Can HIV cause a positive ANA test?

[Anon30]

Hi everyone...
A couple of years ago I was seeing a guy and having unprotected sex with him, which included him ejaculating in me. We stopped seeing each other. A year ago I found out he had been having sex with a whole lot of people. I decided to go to the doctor to get tested for STDs and HIV. The lady who works for my doctor is not a nurse, she is a medical assistant. She told me before I got the tests done that they don't call unless results are abnormal. A few days later I came home from work and discovered on my house phone that someone from the clinic called two times. They didn't leave a message. When I called back I got my doctor's medical assistant who told me that she didn't call me, it must of been the nurse who was covering for her. She didn't know why she called, because my results were normal. I just said ok, she has access to my chart and I didn't worry about it.
Well, the past year I have been getting these sores in my mouth which have been getting worse and worse. I've always had canker sores, but only got them a couple of times a year. This year they have progressed to the point where I am getting at least one a month, but more often I get one every two weeks. Sometimes I have several in my mouth at once. I also have geographic tongue, which I have never had before, plus I have also been getting sores on the inside of my lips which are not canker sores, they start out red and raw like I've been scraping at them with my nail, then they get covered with dead skin a day or two later...I think these might be intraoral herpes. Several websites have said they don't occur on the soft tissue of your mouth unless you have a weak immune system. Right now I have 2 canker sores plus the sores in my upper lip. I am in misery. I have gone to the dentist and another doctor and they weren't very helpful. They just told me there wasn't much they could do for the sores, just for me to get more sleep, take vitamins, and lysene pills. I've done this all and also switched to a toothpaste without SLS...still getting the sores.
I remembered what I was told at the doctors office, that they wouldn't call unless I had an abnormal result. This started to bother me, so I made an account on my clinic's website, where I can view my records, only to discover my test results were not on there. I called my doctor's office and talked to a nurse who told me my results were normal. But I wanted to see the results myself and called the medical record office and asked why I couldn't view them online, they were surprised and told me to go there to pick up a copy. Which I did and my HIV was non-reactive. But I am still concerned. I've read that medical assistants are not allowed to diagnose patients. Would a medical assistant be allowed to view HIV test results and relay those when a patient calls? I am worried I really tested positive, and that there was miscommunication with my doctor and her medical assistant, maybe for whatever reason she couldn't see my result, and when I called recently they falsyfied my record, seeing that I was not given the diagnosis...that is what I am worried about. Is that possible? Should i get another HIV test? I am going to another doctor to get another opinion on my sores and am wondering if I should get tested again. I haven't had any other risky encounters since I last got tested.

[Jeff G]

Your symptoms are in no way specific to HIV , we do not discuss symptoms for that very reason . The only way to know your status is to test at the appropriate time and you already did that .

Its highly unlikely you have HIV and your clinic is conspiring to keep it from you . Your choices are clear , if you don't trust your last result , go test again .

I think you are HIV negative .

[Anon30]

I had risky sexual history. For the past two years have been getting nonstop canker sores. Tested HIV negative but I'm worried there was a mix up. I went to a different doctor recently and she told me I had a swollen parotid gland. I also have dry mouth. She had me take an ANA test and SED rate to test for Sjogrens syndrome. I got a call a few days later saying my ANA was positive and SED was slightly elevated. I looked up my results on my clinics websites online chart. It was an ANA test with reflexes. There are 11 different autoantibodies they test for on the panel. The only one that I was positive for was riblonucleoprotein AB. Looked this up and it's associated with mixed connective tissue disease and lupus. I definitely do not have any symptoms of them or any other autoimmune disease. I was supposed to get a call from a rheumatologists office to set up an appointment, and have yet to hear from them. Wonder if they looked at my bloodwork and chart and determined its unlikely I have an autoimmune disease?
I am worried because I found out that the ANA test is done using ELISA. Is it possible for the test to pick up the antibodies for HIV? It was a reflex test which I think eliminates possibility of false positives, but I just have no symptoms of any autoimmune disease. I did hear that HIV can stop symptoms too though. Is it possible I have HIV and some type of autoimmune disease and that's what's stopping symptoms? I'm just concerned ever since I had HIV test done. I had two calls from clinic after that test was done, when I was told repeatedly they don't call unless it's abnormal. When I talked to medical assistant she said  everything was negative.

[Ann]

Anon,

I've merged your new thread into your original thread - where you should post all your additional thoughts or questions. It helps us to help you when you keep everything in one thread. It doesn't matter how long it has been since you last posted in your thread or if the subject matter is different.

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There are many different types of ELISA tests, specific to different antibodies created by different conditions. The hiv ELISA tests look for hiv antibodies, the ANA ELISA tests look for antinuclear antibodies. [link] [another link]

If anything, an underlying autoimmune condition can sometimes cause false positive hiv antibody tests, and these false positive results are determined by (negative) Western Blot testing. A person cannot be considered hiv positive until they have had both a positive antibody test result and a positive WB test result.

Being hiv positive would not affect ANA testing. I'm hiv positive, yet I've had negative ANA test results (after testing hiv positive).

Provided you have tested for hiv at or later than three months since your last incident of unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse, then you are conclusively hiv negative and do not need further hiv testing at this time.

Here's what you need to know in order to avoid hiv infection:

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. Some of the other STIs can be present with no obvious symptoms, so the only way to know for sure is to test.

Use condoms for anal or vaginal intercourse, correctly and consistently, and you will avoid hiv infection. It really is that simple!

Ann