Unprotected Anal Sex, Should My Partner Get A Rapid HIV Test And Should I Take Plan B?
Here’s the whole question:
had unorotected anal sex and i am 18 years old ...i wanted to ask if the right thing to do about std is to get my partner a rapid hiv test to see if i should take any prep pills and me make an std test its bin 1 day long and tomorow is the due to mybperiod though i experienced vaginal excharge and pain when touch the mons pubis and a spotted light red blood a little ..and offcourse for unwanted pregnancy plan b ?
There’s a lot here so let me do this one piece by piece.
If you had unprotected anal sex than I would definitely suggest you getting testing for STIs and HIV. But timing is important. You have to wait at least 18 days after you were possibly exposed for a test to possibly be able to tell you if you have HIV. Let me explain why.
The rapid HIV tests that you mention are designed to look for the body’s antibodies. These are created after you’ve become infected with HIV. These tests may be able to detect antibodies as soon as 18 days after exposure. But it can take up to 90 days for these tests to be really accurate. So if you’re worried about HIV, get tested a few weeks after the possible exposure, but then test again in 90 days.
There are other STIs you might want to get checked for. I’m thinking things like gonorrhea, chlamydia, and syphilis. It can also take a few weeks for these to show up on tests, so when you’re thinking about doing that HIV test at least 18 days after exposure, you might want to do tests for other STIs too.
You mentioned PrEP, but that wouldn’t work in this situation. PrEP stands for Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis. It’s taken by people who are HIV- who are engaging in high risk behavior. This may be something you consider in the future if you are HIV- and either have unprotected sex with someone who is HIV+, or if you have sex with people and don’t use condoms. It can also be helpful for people who inject drugs, but that wasn’t part of your question (if anyone wants to know more about this, just ask me).
People who may have been exposed to HIV can take PEP. This stands for Post-Exposure Prophylaxis. It should be taken with 72 hours of possibly being exposed to HIV. This is not something you do every time you have unprotected intercourse. It’s more for emergency situations.
You mention “vaginal excharge” so I don’t know if this means that you had vaginal sex after anal sex. If you did, did you clean the penis between anal and vaginal sex? Did you use a condom for the vaginal sex? The reason I ask is that bacteria can easily be transmitted from the anus to the vagina and that can lead to STIs and other bacterial infections. This can also cause you to get a urinary tract infection (UTI). If it’s been a couple of days since this happened and you’re noticing any kind of new discharge from your vagina, or there’s pain when you urinate, I would suggest talking to a health care professional.
If you only engaged in anal sex, there’s basically no risk of pregnancy. I say basically none, because sometimes when there’s no condom being used, semen can come into contact with different areas of the genitals. So if some semen got into the vaginal opening then maybe there would be a risk of pregnancy, but it would be very low. Add to that the fact that you’re supposed to get your period really soon, there’s really very little chance of getting pregnant. This means it’s not necessary to take Plan B, or use any other form of emergency contraception.
I would encourage you to think about how to protect yourself from possible HIV and STI infection in the future. Condoms are helpful for this. It can also help to have a conversation with your partner before you engage in any type of sexual activity. Talk to them about your sexual history and theirs, including possible STIs. Also talk about what you’re both comfortable doing in terms of risk. This is also a great time to talk about pleasure! I suggest talking all of this before sexual activity because once you get stated, it can be hard to stop and have these conversations.
Until next time, be safe and have fun!
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