Very, Very Worried

[rj163]

Hello, I have a question in regards to Rapid Unigold AIDS testing. I have been in a monogamous relationship for 6 years, my husband and I have lived together for 5 years. Back in March '07 we were diagnosed w/ HSV-1, mine in the genital region, his in the normal (outside of mouth) region. I went and had a Chlymadia, Gonorrhea, and Rapid HIV Test done in April, all the results were negative. I am an anxious person anyway, and have a doctor's appointment in Jan. at which time I will address my anxiety issues. I know in my head that I am HIV-negative, I think 6 years is a reasonable window period to determine my status (this test is the only HIV test I have had in 26 years) but everytime I get a canker sore (like today) or feel like I have excess discharge I freak out and can't shake the feeling that the test was wrong! It's so bad that reading or hearing the words HIV can make me upset. What are the odds that the test was a false negative after a 6 year window period? Can having HSV-1 affect the test outcome. Please help!

[JSGeare]

Understandable that your are concerned, but asking for people to quote "odds" isn't going to help you. After all, what credibility would you place on a total stranger from a web site telling you the odds were 100% that the test was correct? What if someone then said the odds were 90%? You get the picture. You've got a few plates spinning here, so lets see if we can sort them out. If you want some validation of the test -get another test. Usually, a positive result earns a second test, because tests by nature are more likely to return bad data in that direction, which is to say, they don't usually test for something NOT being there. But what the heck, get another test -maybe at the health department.

Your cankers and any actual discharge may be more logically associated with an active herpes condition although I would never bet the farm on that, either; could be something else entirely.

Your idea that a 6 year window is reasonable sounds reasonable enough to me -but as that nagging voice in the back of your head tells you, reasonable might not be good enough because ... what IF?

So, you might want to consider spilling your gut about your feelings to your doctor, who can do actual tests and counsel you on probabilities (very low I should think) and getting yourself squared away in terms of a confidence level about the data you're getting back. That is to say, nj, satisfy yourself that the data itself is trustworthy, and with that resolved, then take a look at your dire nervousness. I hope you'll post with the results of these efforts. I expect you're going to be criminally healthy.