POZ Community Forums
HIV Prevention and Testing => Do I Have HIV? => Topic started by: MaxGB on February 22, 2011, 08:13:36 am
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In December I had very high risk exposure, unprotected vag/anal/menstural sex, a couple weeks later-currently started getting symptoms like: my right groin node turned dark, rash, Hairy Leukoplakia, mouth ulcers, thrush, swollen gums, nausea, weight loss, muscle/joint pains, muscle spasms/twitching, neck pains, headache, teeth marks on my tongue and now my hair and nails have just stopped growing! Are these suggestive of early symptoms? Could it of caused another major related problem so fast?
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Max, nothing you are reporting symptomatically is HIV-specific. But then you need to know for now and for the future that neither the presence nor the absence of symptoms will ever tell you anything accurately about your HIV status. Only an HIV test taken at the proper time will give you have answer reliably.
For a conclusive negative result you need to test at 13 weeks after the most recent risky incident. But you can test initially at 6 weeks past the incident. If you test negative at that point, and you are now more than 6 weeks past the December incident, then a negative is a good indication that you will continue to test negative. All but the very smallest number of those who are going to seroconvert will do so within 4-6 weeks after an exposure to the HIV virus. (The average time to seroconversion is 22 days.)
It is significantly harder to transmit the virus from woman to man than the other way round. Also it would seem that this was a one-time incident. Those factors work in your favor against transmission having occured. But it was unquestionably a risky incident so you need to learn from this experience. Now and in the future whenever you have vaginal or anal intercourse you always need to be wearing a condom. No exceptions and no excuses. Condoms provide very effective protection.
So you can do your initial testing anytime now.
Your symptoms can be caused by any number of problems not HIV-related. You will need to discuss them with your doctor. We cannot diagnose anything in this setting.
Good luck with your test. l
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What about the rash, Hairy Leukoplakia, mouth ulcers and thrush, arent those all early symptoms?
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Max,
Those sorts of problems could be caused by any number of things besides hiv and no, they are not particularly symptoms associated with early hiv infection.
The only way to accurately know your hiv status is through testing at the appropriate time, as Andy has told you.
You need to learn from this incident no matter what your hiv status turns out to be. Here's what you need to know...
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!
Ann
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So if i tested today lets say 70 days, the results still wouldnt matter Id have to wait 90 days?
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Any negative test result at 6 weeks or more is more than encouraging. All but the smallest number of those who will seroconvert will have done so within 4-6 weeks after an exposure.
So a negative at 70 days would be a very strong indication that you would again test negative at 13 weeks. And just to be sure of the negative result you would need to re-test at 13 weeks.
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Ok, 70 days is 10 weeks and 13 weeks would be 91 days right?
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Yes.
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Would an Autoimmune disease effect any oral/blood rapid testing such as orasure or oraquick?
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Max,
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 all your additional thoughts or questions 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.
If you need help finding your thread when you come here, click on the "Show own posts" link under your name in the left-hand column of any forum page.
Please also read through the Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0) so you can familiarize yourself with our Forum Posting Guidelines. Thank you for your cooperation.
An autoimmune disease can sometimes cause a false positive result on an antibody test. However, the false positive will be discovered when the confirmatory Western Blot test is run.
Any positive antibody test must be confirmed with a positive Western Blot test before the person is diagnosed with hiv.
If you have an autoimmune disease, you may want to let the person doing your testing know, so they will know they need to have the Western Blot result before assuming you're positive. They should be doing this anyway, but sometimes a patient will be told they are positive before the additional testing is done. It isn't right that this happens, but it does happen.
Ann
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Would it matter if the autoimmune desause was caused by an early infection? My exposure was in December ive had symptoms since then, do you think it will effect the test if I were to go today?
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Max,
Hiv does not cause autoimmune disease. If you have hiv AND and autoimmune disease, you'll test positive on both the antibody and the Western Blot test
You need to understand that autoimmune disease does not ALWAYS cause false positive results - it only happens occasionally. Pregnancy can also occasionally cause false positive results. So can other things - this is why any positive antibody test MUST be backed up with a positive Western Blot test.
The earliest you should test is at (or after) six weeks as the vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by this point. A negative result at (or after) six weeks is highly unlikely to change but must be confirmed at the three month point.
Ann
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I wanted to know what you thought about this article, whats your opinion on it
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12848988
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Max,
What about it? It has no bearing on whether you test hiv positive or hiv negative.
Get off the internet and go get busy with other things until it's time for you to test. We're not here to hold your hand or interpret every obscure study you come across.
Ann
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Ok, but its no coincedince that after high risk exposure I have oral hary leukoplakia wich is specific to hiv especialy during acute stage so all I can do now is pray
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Would a 90 day rapid test be conclusive?
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Stop self-diagnosing your symptoms. It's bad for your health, no kidding.
And yes, a negative at 90 days would be conclusive.
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Does Hepatitis C interfere with the rapid tests?
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No, it doesn't.
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1 Is it possible to for someone to develope antibodys outside the 3 month window period?
2 Is late seroconversion possible?
3 Can test results change after 3 months?
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1 Is it possible to for someone to develope antibodys outside the 3 month window period?
2 Is late seroconversion possible?
3 Can test results change after 3 months?
A very tiny proportion of people may take longer than 90 days to test positive. This applies to some people who have had certain sorts of chemotherapy for cancer, some people on immune suppressing medications following organ transplants and some long term (+20 years) injection drug users.
Presumably none of these categories can be applied to you.
Please be aware that we will not indulge every "what if?" scenario you manage to concoct.
MtD
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I met a girl from a dating website in mid July, we texted for a while and decided to meet up, on July 22nd she came over and we had unprotected sex twice that day, the next day July 23rd she cam over agian and we had unprotected sex twice again the same day, she came over July 28th and we had unprotected sex once that night, the next morning we both went down together to get tested and got a free rapid oraquick test, my questions are can I trust those results? Could we both be in the window period? Do I need to retest? The next day she went to the Dr and was diagnosed with a swollen lymph node on the right side of her neck, could she of been seroconverting during the time of the test? Would it of showed up on the test if she was? PLEASE HELP, Thank You
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Your test will be conclusive 3 months post your last unprotected sex.
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So the test we took together doesnt realy mean anything?
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Max,
Once again, 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. Please get with the program!
If you need help finding your thread when you come here, click on the "Show own posts" link under your name in the left-hand column of any forum page.
Please also read through the Welcome Thread (http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=220.0) so you can familiarize yourself with our Forum Posting Guidelines. Thank you for your cooperation.
Why are you still having unprotected intercourse? 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.
You need to test at three months for a conclusive result concerning your latest incidents of unprotected intercourse.
Don't forget to 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!
So the test we took together doesnt realy mean anything?
No, it does not really mean anything. Re-read what I said above (which I was typing while you were posting). You're supposed to get tested at least three months AFTER you have become a monogamous couple, BEFORE you stop using condoms. You need to get this concept through your head.
Yes, you could both be the window period. Re-read your entire thread to remind yourself what we've already told you about hiv testing and hiv testing window periods.
Ann
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Thanks Ann, after reading your last post I have a question, if her lymphnode was swollen from seroconversion would it of showed up on that test?
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Max,
Not necessarily. Lymph nodes can swell for all sorts of reasons. If they are swelling because of very early initial infection, she would not necessarily have enough antibodies yet to produce a reactive (positive or "nearly" positive aka inconclusive) result.
You need to stop putting the cart before the horse and only stop using condoms when you're in a committed relationship where you've both tested negative together once you and your relationship are outside the window period.
The bottom line here is that you need to test at three months for a conclusive result. You can test at six weeks as has already been discussed in this thread. A six week negative is highly unlikely to change but still must be confirmed at the three month point.
You could have saved yourself all this worry and waiting-to-test by simply using condoms. I suggest you buy some and start USING them.
Ann
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Thank you but is there any test anyone can reccomend that can be taken sooner?
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Max,
No, there are no tests that we would recommend other than the standard antibody tests. That's all you need.
Ann
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Would a test 7 weeks from the initial exposure/6 weeks from the last exposure mean anything in this situation?
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Max,
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, but is highly unlikely to change.
Ann