POZ Community Forums

HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: tyhamilton17 on April 01, 2009, 07:00:59 pm

Title: Testing history and advice needed.
Post by: tyhamilton17 on April 01, 2009, 07:00:59 pm
Heres some backround on the possible exposure i'm worried about and my testing to date.

A few days before christmas last year(Dec 23) I had a brief (less than 5 minutes) encounter at a strip club where I had a little to much to drink and had unprotected sex with a stripper. I did not ejaculate inside her.  After this I somehow managed to convince myself that it was possible for the stripper to have hiv as if she did this with me who else has she done this with.

To date I have tested as follows:

Negative Home Access Test 3-4 days after exposure
Negative Home Access Test 28 days post exposure
Negative Labcorp STD panel including HIV at 32 days post exposure
Negative Home Access Test 37 days post exposure
Negative Home Access Test 42 days post exposure
Negative Home Access Test 48 Days post exposure
Negative Home Access Test 55 days post exposure
Negative Home Access Test 62 days post exposure
Negative Home Access Test 69 days post exposure
Negative home Access Test 76 days post exposure
Negative Home Access Test 84 days post exposure
Negative Home Access Test 90 days post exposure

total of 12 HIV tests all negative

For some reason i can not get this out of my head that I could be possibly infected yet continue to test negative. Is there a possibility that I could in fact be infected and not test accurately after this many tests? Do I have any reason to doubt my testing as I have primarily used the Home Access test? I'm so distraught that I did this that its been a rough 3 months and it has taken a toll on my work as well as my personal life.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
Title: Re: Testing history and advice needed.
Post by: RapidRod on April 01, 2009, 07:30:59 pm
Do you know how many dozen condoms you could have bought for the price of all the tests? You are conclusively negative.
Title: Re: Testing history and advice needed.
Post by: Andy Velez on April 01, 2009, 09:28:52 pm
You are HIV negative. Period. End of story. You never needed to test beyond 13 weeks after the risky incident.

As long as you consistently use condoms everytime for vaginal and anal intercourse you will be well protected as far as sexual risks for HIV. It's really that simple.

Give it up now and get on with your life.
Title: Re: Testing history and advice needed.
Post by: tyhamilton17 on April 01, 2009, 10:13:33 pm
I understand how much money i have spent on testing. I'm not as concerned about the money as I can always work to earn more money. My concern is my health. I understand I made a mistake and will take necessary precautions so that I will not have to go through this again assuming I am lucky enough to truly be negative. Is there a need for me to continue to test out to 6 months? I have read that there is a VERY small portion of people will not test positive for 6 months or longer. Is this statistic true only for people with poor immune systems? i'm a 25 year old male in fairly good health.

Do I need to test out to 6 months?

Thank you again for your responses. They are greatly appreciated.
Title: Re: Testing history and advice needed.
Post by: RapidRod on April 01, 2009, 10:37:00 pm
NO...
Title: Re: Testing history and advice needed.
Post by: tyhamilton17 on April 04, 2009, 01:02:04 pm
Thanks for the replys. They mean a lot. I travel a lot for work and have been lucky enough to be traveling a lot after this has happened. After my testing history is it ok for me to resume unprotected sex with my wife?
Title: Re: Testing history and advice needed.
Post by: Andy Velez on April 04, 2009, 01:18:58 pm
Yes, you can resume with your wife. And there is no further need for testing. I already told you that earlier.

Your concern is all about anxiety and guilt which have no basis in real HIV science.

Get on with your life.
Title: Re: Testing history and advice needed.
Post by: tyhamilton17 on April 04, 2009, 04:59:26 pm
Andy thanks for the fast reply. I do understand that is is very likely anxiety and guilt but I did have brief unprotected sex with a stripper. Its just a guess but if she did this with me I'm guessing I wasn't the first or last. This is why I get so worried. 
Title: Re: Testing history and advice needed.
Post by: Andy Velez on April 04, 2009, 05:04:21 pm
Yah, yah, yah.

And you are somehow overlooking the FACT that you have reliably tested negative for HIV at 90 days.

No matter what your mind is telling you to the contrary, you are HIV negative and you need to get on with your life. You did what you did, that's done and now it's time to move on. Really.
Title: Re: Testing history and advice needed.
Post by: tyhamilton17 on April 08, 2009, 08:12:39 pm
Just thought i'd give a bit of an update. I got a little anxious and took another Home Access test yesterday and got my results back today. After 15 weeks exactly results still came back negative.
Title: Re: Testing history and advice needed.
Post by: RapidRod on April 08, 2009, 08:24:06 pm
It's time for you to move on.
Title: Re: Testing history and advice needed.
Post by: Andy Velez on April 09, 2009, 10:10:24 am
You're wasting resources and your time. You're HIV negative. Another negative result is no surprise.

As Rod suggested, it's time for you to move on with your life.