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Do i need a PCR test for HIV?
Dear doctors,
I have been reading through your archives, in most of the questions you tell that terminal cancers might effect the reliability of a HIV antibody test result.
Only one time i had an unprotected sex with a female person whose status I don’t know off. Later I came to know that she was at risk because she is in a relation with a person who goes to prostitutes all the time. After I came to know about that, I was very worried and finally I got an HIV antibody test after eight months of exposure. It was negative for both HIV 1 and HIV 2. I also remember she was mentioning that she might have breast cancer, and that she had some tests, her ultrasound was negative for cancer, and that her mammogram showed that she is probably benign and it seems the doctor has asked her to come back for further testing after six months. She got all the routine blood work done. She has to wait for couple of months to get a follow up for the breast cancer. I asked her to get an antibody test for HIV, she got one and it was negative. Do you think if she indeed had cancer or if it turns out to be cancer, the HIV antibody test might have been a false negative?
Now I get so many doubts. I don’t know if i have cancer. I never thought of that. Is my HIV antibody test result conclusive? Or do you think I should get a PCR test? Thanks!
I have been reading through your archives, in most of the questions you tell that terminal cancers might effect the reliability of a HIV antibody test result.
Only one time i had an unprotected sex with a female person whose status I don’t know off. Later I came to know that she was at risk because she is in a relation with a person who goes to prostitutes all the time. After I came to know about that, I was very worried and finally I got an HIV antibody test after eight months of exposure. It was negative for both HIV 1 and HIV 2. I also remember she was mentioning that she might have breast cancer, and that she had some tests, her ultrasound was negative for cancer, and that her mammogram showed that she is probably benign and it seems the doctor has asked her to come back for further testing after six months. She got all the routine blood work done. She has to wait for couple of months to get a follow up for the breast cancer. I asked her to get an antibody test for HIV, she got one and it was negative. Do you think if she indeed had cancer or if it turns out to be cancer, the HIV antibody test might have been a false negative?
Now I get so many doubts. I don’t know if i have cancer. I never thought of that. Is my HIV antibody test result conclusive? Or do you think I should get a PCR test? Thanks!
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Re-read my replies above and concentrate on them.
I'm glad you are getting the kind of professional help you need. Still, you will receive a formal warning from MedHelp administration about excessive posting. This is not a counseling site for people who need professional mental health care. If you post anything more, the entire thread will be deleted. And you may not start a new thread with the same questions; it would be deleted without reply and without refund of your posting fee.
I'm glad you are getting the kind of professional help you need. Still, you will receive a formal warning from MedHelp administration about excessive posting. This is not a counseling site for people who need professional mental health care. If you post anything more, the entire thread will be deleted. And you may not start a new thread with the same questions; it would be deleted without reply and without refund of your posting fee.
Dear Doctor,
I know you said that is it for this thread.
Sorry i just want to tell you what i am going through. I just went to a physciatrist, he has put me on Luvox. I told my expartner about your site, I asked her to visit your archives, she is also worried just like me, she said she will ask you about if she needs a PCR.
Really doctor, going through such extreme worry and depression is horrible. I would have gone and got by paying for a PCR test, just to put my worries to rest, but i am also scared of false positive tests, because i read that they happen a lot.
Thank you.
I know you said that is it for this thread.
Sorry i just want to tell you what i am going through. I just went to a physciatrist, he has put me on Luvox. I told my expartner about your site, I asked her to visit your archives, she is also worried just like me, she said she will ask you about if she needs a PCR.
Really doctor, going through such extreme worry and depression is horrible. I would have gone and got by paying for a PCR test, just to put my worries to rest, but i am also scared of false positive tests, because i read that they happen a lot.
Thank you.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
"That's all for this thread" meant what it said, which is why I deleted your latest follow-up comments. I won't have anything more to say.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Obviously your former partner doesn't have sufficiently advanced cancer to affect her HIV test result, which is reliable. And it sounds like she is at low risk for HIV anyway; in the US, HIV is rare even among men who "go to prostitutes all the time". Your anxieties about HIV in this situation are unwarranted and I think you are being too judgmental and unfair to your partner. But this isn't a relationship counseling service, so I'll have nothing more to say about it. That's all for this thread.
Thank you doctor for your answer. I feel relieved after what you told me, because i was stressing out, whether i need to get a PCR test, even knowing that there can be false positives in a PCR test.
Even she doesn't know for sure if she has breast cancer, because it not yet clear, that is why they asked her to come back after 6 months for a follow up. Even if she had it, dont you think it would be an early stage cancer, because they are yet to detect/prove that she has.
If it is an early stage cancer, which is yet to be detected, will that affect her HIV antibody test result? She said she got tested 3 months after her last exposure with that guy. She said she is not with anyone after that and she wants me, but i dont want her, because she cheated me by not telling that me that she was also with that guy at the only time when we mated.
What about the reliability of her HIV antibody test result? Does she need to get a PCR test? If that is the case please let me know, i want to tell her that.
She cried to me saying that she is not with that guy anymore, after she came to know about him. But right now we are just friends, i just hope and wish her all the best for all health and everything. Thank you.
Even she doesn't know for sure if she has breast cancer, because it not yet clear, that is why they asked her to come back after 6 months for a follow up. Even if she had it, dont you think it would be an early stage cancer, because they are yet to detect/prove that she has.
If it is an early stage cancer, which is yet to be detected, will that affect her HIV antibody test result? She said she got tested 3 months after her last exposure with that guy. She said she is not with anyone after that and she wants me, but i dont want her, because she cheated me by not telling that me that she was also with that guy at the only time when we mated.
What about the reliability of her HIV antibody test result? Does she need to get a PCR test? If that is the case please let me know, i want to tell her that.
She cried to me saying that she is not with that guy anymore, after she came to know about him. But right now we are just friends, i just hope and wish her all the best for all health and everything. Thank you.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the HIV forum. Thanks for reading other threads before asking your question. However, you have misinterpreted what you read. The main message about terminal cancer and other severe illnesses is that, in theory, they might affect the accuracy of HIV tests, but that there are few if any actual cases where that seems to have happened. If it does happen, it is rare.
Your partner's cancer has no bearing on the reliability of your HIV test. And you cannot possibly have terminal cancer, or any other illness that would interfere with the HIV test results, without knowing it from severe symptoms. Negative HIV antibody tests any time more than 6-8 weeks (and certainly 3 months) after the exposure are 100% reliable. You can be sure you don't have HIV. You do not need to waste money on a PCR test or any other additional tests.
If you remain concerned about your general health, see your doctor. But don't worry about HIV.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
Your partner's cancer has no bearing on the reliability of your HIV test. And you cannot possibly have terminal cancer, or any other illness that would interfere with the HIV test results, without knowing it from severe symptoms. Negative HIV antibody tests any time more than 6-8 weeks (and certainly 3 months) after the exposure are 100% reliable. You can be sure you don't have HIV. You do not need to waste money on a PCR test or any other additional tests.
If you remain concerned about your general health, see your doctor. But don't worry about HIV.
Good luck-- HHH, MD
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