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A False Positive Nightmare
I was in a relationship with a man for about 4 months this past spring (I am a female -- 26 years old, white, American, never been pregnant). He is a friend and former classmate. He has assured me that his status is negative. We frequently had unprotected sex, but he never came inside of me (and if he did, always put a condom on first). I have only had three sexual partners in my life. I have never had sex/sexual relations outside of a committed relationship. (I know this doesn't guarantee ANYTHING, but I feel like it's important to include on some statistical level.) Again, for what it's worth I have no reason to doubt his claims of a negative status.
About two months into our relationship (May 11) I went in for a routine physical. To my astonishment, my HIV test came back positive ELISA and negative Western Blot. My PCP was not at all concerned. She considered the test to be negative, but did ask that I get a quick blood test reran at the 6-month mark just to officially clear my status.
I have since broken up with this person (for reasons unrelated to a confusing and scary HIV test). We last had unprotected sex (again, he did not come inside me) on June 23. I have not had sex/sexual relations with him or anyone else since then.
I was completely cool with everything for awhile, but recently found myself utterly freaking out (as will happen when the mind starts to spin). I took a rapid test on September 30 -- this would have been at roughly the 13/14-week mark after my last sexual experience and about 4 1/2 months after the false positive blood draw. My rapid test was negative.
I am planning on going back at the 6-month mark just to put my mind at ease (and to comply with my doctor's recommendation), but am curious as to what my chances are that I'm seroconverting. Why would my doctor be totally unconcerned that I might be HIV pos, but recommend a final test at 6 mos? Isn't 3 months good enough? This false positive incident has made me scared to test again, and has freaked me out about statistics. The chances of testing falsely positive on an ELISA are very small; so couldn't other statistically unlikely things happen to me as well?
Why did I get that positive ELISA? At the time of the test I had two rather swollen lymph nodes in the back of my neck. They have since died down. No other nodes swelled. Could these be related to the false positive ELISA? Will I be more prone to receiving false positive ELISAs in the future? Is a false positive ELISA indicative of another serious condition?
I'm having trouble getting past this. I haven't really had anxiety issues in the past, but this has brought them on big time. It's horrible. I just want to move past this. Also, lately I've had a bitter taste in my mouth, but no thrush or fungal growth. Good Lord, I've become one of those people obsessed with symptoms. This is just such a hard thing, because I feel like I can't discuss it with family or friends.
About two months into our relationship (May 11) I went in for a routine physical. To my astonishment, my HIV test came back positive ELISA and negative Western Blot. My PCP was not at all concerned. She considered the test to be negative, but did ask that I get a quick blood test reran at the 6-month mark just to officially clear my status.
I have since broken up with this person (for reasons unrelated to a confusing and scary HIV test). We last had unprotected sex (again, he did not come inside me) on June 23. I have not had sex/sexual relations with him or anyone else since then.
I was completely cool with everything for awhile, but recently found myself utterly freaking out (as will happen when the mind starts to spin). I took a rapid test on September 30 -- this would have been at roughly the 13/14-week mark after my last sexual experience and about 4 1/2 months after the false positive blood draw. My rapid test was negative.
I am planning on going back at the 6-month mark just to put my mind at ease (and to comply with my doctor's recommendation), but am curious as to what my chances are that I'm seroconverting. Why would my doctor be totally unconcerned that I might be HIV pos, but recommend a final test at 6 mos? Isn't 3 months good enough? This false positive incident has made me scared to test again, and has freaked me out about statistics. The chances of testing falsely positive on an ELISA are very small; so couldn't other statistically unlikely things happen to me as well?
Why did I get that positive ELISA? At the time of the test I had two rather swollen lymph nodes in the back of my neck. They have since died down. No other nodes swelled. Could these be related to the false positive ELISA? Will I be more prone to receiving false positive ELISAs in the future? Is a false positive ELISA indicative of another serious condition?
I'm having trouble getting past this. I haven't really had anxiety issues in the past, but this has brought them on big time. It's horrible. I just want to move past this. Also, lately I've had a bitter taste in my mouth, but no thrush or fungal growth. Good Lord, I've become one of those people obsessed with symptoms. This is just such a hard thing, because I feel like I can't discuss it with family or friends.
For a person with your sexual lifestyle, an HIV test is much more likely to yield a false positive than detect a true infection.
HIV is very rare in heterosexual women in the U.S.: less than 1 in 1000 on average, and for those with your history it is probably much lower.
For example, if only 1 in 10,000 women who have a similar sexual history as you catches HIV, and an HIV antibody test has 99.9% specificity (1 in 1000 results are false positives), then test is 10x more likely to yield a false positive result than detect a true infection in a person such as yourself.
In other words, while false positives may be considered relatively rare, a true infection in a person such as yourself is much rarer. And as Lizzie indicated, a positive result on an ELISA does not mean anything if the Western Blot is negative. The negative WB means that you do not have antibodies against HIV proteins in your blood, proving that you are not infected.
HIV is very rare in heterosexual women in the U.S.: less than 1 in 1000 on average, and for those with your history it is probably much lower.
For example, if only 1 in 10,000 women who have a similar sexual history as you catches HIV, and an HIV antibody test has 99.9% specificity (1 in 1000 results are false positives), then test is 10x more likely to yield a false positive result than detect a true infection in a person such as yourself.
In other words, while false positives may be considered relatively rare, a true infection in a person such as yourself is much rarer. And as Lizzie indicated, a positive result on an ELISA does not mean anything if the Western Blot is negative. The negative WB means that you do not have antibodies against HIV proteins in your blood, proving that you are not infected.
your first test was a FALSE positive...it just happens some times. the western blot trumped your first result...PROVING that you do not have hiv. your last test should assure you that you do not have a hiv concern.
You are already conclusively negative after your last test from what i have read here and been told by my own doctor anything after 3month mark is conclusive doesnt matter what test i used
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