HIV-Swollen tonsil 6 weeks after unprotected sex

Hi and thank you for taking the time out to read my health concern. 7 weeks ago i had unprotected sex with a guy i meet at a party... Yes it was stupid to do. Prior to this sex act i havent had sex in over a year and was in great health. 3 days after having unprotected sex i went to the local clinic and had a package std test run. everything came back negative. I know it was very early to test but my dr said that the more common and curable stds would probably be detected at that time. I then went in for my annual visit 4 weeks later and my dr said everything looked fine and it would be a waste of money to pay to order more std testing and to wait until after my pap cultures came back if i was still concerned. Pap cultures came back normal.... Well very randomly just over a week ago (6 weeks after having unprotected sex) I woke up with a sore throat and the next day my tonsils and jawline gland were swollen. After 3 days and the swolling not going away and the pressure build up feeling making it hard to swallow, I made an appt with my family practice dr. I filled him in on my previous visit to my gyn dr and my very stupid sexual mistake.... He said my gland is swollen and my right tonsil is considerably enlarged but there are no white spots just some mild redness with no fever, but he ran a strep test anyway. Strep test came back negative and he said it was likely a virual infection and to wait it out. When I asked about HIV he said STDs arent his field of study and I should wait a few weeks to see if it gets better.... Ok so that is my story/history in a nutshell i guess...

My question for you is how likely is....

- How likely is it that my swollen tonsil and tight throat feeling are an indicator for Acute HIV 6 weeks after possible exposure...

[VY_Canis_Majoris]

   Theres a theorotical risk of you having contracted HIV.. Nevertheless @ this juncture you could only surmise you got that.

   But theres a sure way to help ya outa despair. Get a DNA PCR test on or after the 28th Day of exposure. This test unlike the RNA PCR that looks for the viral RNA..scouts for the Infected DNA Host ( Proviral ) by amplifying the sample many times over.

  Remember HIV gets @ work the moment it enters the body, finds itself a HOST cell to cling to before it could actually get inside of it. This Cell eventually engenders more replicas of HIV. Remember if you are infected yourblood will surely have this Host Cell which in turn could help you know your status regardless the presence of the antibodies.

A sure way to know your status. A negative test would invariably mean NO HIV in the blood ..

Good luck ...

[Vance2335]

3 month antibody test is conclusive.

[reallyregret]

Hi worriedsick29,

I agree with Canis that the dna pcr test is indeed highly sensitive, with a minimum window period of just 12 days. But before you decide to have the test done, you must first understand some stuffs about it and then make an informed decision whether or not to get the test done.

First, it is highly expensive, you could probably do like 30-50 standard elisa tests for 1 dna pcr.

Second, there is a higher probability of a false positive result with the dna pcr test as compared to the standard antibody test. (potentially causing extreme anxiety for the next 10-12 weeks).

Last but not least, it is not the conclusive test, but simply allows you to have a indication of whether or not you are infected.

At the end of the day, if you test negative for your dna pcr, you'd still have to go for a conclusive antibody test at 3 months. But of course, that being said, if you had a negative dna pcr result, it would provide you with a pretty good relief. So you'll have to weigh the odds before deciding to go for it.

All the best and take care.


May God bless you


reallyregret