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Avatar universal

2 pcr dna and 3 antibody in window period

Unprotected vaginal two times with female in 20's.  

Between 2 and 3 weeks after my armpit started hurting one day I woke up. Followed some short time by the other armpit. I found what i strongly believe to be lymph nodes. Two weeks of VERY LOOSE STOOLS IN SMALL AMOUNTS AND FREQUENTLY.  Almost like it stayed in my stomach giving me some aches all day and only so much would come out.  These occured at about same time.  My stomach and stools seemed to adjust and now I feel better as of 2 days ago.  

Doctor, around 25 days after sex, I had pcr dna with antibody through a private company(requestatest.com) that advertises online and sent me to labcorp.  At around 40 days antibody through same labcorp location.  At 50 days which was two days ago I did another pcr dna with antibody tests done again.  I hope they are real tests.  I would call after 2 days for the results of the dna tests on both those occasions to be told they were negative.  They said that it gives a positive or negative result and is highly conclusive any time after 28 days.  

I already know the rundown of the window and appreciate your help.  Im more interested in knowing if I can trust these tests being in the window and those such symptoms.
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300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Your were not vague.  None of what you mention changes my opinion in the slightest, your tests show you do not not have HIV.  Your symptoms are not due to HIV.  As we have said numerous times on this forum, recommendations that one cannot be sure they do not have HIV until they have a test performed 3 or more months after expossure are overly conservative.  Believe your test reuslts, you do not have HIV.  This ends this thread.  EWH
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Avatar universal
Ok Im wondering if I may have been vague now...

2-3 weeks after sex swollen lymph nodes under armpits began irratating with almost all movement and with arms resting against sides when pressing them at sides, it would worsen.  They are not visable but feelable.

2-3 weeks after sex loose and wet stools frequently and in small amounts for several weeks accompanied with nasty cramps.  Never in my life before.  Cleared up and now I feel strong like I beat a sickness although I still was working and doing normal things.

The armpit nodes barely know they are there now as i hardly feel any sensations or pain.  

Right side of throat/neck constanly hurts when I talk, yawn, and feels HEAVY like something there.  Nothing that noticable/visable with minor touching but I think I may feel a swollen node.  This has been persistant and happened sometime after the armpits.  Been there for a week atleast.

I never had a fever.  Just the diareah.  Couldnt  be anxiety I think because Ive had past encounters months ago where I had protected sex and feared HIV for over 8 months now.  This unfortunately unprotected and caused these symptoms.

I acknwledge you say no more testing but I did after 8 weeks oraquick and 9 1/2 weeks hiv-1 abs blood draw at labcorp negative.  I called national hotline and they said 3-6 months and kept having me on hold while they retrieved information and read from their website.

Would symptoms speed up antibodies?  9 1/2 weeks rule out the symptoms as HIV?  Would you suggest a difference between being tested on the third month as opposed to the sixth or no difference?  Your a real medical doctor and I know you are very knowledgable about HIV stds.
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300980 tn?1194929400
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
OK.  You raise two main issues, whether or not your symptoms suggest you have HIV and secondly, when can you believe the results of your lab tests.

Let's deal with the easy one first- your symptoms.  Worrying about symptoms such as yours and whether or not they reflect  the ARS (acute retroviral syndrome) is useless: the symptoms or the so-called ARS are TOTALLY non-specific and when people experience "ARS symptoms" they are much more likely to have something else, usually some other, more typical virus infection.  When this has been studied in the US, less than 1% of persons seeking medical care for "ARS symptoms" are found to have HIV, the remainder having symptoms due to other processes. In contrast, over a given year, there is almost no one who has not had a viral illness, night sweats or both (sometimes on multiple occasions).  For a person to try to judge their HIV risk based on "ARS symptoms" is a waste of time.  Your diarrhea may well be a manifestation of anxiety and as for what may be a swollen lymph node, if that is what you feel, if it is present it is totally non-specific finding which has little impact as an indicator of HIV.

Now for your lab tests- believe them.  At 7 weeks (49 days), modern antibody tests can be counted on to detect 98+% of HIV infections and the dna tests just add assurance to the fact that you did not get HIV from the exposures you describe.

Bottom line - you do not have HIV from the exposure you describe. Further worry or testing is a waste of time.  End of discussion (Please- no "but what if...." questions - they are also a waste of time.

Hope this helps.  You can relax.  EWH
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Avatar universal
Forgot to mention....My pectoral muscle on the same side as the more painful armpit hurts from certain movements.  Possibly another node there i cant feel.  The other two are easily felt only when my arms are down like two little peas that can be moved around.  Occasionally irrates me when arms rest at sides on my left side.
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