POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: rmj on April 01, 2014, 02:24:35 pm
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Hi
had a condom breakage with csw which I only noticed afterwards.
since then till about 8 wks after experienced the following symptoms
Sore throat
malaise
Rash on limbs
neurological symptoms(tingling and numbness in extremities)
no fever though, what worries me the most now is that I can absolutely not sleep without medication, That has been going on since the first week and I find it hard to believe it is al anxiety or depression related.
Do I need to retest at 6 months, is it possible that I am that off chance that seroconverts after 3 months?
Apologies for the brevity and poor English my concentration is not to great at this point. It has been a long 3 months.
Thanks for your reply.
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The average time to seroconversion is 22 days. Most who are infected will test positive by 6 weeks. For various reasons a small number will take longer and that is why we follow the CDC recommendation to test at 3 months for a conclusive negative result. Testing negative at 3 months is conclusive and there is no need to retest for the same incident again .
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!