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Symptom confusion
I have been reading a lot about symptoms of HIV. The last time I had unprotected sex was June 12 and June 26th. I had a test done on July 7th and was negative. I realize that was probably too early. I have not had sex since. On Monday the 19th I had diahrrea in the evening with no nausea just a sense of not feeling good. The next day everything was pretty much back to normal. Now last night I had diahrrhea again with a little nausea. Could this be a sign of infection with none of the other signs - no swollen glands or soar throat? What does cause diahrrhea in hiv patients?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
No. This has been done innumerable times and I'm not going to do it again. Use the search function and enter terms like "window period", "seroconversion", or "time to positive HIV test".
You came here for reassurance. I've tried to give it but you keep looking for reasons to convince me and yourself you might actually have HIV. You do not. Accept it or not, I don't care, but don't argue about it. This thread is over.
You came here for reassurance. I've tried to give it but you keep looking for reasons to convince me and yourself you might actually have HIV. You do not. Accept it or not, I don't care, but don't argue about it. This thread is over.
Dr., you said in one post that 90-95% turn positive in 4 weeks. Could you please elaborate on testing and timetables.
Thank you.
Thank you.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
There are no data that permit definitive answers about 6 vs 8 weeks testing. Probably no difference, since almost all new infections give positive results by 6 weeks.
You certainly don't have to "go through this every time" you have a new sex partner. You need to get a grip on heterosexual HIV transmission risks. Just be reasonably selective in choosing partners -- no bar pick-ups, no injection drug users, and use condoms consistently. If you do these things, you could have sex with a new partner every week and expect to go a lifetime without catching HIV -- even if you mess up on the condom part from time to time.
In 6 years of this forum, not one person has told us about a sexual encounter s/he was concerned about and then returned later to say s/he caught HIV -- except for one instance a long time ago, in which it became clear the person was lying, trying to get special attention.
You certainly don't have to "go through this every time" you have a new sex partner. You need to get a grip on heterosexual HIV transmission risks. Just be reasonably selective in choosing partners -- no bar pick-ups, no injection drug users, and use condoms consistently. If you do these things, you could have sex with a new partner every week and expect to go a lifetime without catching HIV -- even if you mess up on the condom part from time to time.
In 6 years of this forum, not one person has told us about a sexual encounter s/he was concerned about and then returned later to say s/he caught HIV -- except for one instance a long time ago, in which it became clear the person was lying, trying to get special attention.
One more question do these symptoms happen all at once or spread out and for how long?
If you don't mind just a few quick questions. Would six weeks be definitive? Or would 8 weeks be better. How many people become positive after an eight week test? I am new to the dating world and do not want to go through this every time I have a sexual encounter and catch cold or something are condoms almost 100 percent protection for HIV? Is HIV hard to catch? Out of general curiosity and after reading some of these posts has anyone ever come back to say they tested positive?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the HIV forum.
Questions about symptoms are among the most common on the forum, with at least 2-3 such questions every day. (I just tried searching the forum for "HIV symptoms" and then "ARS symptoms". They identified over 3,000 and over 1,200 threads, respectively.) One of the main points we make, which unfortunately many HIV/AIDS websites do not make clear, is that the symptoms of new HIV infection are the same as those with a large number of other health problems, almost all of which are far more common than HIV. Also, such websites list just about any and all symptoms that could possibly be caused by HIV or AIDS.
For every person who has occasional diarrhea, "a lilttle nauses", and/or malaise (that's the medical term for "a sense of not feeling good"), probably fewer than 1 in many thousand have HIV as the cause -- even if they have been at risk for HIV. And almost all new HIV infections have significant fever, which you apparently haven't had. Diarrhea is not typically a symptom of acute HIV infection; it results primarily in AIDS itself, i.e. years after catching HIV, and is usually due to various infections that take hold in people with advanced immune system damage.
For all those reasons, it is exceedingly unlikely your symptoms are due to HIV. You don't describe the nature of your sexual encounter, which is far more important than symptoms in judging whether or not you were infected. But if it's a heterosexual encounter in the US or other industrialized country, probably you were at little or no risk of infection.
Althoug tested too early for definitive results, the negative tests so far are reassuring. If you remain concerned, have another HIV test about 6 weeks after the last exposure. Or see if a nearby lab is offering the newly approved (in the US) combo test (sometimes called a "fourth generation" HIV test) that measures both HIV antibody and the HIV p24 antigen. That test gives virtually 100% accurate results at 4 weeks.
Feel free to return with a follow-up comment if you want to report your final HIV test result. In the meantime, relax. Almost certainly you don't have HIV and your can expect any future tests to remain negative.
Regards-- HHH, MD
Questions about symptoms are among the most common on the forum, with at least 2-3 such questions every day. (I just tried searching the forum for "HIV symptoms" and then "ARS symptoms". They identified over 3,000 and over 1,200 threads, respectively.) One of the main points we make, which unfortunately many HIV/AIDS websites do not make clear, is that the symptoms of new HIV infection are the same as those with a large number of other health problems, almost all of which are far more common than HIV. Also, such websites list just about any and all symptoms that could possibly be caused by HIV or AIDS.
For every person who has occasional diarrhea, "a lilttle nauses", and/or malaise (that's the medical term for "a sense of not feeling good"), probably fewer than 1 in many thousand have HIV as the cause -- even if they have been at risk for HIV. And almost all new HIV infections have significant fever, which you apparently haven't had. Diarrhea is not typically a symptom of acute HIV infection; it results primarily in AIDS itself, i.e. years after catching HIV, and is usually due to various infections that take hold in people with advanced immune system damage.
For all those reasons, it is exceedingly unlikely your symptoms are due to HIV. You don't describe the nature of your sexual encounter, which is far more important than symptoms in judging whether or not you were infected. But if it's a heterosexual encounter in the US or other industrialized country, probably you were at little or no risk of infection.
Althoug tested too early for definitive results, the negative tests so far are reassuring. If you remain concerned, have another HIV test about 6 weeks after the last exposure. Or see if a nearby lab is offering the newly approved (in the US) combo test (sometimes called a "fourth generation" HIV test) that measures both HIV antibody and the HIV p24 antigen. That test gives virtually 100% accurate results at 4 weeks.
Feel free to return with a follow-up comment if you want to report your final HIV test result. In the meantime, relax. Almost certainly you don't have HIV and your can expect any future tests to remain negative.
Regards-- HHH, MD
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