tl:dr But I would appreciate if you DID read. I can't let go of "symptoms".

[zombiefornow]

I wanna know about people who tested negative in the 3 month window period and then positive at the 6 month mark.

I had a low risk exposure in March '12.  I participated in some very odd behavior for me and hooked up with a guy I had just met. There was no sex. Just making out, fingering of me, some jerking him off (not to orgasm) and literally a few seconds of oral sex. This was on a male of unknown status with no ejaculation. I don't know if there was precum. I freaked out days later because it hit me I have a bad habit of biting/chewing the inside of my cheeks which would be a gateway for anything he might have had.

I tested for all stds and came back clean but I knew the HIV test was too soon as it was only 2 weeks later. So a month out in April '12 I did the DNA/antibody test combo. It was expensive and my risk was low, but I had worn myself down with anxiety thinking I could be the one of few to contract the virus this way. The thought of this made it so that all I could do was lay around and go to work. I couldn't eat or focus. I spent all my free time looking up symptoms and sites like this. I know everyone thinks they could be the ONE rarity and that's what I thought.

Anyway the dna/antibody test was negative. Three months out at the end of June I re-tested at my regular doc's office with a negative result. I was sooo relieved...for about 2  days.

I had been experiencing what I perceived to be symptoms this whole time. Since about a week after the possible exposure. Nightsweats but very mild. Only around my neck and back. Also gastric weirdness (stomach rumbling, gas, nausea), slight dry cough, lots of moucus/post-nasal drip, pain in my groin and armpits (lymph nodes I suspected) and random joint/muscle pain. I lost weight, enough for several people to comment on it. And worst of all I had what looked like OHL on the sides of my tongue. White, ridged, corrugated lines that first started as a single, small, flat patch. It would look like it was gone some days and be very prominent on others.

I tried to tell myself the nightsweats and weight loss were due to stress/anxiety. The gastric stuff was GERD, which I got a prescription for. The leukoplakia was maybe from tongue-thrusting and chewing the inside of my mouth (dentist) and that it was too early to have OHL if I had been infected, and the mucus and dry cough might be allergies. The sore armpits and groin I can't explain away. I retested 4 months out in July with a negative result and the doctor told me to stop testing because I'm not positive by now. I said okay with full intentions of testing 6 months out in September. I never did out of fear that this would be the positive test.

It's been over a year now and I don't think about it like I once did but I still do about once a day.

I am wondering if I am just crazy.

Thanks for taking the time to read this!

[Andy Velez]

You are worrying needlessly about HIV. Nothing you are reporting of your sexual activities would have put you at risk for HIV. The only confirmed risks for the sexual transmission of HIV are unprotected vaginal and anal intercourse. That's it. As long as condoms are used properly for those activities you will be well protected.

So talking about testing is really irrelevant and unnecessary unless you need the inevitable negative result to put your mind at rest. I say that because you have been dragging this concern around for a long while, which is no way to spend your life. So test if you must. I don't see any reason to expect other than a negative result.

And taking an HIV specific test is the only way to know your HIV status accurately.

[jkinatl2]

I wanna know about people who tested negative in the 3 month window period and then positive at the 6 month mark.

You aren't likely to find it here. I have been answering questions on these forums for over ten years and I have never encountered a person who tested positive after three months.

Also, from everything you described, you didn't have a "low risk" event. You had a no risk event.

HIV is transmitted via unprotected anal and vaginal sex, and sharing IV drug needles. Not any of the events in your story.

[Ann]

Zombie,

As you have been told, you never had a risk for hiv infection in the first place.

You do NOT have hiv.

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 six week negative must be confirmed at the three month point - when there has actually been a risk and you did NOT have a risk - but is highly unlikely to change.

I've been answering risk/testing assessment questions in this forum since 2001 and I have NEVER seen a six week negative test change, never mind a three month negative.

Whatever is making you feel unwell has NOTHING to do with hiv. I have a gut feeling that it has EVERYTHING to do with stress. Stress can really do a number on your body.

It may be time for you to start seeing a mental health professional. Find one who is trained in CBT (cognitive behaviour therapy) because it will teach you how to stop unwanted, unhelpful thoughts - thoughts which you seem to have in abundance. We cannot help you with that here.

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.

ALTHOUGH YOU DO NOT NEED FURTHER HIV TESTING AT THIS TIME OVER YOUR NO RISK SITUATION, 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

[zombiefornow]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the honest answers.

[Ann]

zombie,

You're welcome.

It's time you got on with you life and if you still cannot put this situation behind you, get therapy. You'll thank yourself for it.

Ann