'd get hooked. Insomnia went away after I received my 30 day result. But now I'm panicking again cos I got rash fever and sore throat they say are the triad of HIV symptoms. I hope these are just psychosomatic like you guys say. Its tough to get through days. Is there a helpline I can use ?

[SteveB]

https://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV---...s/show/1537455

Quotes from the above;

"The odds of HIV transmission, female to male from a single episode of unprotected sex -- if the woman has HIV -- has been calculated at 1 in 2,000. That's equivalent to having unprotected sex with infected women once daily for 5 years before infection might be statistically expected. Of course transmission can occur from a single event, but it's rare. The vast majority of heterosexually infected persons are the regular partners of infected persons"

"The chance of catching HIV from an exposure [like yours,] which probably is in the 1 in a million range. However, I cannot say it's truly zero -- especially if you are correct about your co-worker's possible "wild sexual side".

[Ninja86]

Thank you for pointing me to that thread. My concern is that I have all the three symptoms and more but they only started after the 4 weeks. I wish I could talk to the lady again but she has blocked me. If she tested negative that would just put my mind back at ease. Nothing I can do now I suppose.

[Ninja86]

I got a alere HIV combo rapid test at 8 weeks post exposure yesterday and it was negative. I have also given a sample for the 4th gen lab test and am hoping will come back negative. I am hoping to move on from this soul crushing experience. I wanted to leave this out here to thank everyone who helped me with your kindness. And hopefully someone who will go through these symptoms can look at this thread and realise symptoms don't tell much about HIV. I also want this to remind myself that I am not cut out for this. I only started seeing escorts to cope with the loss of my sister and the loneliness of being in a foreign land. I need to find better ways to cope. Thank you for your support good men.

[tom rambo]

Got all checks done and got the all clear yesterday,

One thing I was surprised about what the said was given oral to a lady was safer than she given oral to a man,?

[The Libertarian]

Got all checks done and got the all clear yesterday,

One thing I was surprised about what the said was given oral to a lady was safer than she given oral to a man,?

Well, the group with the lowest HIV transmission rates are lesbian couples! A lady's vagina is apparently acidic which can help kill a lot of nasties, whereas a lot of nasties could be potentially present in a man's semen!