HIV, Testing, Anxiety, etc.

[questioning19]

I would be immensely grateful if anyone on this site could provide me with some infomation about my situation.

I lost my virginity (unprotected vaginal and mutual-oral sex) on a drunken night.   This behaviour is so out of character for me and I've been having the hardest time dealing with the guilt of it all, especially after he now ignores me and makes me feel completely used. Two days after the encounter, I went to my GP and asked for the morning after pill which she was happy to give as well as a three month Depo-Provera shot as birth control. For a day, all was well. And then I developed a terrible sore throat. I went back to my GP and she prescribed me with Penicillin antibiotics for my throat, as she said I had tonsilitis (my right tonsil was particularly inflammed) which healed the infection very quickly. After this, I then began to think about how me and this boy had not used protection and that's when anxiety kicked into overdrive.

I read that a particularly bad sore throat could be a sign of early HIV infection and I cried for hours. I also ready that going to get tested before the 28 day mark was pointless, and so I waited. I got tested for HIV, syphilis, gonorrhea and chlamydia on August 18th (on the 29th day since losing my virginity) and all my tests came back negative. I have no problem dealing with all the other results, but the HIV one is really causing me extreme anxiety. Today I called the GUM clinic I went to back in August and asked what HIV test they used on me. The lady began by saying "Oh, I've forgotten the name of it, but it's a lab one, we don't do point of care." I then asked her if it was the DUO and she said "Yes, it's the DUO," before she quickly got off the phone. I want to trust that she knew what she was talking about, but can I?

Are all UK GUM clinics now using the DUO test?
Are all UK DUO tests as realiable/accurate (whether NHS or private?)
Should I be worry free because I tested at the 28 day mark exactly?
Do I really need to go back to retest after three months? (The lady on the phone said "come back if you feel like you need to")
What are my chances of being undiagnosed (e.g. being late to produce antibodies or P24 antigens?)
I read somewhere that the only people who aren't diagnosed within 28 days usually have 'compromised immune systems'. What does that mean, exactly? Are they chemo patients, etc? Please explain.
I'm very healthy, my immune system is great, if I had HIV it would've showed in 28 days, right?

Also, because I was a virgin and because he was so forceful, there were rips and tears (I'm sure), although I didn't bleed and he ejaculated in me. How greatly does this increase my risk?  I bought a cheap pregnacy test at tesco on saturday and it was negative, so at least I don't have to worry about pregnacy.

And finally, just out of curiosity, if he had Syphilis and gave it to me, could those Penicilin antibiotics I took for my tonsilitis have cured me of syphilis before I had taken my STD test? Just wondering.

[Jackster13]

You tested at 4 weeks with a duo test and was negative. Add in that you had one exposure and the status of this boy is unknown, so not confirmed all weighs in your favor. A 3 month test is considered conclusive. A sore throat 2 days after is too early as any indication of symptoms and the antibiotic would not have helped. Always use protection for any sexy a encounters. All the best.

[rocket27rocket]

Hi there,

Please check your inbox, I have responded personally to your post.

Best Wishes.

James

[questioning19]

Thank you for replying. Yes, I've accepted that  my soar throat only  a few days after the encounter would've been impossible as ARS . Also, him having not contracted the most prevalent STDs (i.e. Chlamydia and gonorrhea) makes it extremely unlikely that he would contract something as rare (at least in the UK) as HIV. I've talked to another user on here who's made me quite confident in my negative results.

I think the problem with testing and results is that that you can hear all the facts and odds in your favour and still think that you'll be the one that defies those odds. For example, I read that the DUO test is 95% accurate at four weeks (that's a lot, that's basically certain) but I keep thinking what if I'm in that 5%? I'm working on no longer doing that.  I'm thinking about foregoing the 3 month test, because I'm satisfied with the DUO results. Is that okay  or do I really need to go back at 3 months mark?

Oh, don't you worry, protection is my new best friend. I will never go without  ever again. I've learned my lesson hard and well.

Thank you for the advice, really appreciated it.