When can I be absolutely sure?

[terrified309]

I had unprotected vaginal sex with a woman while in Indonesia on 1/20.  On 2/3 I experienced the 48-hour stomach flu and became very dehydrated.  I then noticed that my tongue had a yellow coating (no sores).  Looking at WebMD the symptoms looked as though they could be acute HIV.  I took a blood HIV-1 antibody test on 2/15, which came back negative.  I just got the results back from another blood HIV-1 antibody test that I took on 3/20 and the results were negative.
My question is after having tested negative for HIV-1 antibodies 2 months after possible exposure what degree of confidence should I have that I do NOT have HIV, and at what point can I be absolutely sure (3 months, 6 months, years?)?  Also, my tongue looks normal when I wake up but is still yellow (no sores) by the end of each day.  Could the extreme stress of believing that I contracted HIV be the cause of this tongue fungus?
Thanks...

[Edward W Hook, MD]

You can be sure now.  Eight weeks after your exposure, 98-99% of persons who are going to have positive tests will have.  Given the low risk of your exposure (even if she was a commercial sex worker, she was probably not HIV infected and even if she did have HIV, the risk if getting it is only 1 in 1000 exposures), at this time, you can be sure that you do not have HIV.  Nothing to worry about.  No further testing is needed.

Worrying about symptoms are a waste of time. Explore this site and you will see that we have NEVER suggested that symptoms be used to gauge the likelihood of HIV.  The symptoms of early HIV infection are totally non-specific.  Your yellow tongue and flu-like illness are not related to HIV.  If the color of your tongue worries you, see a dermatologist (although I would point out that many medications can turn one's tongue yellow for a while.  If the discoloration is fading, I would not worry about that either).

Hope this helps.  You have no reason to worry about HIV from what you've said above.  EWH

[worriedman402]

can you tell me if the lymph glands in the groin go around the thigh part as well or is that a ligament I can feel. If I stand up  there is a fold of skin (bit of a belly on me) just be low my abdomen and follows up from the crease between the leg and groin but higher up around the top of the leg(thigh?) I have been feeling this for a few days and I might have made it sore but because I can see a fold of skin I started to get a bit worried. Or are the glands further down into the groin?

[worriedman402]

Sorry to bother you, but someone on the forums  said they wouldnt be painful (talking about hiv infection), and could you confirm that?

[globe1]

Thats what the good doctor said.