How often were you test prior to finding out?

[jcelvis]

I'm just curious to know how often other people on here got tested for HIV prior to positive test. I got tested every 8-12 months, approx 7 times between 18-25.

[Matty the Damned]

Whenever I got symptoms of another STD. Which was quite a bit.

Also, whenever my GP or VD doctor thought I should. Never kept a count, though.

Last HIV negative test I had was in September 1999. Didn't test again until late April 2002 when I pulled the winning ticket.

MtD

[Hellraiser]

Never

[Matty the Damned]

Never

And I suppose you think that makes you cool, huh?

MtD 

[Miss Philicia]

Never, but at the time the only treatment was AZT (or nothing at all when I was most likely infected) so why bother?  I'm not sure what excuse folks use not to get annual testing these days.

[tednlou2]

I tested in 1993 prior to hooking up with my previous partner who is now poz--actually has AIDS.  I tested again in 1995 right after we broke up.  After the situation I had in 2001 where I'm 95% sure caused my infection, I got tested without using my name.  However, I was too afraid to get the results.  So, I guess I had 3 HIV tests prior to the confirmation tests.  

I remember the joy I felt when I was told I was negative.  I wish I would have taken that to heart and been more careful.  I use to wonder why people who have tons of unprotected sex go every 6 months to get tested.  It just seemed strange to me that someone on one hand would be so risky and on the other hand be so responsible.  I just thought people like that wouldn't care.  I realized that was judgemental and it was good that they went to find out, so they didn't infect others.

[Hellraiser]

And I suppose you think that makes you cool, huh?

MtD 

Nope just ridiculously uninformed, naive, and really really stupid.

[Ravhyn]

I didn't get tested, in fact I was one of those people walking around with the theory stuck in my head that I would never even meet anyone with hiv/aids and I definitely would never have a bed partner with the virus.  

Until the day my ex husband was laying in a hospital bed barely able to breath.  That was my first test then I went into denile after that negative, and didn't get tested again for a long time (almost 4 years).  the second time, I didn't even know I was being tested for it.  

[tednlou2]

I didn't get tested, in fact I was one of those people walking around with the theory stuck in my head that I would never even meet anyone with hiv/aids and I definitely would never have a bed partner with the virus.  

Until the day my ex husband was laying in a hospital bed barely able to breath.  That was my first test then I went into denile after that negative, and didn't get tested again for a long time (almost 4 years).  the second time, I didn't even know I was being tested for it.  

I believed the same thing about the chances I would be in bed with someone poz.  Being stupid, I looked at the U.S. infection number of 1 million.  To me, I thought out of 300 million people, what were the chances I would have sex with someone poz.  I felt I had a better chance of winner the lottery.  I also read all the info about how HIV is actually very hard to transmit sexually.  Being naive, I just didn't think I would become poz. 

Even now, I look at that 1 million number and just can't believe I'm one of those.  I keep thinking it has to be more than that.  I knew people hooking up every night and having unprotected sex.  At the major gay bar here, there was a dark room where people would have sex.  I looked down on them and thought many of them probably were poz for all the different partners they were with.  It goes to show you shouldn't judge first of all and believe you are immune because you've only been with a few people.  For all I know, those guys in the dark room are all negative.

   

[Ravhyn]

My husband slept with over a 100 women easy with no condoms and he's as clean as they come.  Me just a handful of men and bam! lol, so yea..the virus doesn't judge and I spend just about every waking hour telling people to go get tested, and too wrap it before they tap it.  When I get the facts down completely and fully understand this virus to the best of my ability I want to start doing public speaking and get the word out.  but sorry..that's all off topic.

[Miss Philicia]

I should also add that I was much, much to busy getting drunk and high every weekend to bother with testing.  I hope others here will fess up to that, but I doubt it.

[leatherman]

I was probably infected in 1985, the year the HIV antibody test was approved, and there were <5000 HIV+ people in America. There weren't any meds for years though, so there wasn't much use to test. If you tested positive, you knew were going to die; and if you didn't test, you could keep on living and partying - well, until you got sick, that is.

In 1992, when there were less than <25,000 HIV+ people in America, I finally did take the test and turned up positive. They had just started using AZT and ddI (big ol' chalky tablets) had been approved, so there was finally the slimmest of chances that you might not die. Unfortunately, my partner was already too sick and even the meds in a clinical trial couldn't keep him alive. My cd4 count was about 5 then; but there was no way to know my viral load as that test wasn't approved and used until four years later in 1996, the same year I was hospitalized with PCP.

[mecch]

converted 2008. tested every year or so for 20 years.

[john33]

Every January, sort of start the new year on the right foot sort of thing. Until a friend, who knew i took risks, persuaded me to do one of those tests bought over the net

Nope just ridiculously uninformed, naive, and really really stupid.

Got you beat on that one Trey, I actually started believing my own bullshit

John (who knows he's going to get grief from someone over that)

[J.R.E.]

I'm just curious to know how often other people on here got tested for HIV prior to positive test.

Never.  Prior to 1985 there wasn't an HIV test.  I tested positive in October of 85.


Ray

[Jeff G]

I tested the first week the local health department offered HIV test to the public and it was positive .  

Its likely I was POZ long before I tested . When I was 15 yrs old I fell into a bad crowd of much older people who introduced and injected me with drugs . Within a few months I was sick with hep B after meeting these fine adults .   

[Assurbanipal]

Never.

It took some research to find a spot to test out here in the middle of nowhere. And I was really quite busy and thought my risks had been minimal (delusional  no doubt)  But at age 49 and a half it was on the list to do before 50 and I had found a spot with weekend hours. 

That Thursday before the chosen weekend I got a really bad flu that lasted a couple of weeks.  And then I had to catch up at work 7 days a week for a couple of weeks.  And then there was the first pneumonia and then the flashing lights in my eyes as the sclera detached (lucky the retina didn't tear and make me blind) and the next pneumonia and... downhill to the oxygen tank and the hospital.

And I NEVER thought about HIV when I was sick.  Only as an item on the to-do list when I was healthy.


Assurbanipal

(See you Mr Heckraiser and raise you three stupids and an uniformed)

[WillyWump]

Tested only twice before infection, in a span of 10 years or so.

-Will

[Rev. Moon]

I should also add that I was much, much to busy getting drunk and high every weekend to bother with testing.  I hope others here will fess up to that, but I doubt it.

Even during my drunken-till-I-blacked-out whore phase (which lasted a couple of years) I still managed to test every six or eight months --I suppose paranoia left from losing my first lover to this bug when I was still a "kid".  It became the norm, even at times when I had not had any risk.  Home kits made things even easier the last two years or so.

In addition to that, I used to donate blood regularly; that was sort of an affirmation that things were swell.

I still have my last negative test from just a couple of months before catching teh HIV.  Sigh, maybe I should frame it.

[jcelvis]

Every January, sort of start the new year on the right foot sort of thing. Until a friend, who knew i took risks, persuaded me to do one of those tests bought over the net
Got you beat on that one Trey, I actually started believing my own bullshit

John (who knows he's going to get grief from someone over that)

I think you and I had a very similar path

One of those test where you prick your finger and fill the circle with blood?

[GSOgymrat]

Every 6-12 months. This was back in the late 80s and early 90s when people were dying more frequently and every time some died it reminded me to get tested.

[loop78]

Three times:

The first when I was 22 more or less, and it was because a friend of mine was worried he might have caught it and was too afraid to go have a test on his own.

The second, when I was 26, a year after a bad breakup that got me depressed for some time.

The third, at 29, after I became worried because of a persisting mono-like flu, even though I had been relatively safe. Third time lucky

[David_CA]

I tested maybe 4 times prior to the test that came back positive.  I always did the 'at home prick your finger and fill in the circle' tests.  The last time, hubby called for results and was put on hold - it's never a good sign when you have to wait for a real person to give results on those tests. 

[Ann]

My husband slept with over a 100 women easy with no condoms and he's as clean as they come.

What on earth does regular bathing have to do with hiv? I'm poz and I'm "as clean as they come" too.

I never tested before I got a letter in the post from the local GUM clinic saying they needed to run some tests on me.

I did ask to be tested when I was in my twenties and was told I didn't need to as I wasn't in a risk group. I fell for it hook, line and sinker. I wouldn't have tested poz back then anyway, but it caused me to think I never needed testing.

That was back before I discovered that the ONLY true  risk group is that group of people who engage in unprotected anal or vaginal intercourse. That's one helluva large risk group and one I most definitely belonged to. Live and learn. ~sigh~

[Moffie65]

Testing in '83 was still a dream, and a bad one at that.  When you came up HIV+ in the days I was infected, you'd be dropped immediately by your health insurance.  Many were fired from their jobs also, which is why we had protest movements like ACT UP.  Thankfully I knew I was HIV+, and didn't really test until 1994 to qualify for Ryan White services, and health care from the VA.  HIV was not a nice picture when I was infected.

[Etay1207]

I tested positive the first time I took an HIV test back in '99.

[BlueMoon]

I  tested only once.  I didn't like the result so I haven't done it again.

[dixieman]

I was in a one way monogamous relationship? lol... we both tested 3 times before we started having unsafe sex with another but, it takes both partners to practice safe sex? figure? Oh well on my fourth test ... 1st one after our breakup... I was lucky in the drawing... I tested poz on my 30th birthday! it took me a long time to get over the bitterness... etc... but, I was stupid enough to believe my partner was not playing around... eventhough I knew he was? What's done is done... I'm doing Great! could be alot better... the virus in a way has made me a better person... and my ex... is not doing well at all in NYC... I do not hate him as in the past... I really feel sorry for him... his family disowned him... cut him out of their will... and put a request to him to never move back down to Alabama?  On the other hand my family embraced me... my parents said they loved me... and to never give up! and I'm still here! I always had Unconditional Love! Lots of friends... a Wonderful work environment... and Great sisters... just not a significant other? oh well Life is Great!

[jabez]

I never bothered being tested.   There was no point, because all my partners clearly stated that they were HIV negative.    Apparently people aren't always honest about things like that, lol. 

[Miss Philicia]

I never bothered being tested.   There was no point, because all my partners clearly stated that they were HIV negative.    Apparently people aren't always honest about things like that, lol. 

If you never tested then how could you know that you were being honest with these other partners?  This is exactly the type of reasoning that I don't understand.

[jabez]

I don't quite understand it, either.   I guess we were all victims of Blissful Ignorance, and passed our Blissful Ignorance around (along with the HIV).

[john33]

One of those test where you prick your finger and fill the circle with blood?

That's the one, when I saw that result i virtually ran to the testing centre to get the real result.
I knew it was a friday, i'd forgotten it was the 13th as well. No longer fond of that date

[blackwingbear]

I'm just curious to know how often other people on here got tested for HIV prior to positive test. I got tested every 8-12 months, approx 7 times between 18-25.

It was my first test that showed me as positive. I had not had a prior test, stupidly, and I cannot be sure that I wasn't poz prior. It was the whole mindset of "better not to know"... Stupid, I know. It's amazing what denial will do.

[Ann]

I never bothered being tested.   There was no point, because all my partners clearly stated that they were HIV negative.    Apparently people aren't always honest about things like that, lol. 

Yeah, well that's a pisser, eh? Lots of people only assume they're not poz. The trouble comes when people insist that "they didn't tell me". You can't tell someone something you don't know yourself.

That's why so many of us here think the whole disclosure thing is a red herring. If people would just stick with the condoms, disclosure would be as meaningless as telling someone you have blue eyes when they're stood right in front of you. Disclosure IS meaningless if you're actually negative and want to stay that way.

Beating a dead one, yet again.


edited to add the word 'thing', which I sadly omitted. It was my keyboard's fault, I assure you.

[john33]

edited to add the word 'thing', which I sadly omitted. It was my keyboard's fault, I assure you.

We'll believe you this time Anne

[Ann]

We'll believe you this time Anne

My keyboard gets jealous when I've been to the pub on my own and fucks with my head something rotten when I get home. Worse than having a wife.

[john33]

My keyboard gets jealous when I've been to the pub on my own and fucks with my head something rotten when I get home. Worse than having a wife.

Keyboards are evil things, mines constantly trying to curse me, thank God for the spell check
(mind you, i don't think the odd cup of tea spilt over it helps)

[tednlou2]

Never.

It took some research to find a spot to test out here in the middle of nowhere. And I was really quite busy and thought my risks had been minimal (delusional  no doubt)  But at age 49 and a half it was on the list to do before 50 and I had found a spot with weekend hours. 

That Thursday before the chosen weekend I got a really bad flu that lasted a couple of weeks.  And then I had to catch up at work 7 days a week for a couple of weeks.  And then there was the first pneumonia and then the flashing lights in my eyes as the sclera detached (lucky the retina didn't tear and make me blind) and the next pneumonia and... downhill to the oxygen tank and the hospital.

And I NEVER thought about HIV when I was sick.  Only as an item on the to-do list when I was healthy.


Assurbanipal

(See you Mr Heckraiser and raise you three stupids and an uniformed)

When you were sick with pneumonia, you didn't get tested then?  It was when you got better?  I ask, because when I got bacterial pneumonia, every nurse and doc were asking me about HIV.  It actually started to piss me off.  When I asked why all the talk about HIV, they said it was uncommon for someone young to get so sick with pneumonia.  They claimed it just doesn't happen and that young people would just fight it off.  I've read a story about very young Marines getting very ill with the same thing and hospitalized, so I know what they said isn't always true.

Anyway, I'm glad they got me to get tested.  I had felt for years, due to the constant swollen glands, that I was poz but I was too much a coward to get tested--well, get the results anyway.

[Hellraiser]

I actually had been into the hospital for gallbladder removal 3 years prior to my diagnosis and apparently they didn't test me then.  I thought it was mandatory but it's state by state someone said.

[mecch]

When you were sick with pneumonia, you didn't get tested then?  It was when you got better?  I ask, because when I got bacterial pneumonia, every nurse and doc were asking me about HIV.  It actually started to piss me off.  When I asked why all the talk about HIV, they said it was uncommon for someone young to get so sick with pneumonia.  They claimed it just doesn't happen and that young people would just fight it off. 

This sort of thing happened to me several times when I was HIV-
For example had a floor doctor (intern?) insist I had to be HIV+ when I was in the hospital with Hep A.
But it cuts both ways.  A few times I was convinced I was HIV+ for no good reason but feeling ill.

[Ann]

Keyboards are evil things, mines constantly trying to curse me, thank God for the spell check
(mind you, i don't think the odd cup of tea spilt over it helps)

Odd tea will do that. Regular tea, not so much.

[Assurbanipal]

When you were sick with pneumonia, you didn't get tested then?  It was when you got better?  ...  When I asked why all the talk about HIV, they said it was uncommon for someone young to get so sick with pneumonia.  ...

 I had pneumonia three times about 2-3 weeks after "cure" til the next round would start.  Only tested in the hospital with the third round.  Pneumonia is a lot less rare when you are almost 50.  

But my gp office was in some turmoil.  The woman I saw for the first round of pneumonia seemed angry and was gone two weeks later.  They misread the xrays.  And the only doctor I trusted got a diagnosis of Parkinsons and retired..  I've changed practices.

[justus35]

I was tested every year from age 20 till 34 it was part of my yearly physical but in 2008 I had already had my check up ,and was neg but with an unsafe practice I was tested 4 months later and WHAM! wasn't shocked really  shocked  I was dealing with other issues , but I ALWAYS wanted to know becuz I wud NEVER want to give this disease to anyone so now I know  and can take  and receive the best care possible.. nothing like being blindsided to go to the doctor for strep throat ,and they come back to tell you you  have HIV ,and not strep at all which is what happend to my friend he was SO embarrassed!!

[LordBerners]

I was tested pretty often for a straight white dude in middle america - about every 3 years - up until I shifted from being an extremely low risk guy (just the usual upper-middle class serial monogamy) to being a high risk one (unprotected with sex workers in Southeast Asia), at which point I stopped getting tested.  Yes, I chose that lifestyle and enjoyed it, well, almost more than I can put into words, but I also had a feeling that I didn't want to know. 

I even knew I was positive, or strongly suspected, after my seroconversion illness, which was followed by a period of low immune system.  But I didn't get tested until a non-working-girl girlfriend forced me to.  At the time I kind of wished she hadn't managed to persuade me, but as it turned out I became very ill with tuberculosis within a few months of the test, so I would probably have found out anyway.

[Ann]

I was tested pretty often for a straight white dude in middle america - about every 3 years - up until I shifted from being an extremely low risk guy (just the usual upper-middle class serial monogamy) to being a high risk one (unprotected with sex workers in Southeast Asia), at which point I stopped getting tested.  Yes, I chose that lifestyle and enjoyed it, well, almost more than I can put into words, but I also had a feeling that I didn't want to know. 

I even knew I was positive, or strongly suspected, after my seroconversion illness, which was followed by a period of low immune system.  But I didn't get tested until a non-working-girl girlfriend forced me to.  At the time I kind of wished she hadn't managed to persuade me, but as it turned out I became very ill with tuberculosis within a few months of the test, so I would probably have found out anyway.

So you would have quite happily carried on infecting sex workers in SE Asia? Wow, just wow. And don't even try to tell me that they're all already infected, because that's just not true. That's pretty damned despicable way to conduct yourself. Wonder how many new infections you're responsible for?

[BlueMoon]

Wonder how many new infections you're responsible for?

Well yes and no.  What about that 'personal responsibility' thing?

[Ann]

Well yes and no.  What about that 'personal responsibility' thing?

When impoverished sex workers in third world countries are offered more money to bareback, personal responsibility often comes down to making enough money to feed your family.

[wow1969]

At least 2 times a year and 4 times in the year I tested poz ...

I had never had an STD in my life ... nothing. I was paranoid about contracting something so was tested all the time.

Too bad my ex said he was tested. Too bad he lied about actually being tested. Too bad he lied to me that he knew his status definitively. Too bad I believed him.

I won't claim to be a saint. I wasn't perfect. But I did try to take care of myself and know my status. I learned that not everyone is the same way.

The sad thing is that we tend to believe that being tested helps us. It let's us know. It provides a false sense of security. Being tested does not protect against HIV. It just helps you know what is going on with you.

[Miss Philicia]

Sounds to me like deep down you knew all along your BF was lying to you if you were getting tested that often.

[Matty the Damned]

I was tested pretty often for a straight white dude in middle america - about every 3 years - up until I shifted from being an extremely low risk guy (just the usual upper-middle class serial monogamy) to being a high risk one (unprotected with sex workers in Southeast Asia), at which point I stopped getting tested.  Yes, I chose that lifestyle and enjoyed it, well, almost more than I can put into words, but I also had a feeling that I didn't want to know. 

I even knew I was positive, or strongly suspected, after my seroconversion illness, which was followed by a period of low immune system.  But I didn't get tested until a non-working-girl girlfriend forced me to.  At the time I kind of wished she hadn't managed to persuade me, but as it turned out I became very ill with tuberculosis within a few months of the test, so I would probably have found out anyway.

Well I'll be buggered. I always thought you were gay.

MtD