Question
I am taking PEP, can I have uprotected sex?
14 February 2012. Related: All topics, PEP/PEPSE.
I’ve been taking lamzid for 5 days now and I want to find out how this will
affect my pregnant partner when we have unprotected sex?
I am taking lamzid because I slept with someone without a condom and I felt
very unsafe so I went to the doctor within 72 hours and he prescribed lamzid for me.
My pregnant partner is only 7weeks pregnant will this harm our baby?
Answer
There is no data on whether PEP can harm the unborn baby. However, unprotected sex whilst you are taking PEP is not recommended. This is because you don’t know your status and you could infect your partner. That is why it is important to wait until you finish the course and have done the follow-up confirmatory test.
For more information on PEP and the risks of sexual transmission, please follow this link to our guide.
Best wishes
HI Kwazi, going to a clinic will be the best thing you can do. Have you managed to speak to a doctor yet about your symptoms?
I have high fever and loss of appetite and a metallic taste in my tongue. I feel tired all the time and have lost weight and swollen lymph nodes under the jaw,I can only feel them when I search for them and they are like bean sized. I’ve had this fever from the 24th till now I’m thinking of going to the clinic tomorrow I can’t take this anymore.
Hi Kwazi, do you mean Kovatrax? If so this is a medication used as PEP. It is a generic combination of TLD and is a first line recommendation for PEP. What symptoms are you experiencing?
Hi Kwazi, are you able to access a healthcare clinic. If you have not been on PEP for the last 6 weeks you can use an Antigen/Antibody 4th generation test. This will be able to confirm your status. The symptoms you have mentioned are possibly due to seroconversion but there are a number of other possible causes that would need to be checked by a doctor. I understand why you’re scared but it is important to remember HIV is not easy to transmit and you have been on a course of PEP. This link might be of some benefit about fear and anxiety towards testing/waiting for results: https://i-base.info/guides/testing/hiv-testing-feelings-of-fear-anxiety-and-guilt
As for your son, HIV cannot be transmitted by saliva. Saliva contains anti-viral properties and prevents HIV being transmitted in this way. He would also not present with symptoms so soon after exposure. There is already a reduced risk about yourself having HIV. Given that you have been on PEP. There is no chance that you have given HIV to your son by sharing a sweet.
Is TLD useful as pep, the brand name is Korvax. I don’t trust it or it’s just one of those cases of pep failure as I am experiencing seroconversion symptoms.
I have also had chest pain which later went to back pain and my under arm is sore and this has been more than a month. Is it another sign of seroconversion? It’s still going to be a long month till I reach 1 month post exposure so I’ll test using a rapid test. And I’ve had for the first time after a whole 6 weeks I’ve had unbearable pain on the right side ear and high fever that was accompanied with coughing and runny nose and body aches at 7 weeks of which I think is a sign of seroconversion and I have lost weight I am so scared. This Is all without pep for 7 weeks. One last question can you transmit hiv via giving a child a sweet you just are because I gave my son a sweet that I ate and the following day he broke out with a cold I feel so guilty.
Hi Stephen, PEP is not used to prevent HIV. After you completed this course, a second course would need to be started if there is concern of an HIV risk. You would be able to get HIV.
Hi i had sex after full dose of 28 days pep….will i be able to get infected to HIV?
Hi Bobby, yes your test is conclusive. Testing negative at this point means you are HIV negative. You can move on.
Roy or Linda
I took a 28 day Pep course and waited
6 weeks before testing and it came out NEGATIVE with Alere determine Hiv1/2
Can I move on now ?