I really need help guys

[anxiousman24]

Hi guys

I am a male from UK and have been suffering from this problem and hope that someone can help me with it.

It all started when I had a protected sexual encounter with a person of unknown sexual status in 2007 October. After this incident I suffered for 1 whole year because of the fear that I had caught HIV. I could not handle the mental stress anymore and decided to get an HIV test in October 2008. My test result was negative and I was happy for some time. However, incidents which happened during the test and afterwards have generated new fears within me and I have become an anxiety/nervous wreck once again and it is destroying my life. I will tell you exactly what happened.

2 weeks after I received my HIV negative result, I suddenly remembered something which happened at the clinic. On the first day I went to the clinic for a blood test, I gave my real contact details to the lady on the counter (there is an option of giving false names/addresses but I gave my real details). Then she asked me to go to a room where some other people were also waiting. I went and sat there and waited for the nurse to come and call my name. After some time a nurse came and called a name which sounded bit like mine. However she pronounced it very differently. Her pronunciation was not clear but at the same time it sounded bit like my name so I went to her and pronounced my name properly to her. She said okay so I thought it must be my name that she called and went with her. She took my blood & urine samples and asked me to come after 2 weeks to get the result. I went to get the result 2 weeks after the test and this time the clinician called my name clearly and I went in and got my negative test result.

I’m worried that the nurse called someone else’s name and I have gone in and done the test thinking it was my name. I’m worried that the HIV result of my blood sample is now linked to someone else’s patient record and vice versa. I know this is virtually impossible and sounds stupid but I couldn’t get that thought out of my mind. When I went in to do the blood test, the nurse asked and got my date of birth from me so I think she must have checked it with the details I gave earlier to the lady at the counter but I’m still not sure. The same nurse phoned me about 10 days after my blood test to confirm that I was coming to get my test result. Even then she pronounced my name differently and I pronounced it correctly to her again. She said ok and made sure that I was coming to get my result.

3 weeks passed with these thoughts on my mind. I finally thought I’m going to visit the clinic again and ask them if there could be a possible mix up.

Below is what I said to the nurse (this was a different nurse) when I went to re-confirm. The nurse had my records and test results when I talked to her.

“I came for an HIV test about a month ago and received my results and I was diagnosed HIV negative. However, the day I came for my blood test, the nurse called my name and she pronounced it very differently. Her pronunciation was not clear but at the same time it sounded bit like my name so I went to her and pronounced my name properly to her. She said okay and took me to the test room and got my blood samples & urine samples. Thing is I’m worried that I went in for another persons name”

After listening to this, the nurse said that there could be no mix up as they use a unique number with date of birth  for every ones test samples before they send it to the labs so no mix up can happen. Because she said that such a mix up can’t happen, I did not try to understand exactly how such labeling can avoid mix ups. I still don’t understand it but I trust her because I think they know better than us and I don’t think they would lie/misinform us on such a serious matter.     If any of you understood how they avoid mix ups like this with the labeling method she mentioned, please let me know.

Anyway I thought (even u guys must be thinking) my problems are over but now another fear has entered my mind.

During the conversation with the nurse, I said “Thing is I’m worried that I went in for another persons name”

When I said that does it sound like

1) I went in giving a different name rather than giving my real name
2) I went in for another persons test because I thought I heard the nurse call my name when it was indeed another persons name

I’m worried because I think she must have given me an explanation on understanding something similar to number 1. If she said that there can be no mix up thinking if something like number 2 happened – then it’s okay.  

Most of you must be thinking I’m the dumbest person on earth and I too wonder from where the hell does this stupid logic coming in to my mind. I want to tell you that I’m not joking and I’m still suffering from fear and anxiety.

Please give your views and help me because it will really be good for me to ease my tension & anxiety. Sorry for this long post.

Thanks
Nervous_wreck

[Beewoman]

It sounds like this is always going to worry you and make you anxious unless you get yourself retested.  My advice to you is to get the test done again and if it has to be done at another doctor's office then so be it, otherwise you are going to make yourself miserable with worry until then.  It's probably 99.9% sure that the negative result is yours though.

When you do get it redone, just double-check your name on everything (explain to the staff that you are nervous about this and you want to check), they will understand, this will not be the first time they have dealt with this situation of patients wanting to be "competely sure".

Good luck!

[cgarr1987]

First of all, I don't think your stupid at all. You are a thinker, you think of every aspect of every situation and alot of what if's come to mind. I can say that I have constant thoughts and worries in my head too. I would have to agree with beewomen that you should go retest at another clinic. What I do is work on one worry at a time starting from biggest to smallest. Obviously this is a very serious matter to you so the sooner you get it over with the sooner you can throw this worry out the window. If you worry about to much at once and try to fix it all at once I always tend to freak out and panic worse. Something I can relate with you to, A couple years ago I was with my ex of 5 years and in the middle of this his mother was tested positive for hepatitis C and had gotten it from shooting up years ago when she was young. I used her shaver once and was sexually active with her son so I flipped out. I did all this research on hep c and convinced myself I had it and it took me a year to finally have the courage to test for it. I can't tell you how much I cried and worried about this. I would suggest maybe finding someone you are very close to that you don't mind sharing this issue with to come with you for support, thats what I did and that really helps you keep your mind occupied for the time being and gives you alittle extra courage. So I got tested and came out negative and now I am alot more careful about contact with other people because you just never know. So see your not alone my friend and I hope the best for you whatever you decide to do:)

[bosnianworrier]

If you put your date of birth at the same time when you signed in your name, address and phone number then the result mix-up is next to impossible. The nurse in the other room asked you your DOB to confirm it is you.

If you didn't sign in your DOB or if that doesn't make you any less worried, then do what beewoman and cgarr suggested, retest.

Also, do you know what is the chance to catch HIV from unprotected vaginal sex with HIV+ woman? 0.06% re:www.thebody.com

Now, the fact that you had PROTECTED sex with a woman of unknown status makes that chance virtually zero.

But I know when u suffer from anxiety nothing helps but proof. And even the proof is sometimes hard to believe. So go ahead, retest and find a psychiatrist so he can help you lower your anxiety.

Best of luck

[bosnianworrier]

I will tell you about my HIV anxiety. I developed white tongue about 6 years ago. I still have it. So I googled it and it says thrush. What causes thrush? HIV, antibiotics, dentures etc. I had none antibiotics taken, wear no dentures and the "etc" didn't apply to me. So I thought it can only be HIV.

I never tested before and had both protected and unprotected sex with women and was a way higher risk than you. I thought thats it. I had no guts to test. So I tried to take a shortcut and went to take thrush test. After 2 days went for the results and the doctor said negative. I was excited. Then he said "But i will give you some anti-thrush medications anyway". "WHY?!" I asked. He said there is a chance the test was false negative.

And I was back at the beginning. So finally I decided to do a test. The waiting was a killer. Every day was like a week. I smoked 3 packs a day. So after 2 days I went to see if the results came back. The doctor said they are back and I am HIV negative. I was so happy.

But when I got home I said, what if he didn't wanna tell me the thruth, he knows how scared i am. Then it took me sometime to find out that it is not allowed to hide it from patients. But then i thought what if it was false negative? And it never stops. I went to see a shrink and started medications and it went away.

[bosnianworrier]

Just to add, regarding risk of protected or unprotected sex, even if it is low, shouldnt be ignored and should be tested. Adding confusion about possible mixup, just go ahead and retest. Thats the best solution in your case.

Good Luck

[anxiousman24]

sorry for the late reply guys.

thanks everyone for your help. I feel a lot better now.

BTW bosnianworrier - I had a similar condition which looked like oral hairy leukoplakia (hard white skin on the side of the tongue) It disappeared & then i took the above HIV test. It re-appeared about 1 month after the HIV test. It has now disappeared

What keeps me going is the fact that my HIV test came back negative & there r several other conditions like OHL. But still worried about it.

I went to see a doctor finally but by that time the hard white skin was not visible. Anyway I told him about my tongue and he examined it & told me not to worry & gave some vitamin B syrup. I am still worried because he did not actually see the white stuff on my tongue.

Anyway guys thanks once again. You have helped me bury my fear about a possible test mix up. Now I need to find an answer about this OHL thing. I hope everything will be ok.