Need some help understanding

[Edwardo82]

     Thank you for taking the time to read my questions. I engaged in a risky act on oct 13th and began feeling symptoms on oct 20. I was tested at 6 weeks and again at 80 days both neg and both with oriquick tests. I continue to feel sick. My questions are is the oriquick test reliable and even though I plan on testing at the gold standard 90 days.  Can I relax with my 80 day neg result.

[Ann]

Ed,

What do you believe put you at risk for hiv infection?

Unless your "risky act" was unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse, you're worrying and testing over nothing.

I do not expect your negative 80 day result to change. 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 or more negative is highly unlikely to change, but must be confirmed at the three month point - when there has actually been a risk. It's unclear whether or not you actually had a risk.

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

[Edwardo82]

Thanks for the reply I'd like to ask one more question if thats ok. I've been pretty sick for about two months with the first week being the worst. If this was truly ARS would a oraquick test detect antibodies by now.  And with your experience are they reliable in general

[Ann]

Ed,

If the illness you experienced had anything to do with hiv, you would have tested positive when you tested at six weeks.

The illness that some people experience is caused by the process the body goes through while creating antibodies. It's not due directly to the virus itself.

You still haven't told us what you think put you at risk.

Ann

[Edwardo82]

Unprotected vaginal and digital vaginal so how about those oraquick tests.  Reliable?

[Andy Velez]

Digital vaginal sex is not a risk. Unprotected vaginal is of course a risk. But as the insertive partner you are at lower risk than the receptive partner. If we are talking about a single such incident the likelihood of your having become infected from just one risk is low.

There is nothing HIV specific about your symptoms. And ARS does not continue on for weeks and weeks. If and when ARS happens, it is for about 2 weeks or so and then gone. It does not come, end and reappear. Yours does not look like and HIV situation to me.

But you do need to learn from this experience. In the future you can have as much intercourse as you want to and with whomever. But you need to do it the safer way which means always without exception using condoms for vaginal and anal intercourse.

Good luck with your test.