POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: hopefulone on September 12, 2010, 01:37:51 pm
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hey guys, i would really appreciate your response. i recently took an hiv test 7 weeks post exposure. im female and had unprotected sex with a man whose status im not sure of. Anyway i tested negative and they drew a tube of blood but im not sure what test was used. i have had some symptoms, since the encounter. the symptoms were fever, nausea, slight headache, stomach cramping, and body aches. im not sure if this is all could be from the 7 weeks of worrying myself to death before finally getting tested but how accurate is a test at 7 weeks. the nurse practioner said come back at 6 months mark. i will freaking go crazy by then. what do you guys think. thanks
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Hopeful,
The window period for hiv testing is three months, not six. A shocking amount of health care practitioners aren't up to date where hiv is concerned. It's been three months for quite a few years now.
The vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks, with the average time to seroconversion being only 22 days. A test at or after six weeks is highly unlikely to change, but must be confirmed at the three month point. I do not expect your three month test result to be anything other than another negative.
Forget about symptoms. Neither symptoms nor the lack of symptoms will ever tell you a single thing about your hiv status. Only testing at the appropriate time will accurately tell you your status.
I hope you also tested for the other, more easily transmitted STIs as well.
You really need to learn from this and perhaps keep your own supply of condoms handy. You need to be using condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, every time, no exceptions until such time as you are in a securely monogamous relationship where you have both tested for ALL sexually transmitted infections together.
To agree to have unprotected intercourse is to consent to the possibility of being infected with an STI. Sex without a condom lasts only a matter of minutes, but hiv is forever.
Have a look through the condom and lube links in my signature line so you can use condoms with confidence.
Anyone who is sexually active should be having a full sexual health care check-up, including but not limited to hiv testing, at least once a year and more often if unprotected intercourse occurs.
If you aren't already having regular, routine check-ups, now is the time to start. As long as you make sure condoms are being used for intercourse, you can fully expect your routine hiv tests to return with negative results.
Don't forget to always get checked for all the other sexually transmitted infections as well, because they are MUCH easier to transmit than hiv.
Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!
Again, I really do not expect your seven week negative result to change when you test again at the three month point.
Ann
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thanks ann for the reply, it is a little reassuring. i wanted to ask though what would be the reason that a few will take longer to test positive. i have always have a pretty strong immune system and hardly ever get sick so i was wondering maybe my body was fighting the infection and that is why it may not be showing up yet. do you think this sounds completely crazy or is it possible? thanks
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Hopeful,
The people who may take a little longer to seroconvert are those who are on chemotherapy for cancer or anti-rejection drugs following organ transplant or those who have been injecting street drugs every day for years.
If your body was fighting hiv, the first thing it would do is produce antibodies. It hasn't and I think that's because you haven't been infected. I really do not expect your results to change, but you must still get that three month confirmation. Better safe than sorry, eh?
Ann
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ok thanks again ann, i will try to live as normal as possible for the next four weeks. maybe after a negative result at 3 months, i will be convinced.
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hey guys sorry to post again but i cant get this out of my mind. i will test again at 3 months but i did not mention to you guys that i got a rash on my chest and forehead right at about 3 weeks after the encounter and it just keeps staying in my mind. it was the hottest days of the summer and was hoping it was heat rash but i think it was to coincidental because i never get heat rash. i have read that the rash comes at about that time. also read that that is usually the time of seroconversion but seroconversion can also be delayed. i just tested negative at 7 weeks. today im am also having this weird face pain again that comes and goes since the encounter. its a warm feeling in my face and neck only. i dont have a fever but i feel like im breathing heat and my face is warm and my vision isnt clear. has anyone else experienced this. please respond i feel like im going crazy. i just dont feel good and by the way i got tested for all other stds, diabetes, cholesterol, you name it and all my labs were normal. what could this? ive been to the doctor. today im am 9 weeks post exposure. im thinking i am one of those with delayed seroconversion.
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Nothing you are reporting symptomatically is in any way HIV specific. Given your negative result at 7 weeks I certainly expect you to continue to test negative.
Focus on other things in your life and stop all this drama. If you have symptoms bothering you that is something to discuss with your doctor. I don't see this as an HIV situation.
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Thanks Andy for the response but i am very focused on other things in my life. i have a very full and active life. i came here for support as i hardly ever got sick before the encounter. sorry you feel like this is drama. believe me this is not something i would catergorize as drama. i came here for support not to be talked down to.
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Thanks Andy for the response but i am very focused on other things in my life. i have a very full and active life. i came here for support as i hardly ever got sick before the encounter. sorry you feel like this is drama. believe me this is not something i would catergorize as drama. i came here for support not to be talked down to.
And you have received support.
"Support" does not mean you will be molly coddled and indulged. It means you will be told what you need to hear even if you find it unpalatable.
So I suggest you do as Andy has told you. Go and live your full and active life while you wait to receive your 13 week confirmatory test result and stop with all the symptom stuff.
We don't do that here.
MtD
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hey guys i just took my 13 weeks hiv test and i am so scared and worried to death that i just dont know what to do. i dont have anyone else to talk to. i have kept this a secret. all my worries i have had to hide for the last 3 months.now that im here im so scared. i just dont know if i will be able to handle it if i am positive. i guess i just need someone to talk to. ill let u guys know of my results good or bad.
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Hopeful,
As you've been previously told here, your seven week negative result is highly unlikely to change.
Ann
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hey guys i got my 12 week 6 day test results back and they were neg. i have been recently very fatigued and have noticed white spots on the back of my throat so the doctor ordered me to take another hiv since it was before 13 weeks. is that normal. thought my test was conclusive.
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hey guys i got my 12 week 6 day test results back and they were neg. i have been recently very fatigued and have noticed white spots on the back of my throat so the doctor ordered me to take another hiv since it was before 13 weeks. is that normal. thought my test was conclusive.
Your doctor is being unnecessarily cautious. 12 weeks and 6 days is the same as 13 weeks for the purposes of HIV antibody testing.
You are conclusively HIV negative. You do not need any further testing.
MtD