HOW DO I KNOW FOR SURE?

[Worried2010]

Hello everyone,
I am so so worried and I have reasons to be.  I am a 22year old, I used to have unprotected sex with my boyfriend for 3years.  My symptoms started when a sore throat and swollen tonsil.  We broke up 1and a half years ago, then last year i started having pain in my feet.  Toward the end of the year, I started having headaches and pain throughout my whole body!  Including my thighs, wrists, my fingers, butt, hands, sometimes even stomach, u name it it's there.  It got so bad a few months ago, i started walking around with a bottle of pain reliever, up to this day!  Not to mention maybe every 6months, i'll have a little fever or a cold.  I was tested last year to show you how worried I have been, Last May2009, September, and recently December.  All negative! Anyway,  me and this young man broke up but we hooked up again over the summer of last year, and I made sure told him to use a condom because we were no longer in a relationship, but the condom broke. If that's not enough, right before me and him broke up, I was told i had Trichomoniasis Vaginasis and Yeast infection at the same time, which really worried me also.  Anyway, i kept having HIV tests since we broke up.  About 8mths later I was with someone else, and recently we had sex w/o a condom after a year of dating, we both had an HIV test prior to doing this, and we were both Negative.  My problem is after about 6months of body aches, and recently being diagnosed with Trichomoniasis Vaginasis again this past December, but this time the medication made it worse.  I'm starting to be so paronoid,I cry sometimes. I woke up a little sweaty last night and I freaked out!  Now i am so tempted to go do another test, even though it's been less than a month since my last.. I just dont' know what to do anymore..
It has taken a toll on my personal life, i don't even want to have sex anymore.  I was told I was Pre-diabetic but highly doubt, this is what causes these pains.  Please help me! This is not healthy,every pimple that comes up i wonder if it's a rash. I wish there was a way to know definitely if I am HIV positive so i would just get the treatment for it, rather than constantly wondering. Me and this new boyfriend are no longer together, and he doesn't know why.  I just need to know what's going on with my body.

I've been reading up on HIV for so long now, to the point where I'm convinced!  I just want to know...Please help me.

[Ann]

Worried,

It's unclear when you last had unprotected intercourse and it's also unclear whether you and this lad you last had intercourse with were monogamous when you tested together for hiv. It sounds like you should have both tested for the other, more easily transmitted STIs at the same time, otherwise you probably wouldn't have ended up with trich.

The window period for hiv testing is three months. However, a test at six weeks is an excellent indication of your status as the vast majority of people who have actually been infected will seroconvert and test positive by this time. A six week negative must be confirmed at the three month point, but is highly unlikely to change.

As for your symptoms and various assorted physical problems, none of them are hiv-specific. Symptoms, or even the lack of symptoms, will never tell you a single thing about your hiv status - only testing at the appropriate time will. If you continue to feel unwell, keep working with your doctor. We cannot diagnose you here - but I can tell you that with your negative test results, it's unlikely to have anything to do with hiv.

So please, clarify for us how long it was from your last incident of unprotected intercourse to your last hiv test.

Ann

[Worried2010]

Thank you Ann for your response..

The last time I had unprotected sex was on the Christmas day with my X, a week after my last STD and HIV test. And me and him were no longer in a monogamous relationship. Me and my previous boyfriend were tested for other STD's as well.  My issue is knowing the fact that it can take years for some ppl to show up poz.
I'm guessing i'll have to just work closely with my doctor throughout the year.  Hopefully it stays negative.
Thanks for ur help.

[Ann]

Worried,

It is untrue that some people "take years" to test positive. As I've already told you, most people will seroconvert and test positive by six weeks and a test at three months is conclusive. The window period for hiv testing has been at three months for years now. If you read otherwise, you were reading outdated or just plain WRONG information.

You can confirm your negative status near the end of March.

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 all three 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