Risk

[Rohit]

Not sure whether to be concerned. Had an encounter with an escort at the lower end of the price range when I was a student. He kissed me and to a certain degree this was forced as I tried to pull away but was pinned against the bed and had chapped lips - am not sure if he had blood on his lips or not . Am concerned about potential HIV risk?

[+ Just Sayin]

why don't you get tested? I'm not sure how long it has been since you have been a student, but if it's gnawing at you, stop speculating and get your answer

[Rohit]

why don't you get tested? I'm not sure how long it has been since you have been a student, but if it's gnawing at you, stop speculating and get your answer

 

Just really scared, have been told by sexual health clinic that no risk - wish I had taken PEP

[jimboivyo]

man up, get tested. it something every sexually active man should be doing

[AndreFuture]

What would be scarier is ending up in the ER viciously sick and finding out you've developed AIDS because you were HIV positive and went without treatment for so long. HIV isn't a death sentence, is a chronic condition that you can manage, but only if you know you have it.

 

Most likely, though, you didn't catch anything, and a test would confirm that for you.

[bimbosavant]

If you do get tested, and I hope you do - please ask the clinician or counselor on hand to give you pertinent information on how the virus is transmitted - along with information in regards to over 30 other STIs. Also - please do research on PrEP.

 

Good luck.

[+ sync]

By all means get tested. Under these circumstances, doing nothing is doing wrong.

[rvwnsd]

@Rohit, may I introduce a couple of ideas that might make you feel better?

 

Thank you. Here goes:

 

Not sure whether to be concerned...

Take a step back. Now take a deep breath. Now exhale and just breathe. "Being concerned" and "being fearful" are two different things. I'm sensing some fear. Let go of the fear and the regret over not having taken PEP.

 

...Had an encounter with an escort at the lower end of the price range...

I am also sensing some regret and shame for having hired an escort who charged a low rate. A guy's rate has no bearing on his HIV status nor does HIV status have any bearing on his rate. Let go of that regret and shame if it is there.

 

...when I was a student....

How long ago was this?

 

...He kissed me and to a certain degree this was forced as I tried to pull away but was pinned against the bed and had chapped lips...

Wait...who had the chapped lips? You or him? I'm asking because

...- am not sure if he had blood on his lips or not ....

What makes you think he might have had blood on his lips? Did you notice a cut? Were his lips chapped, too?

 

...Am concerned about potential HIV risk?

There is always an HIV infection risk, but the probability of infection varies based on the situation. Based on the information you provided, it sounds like you engaged in a low-risk activity. There is a decent probability that he is HIV-. Given an HIV- person cannot transmit the virus, if he is HIV- there is a zero percent chance that he transmitted the virus to you. If he is HIV+ but has an undetectable viral load, then there is a near-zero percent chance that the transmitted the virus to you. If he is HIV+ but has a detectable viral load, then there is a greater than zero but still very small chance that he transmitted the virus. This is the long-form way of saying "you probably have nothing to worry about."

 

All that being said, there is a way of knowing your HIV status. You know what that way is? Get tested for HIV.

[+ quoththeraven]

Besides what rvwnsd said, which I probably wouldn't have been able to express as graciously because even if this happened recently and one of you had a bloody lip, HIV couldn't be passed unless both of you had open sores and some of his blood passed into your blood, if you've been to a clinic and had your fears pooh-poohed without an offer of a test or have been turned down for a test, you need to go to the nearest free clinic and get all the available tests for STIs (not just HIV) as well as counseling so you are better informed and able to make intelligent decisions.

[Bearofdistinction]

Not sure whether to be concerned. Had an encounter with an escort at the lower end of the price range when I was a student. He kissed me and to a certain degree this was forced as I tried to pull away but was pinned against the bed and had chapped lips - am not sure if he had blood on his lips or not . Am concerned about potential HIV risk?

 

 

Go Get Fucking Tested -- Results within 10 minutes or less

 

Every sexually active person - gay/str8t/bi/tri/pan/ should know there HIV status

[Mocha]

Just really scared, have been told by sexual health clinic that no risk - wish I had taken PEP

 

Did you know the mind can cause the body to manifest symptoms of HIV simply by obsessing over the possibility of an infection, even when there is no virus present?

 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/8505998.stm

 

And the acronym is PREP. Not PEP, boys.

 

http://community.mis.temple.edu/tnguyen1993/files/2015/05/pep_boys_apple_pay.jpg

[rvwnsd]

...And the acronym is PREP. Not PEP, boys....

 

He is referring to Post-Exposure Prophylaxis, a/k/a "PEP" which is not to be confused with Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, a/k/a "PrEP."

[Edward]

Get tested. Not only because of this guy but all the others you have been with. Probably nothing to be concerned unless you have been BBing.

[YoungAD]

And the acronym is PREP. Not PEP, boys.

 

http://community.mis.temple.edu/tnguyen1993/files/2015/05/pep_boys_apple_pay.jpg

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect

[pubic_assistance]

An HIV positive person can bleed all over you, without infecting you. You need that blood to get INTO something. Saliva is not a hospitable environment for HIV virus. Maybe if your gums are open and sore...but this all sounds fairly unlikely. Like everyone else on the thread has said: GET TESTED ( and get tested regularly if you're sexually active).

[coriolis888]

Just really scared, have been told by sexual health clinic that no risk - wish I had taken PEP

 

 

One way to stop worrying is to call the toll free number on the below linked site and find the nearest location to you that sells these home HIV test kits. You can also buy these test kits in many large pharmacies.

 

The kits are approved by the FDA and are the same tests used in many doctor's offices.

 

Here is a link to the only company that manufactures these at-home tests:

 

http://www.oraquick.com/

 

The test takes only 20 minutes to get results. Assuming that you are HIV negative, you can then stop worrying.

[LADoug1]

One way to stop worrying is to call the toll free number on the below linked site and find the nearest location to you that sells these home HIV test kits. You can also buy these test kits in many large pharmacies.

 

The kits are approved by the FDA and are the same tests used in many doctor's offices.

 

Here is a link to the only company that manufactures these at-home tests:

 

http://www.oraquick.com/

 

The test takes only 20 minutes to get results. Assuming that you are HIV negative, you can then stop worrying.

But if you are positive it is imperative that you see a doctor to be retested and receive counseling.

[+ Charlie]

I notice that there has been no response from rohit since the day after his original post, and I am not surprised. In the 80s, I worked on an AIDS information hotline. One day I got a call from a man who professed to be very worried that he might have been exposed to the virus, because he had fingered a prostitute when he had a hangnail. I explained why this was a virtually no risk exposure, but told him that if he was not convinced, he could get a free HIV test, and gave him the information necessary to do it. When I mentioned this incident to another phone counselor, she said that she had received a call from him, too. Asking around among the other volunteers, we found that he had called many times at different hours, always trying to find someone fresh with whom he could talk about his fear. He became a legend on our hotline as "the hangnail man." We always treated him politely and professionally, although we knew it was hopeless. He was obsessed with the incident itself, and needed to talk about it. He did not want sensible advice about how to rid himself of the worry--he wanted to find confirmation that he was right to be worried. The OP has been told clearly, by every responder here, what he doesn't want to hear: that the incident which he can't get out of his mind (did it happen years ago?) carried virtually no risk of exposure to HIV. Even if he took the tests, again and again, he probably would still not be convinced.

[ChrisWydeman]

Not sure whether to be concerned. Had an encounter with an escort at the lower end of the price range when I was a student. He kissed me and to a certain degree this was forced as I tried to pull away but was pinned against the bed and had chapped lips - am not sure if he had blood on his lips or not . Am concerned about potential HIV risk?

You have nothing to worry about if kissing could transmit HIV there wouldn't be any gay men from the 80's and 90's alive today

[coriolis888]

You have nothing to worry about if kissing could transmit HIV there wouldn't be any gay men from the 80's and 90's alive today

 

 

In principle, I agree with your comment. However, your comment does not address what the original poster described.

 

The original poster wrote - e.g. "He kissed me and to a certain degree this was forced as I tried to pull away but was pinned against the bed and had chapped lips - am not sure if he had blood on his lips or not ."

Considering the above facts, it is entirely possible that there could have been a blood transfer.

 

At a minimum, an HIV test is warranted.

[ChrisWydeman]

In principle, I agree with your comment. However, your comment does not address what the original poster described.

 

The original poster wrote - e.g. "He kissed me and to a certain degree this was forced as I tried to pull away but was pinned against the bed and had chapped lips - am not sure if he had blood on his lips or not ."

Considering the above facts, it is entirely possible that there could have been a blood transfer.

 

At a minimum, an HIV test is warranted.

Your certainly welcome to get a blood test but as someone who has worked in HIV education and HIV related services I would say your risk is incredibly low to the point of not mentioning it which is why I didn't mention it. Unless he broke your skin or you had open sores in your mouth the risk is incredibly low. If you are still concerned about your risk of HIV talk to your doctor about going on prep or doing a 30 day course of pep

[killianjamesnyc]

How the word boi is used in the every day LGBT Community:

 

1. in the lesbian community, a young transgendered/androgynous/masculine person who is biologically female and presents themselves in a young, boyish way; a boidyke; often also identifies as genderqueer.

 

2. in the gay community, a young gay man;

 

3. in the BDSM community, someone who presents themselves in a young, boyish way and is usually a bottom/submissive;

 

4. an alternate spelling of boy often used by young teenage boys.

 

So which one is he?

[Rohit]

Thanks for the responses. I know the risk is very low & I should have already got tested-really stupid of me. I was extremely naive & I think the fact that he pinned himself against me may have increased the risk- there is only one way to know where I stand

[JuniorNYC]

I've been involved in HIV prevention and research work for over a decade, so I can tell you what I know. In terms of risk, he would have literally needed to be bleeding from his mouth in visible amounts and you would have had to have fresh sores/cuts on top of that. HIV is not like Hep C; it dies quickly outside of the body. You also need high amounts of HIV in order to seroconvert. In the chance he was positive and you were exposed to the virus (the virus entering your body), I highly doubt it was enough to infect you. Think of it as trying to dye a white shirt red. You would need a large amount of dye to change the color. If you add a couple drops of dye in a bucket, dip the shirt in and quickly take it out, chances are that shirt will stay white. On top of that saliva acts as a protective barrier, like dipping the shirt in oil first. From what you described, I think you would have better luck winning the lottery than to have become infected.

 

Unless there was blood dripping from both of your mouths, I wouldn't be worried. If you're that worried, go to a pharmacy and pick up an at-home rapid HIV test to ease your mind. It's a little pricey and will set you back $40, but if you're this worried about it, I think it's worth the money. You can go to http://www.oraquick.com/where-to-buy to find out where you can purchase the test near you.

 

Best of luck,

[JerseyBabyDaddy]

I honestly see no reason why you shouldn't get tested. Even if you're not sexually active, you should still get tested. I don't get the fear from getting a full STD test. It's not like the test will give you an STD. If you have an STD, it's better to find out and do something about it earlier rather than suffer the consequences of knowing too late. Most STDs don't have symptoms in most cases.