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Should I have reasonable confidence in rapid test at 4 weeks?
Preface: I've read hundreds of posts & sifted through everything to find quality info. So, before one of you respond to me with the oft-repeated, terse "stop worrying, get tested at 3 months, move on with your life"-type posts, let me clarify: I understand that a negative test at 3 months is conclusive. I understand that the average person seroconverts within 22 days. I understand that the "vast majority" of people seroconvert by six weeks. I understand that having unprotected sex with someone you don't know is stupid. I understand that if you are male, your chances of contracting HIV from unprotected vaginal sex with an infected partner are roughly 1 in 1000.
That being said, here is my predicament: I'm a 34 year old uncircumcised heterosexual. On 9/3/12, I had unprotected vaginal sex with a 37 year-old latina woman I met at a pub. She was divorced with 2 kids. The whole thing was weird because she pursued me and told me she was looking for a guy who was "positive" and knew how to make love. After the strangeness that ensued, I started worrying about whether she was HIV positive--perhaps I'm reading too much into her use of the word "positive," but I am praying this isn't some kind of code between HIV positive people looking to hook up. Anyway, we went back to her house & didn't waste any time getting after it. We had sex & I came inside her; before I did, I told her I was about to come & asked her where she wanted it. She just held me in tighter, and I came before I could pull out. Afterwards she was pissed off about it because she claimed I never told her I was coming and she was not on birth control, then kicked me out of her house with no more discussion, and would not answer or return a call from me later. Needless to say, the whole thing was disturbing. I waited 30 days and got a rapid Uni-gold Recombigen test today, which came back negative. I got another test too, at a different clinic, which I guess must be an ELISA or something(?)--it was a full blood draw from my vein and it will take 4-5 days to get the results.
3 questions:
1. As a reasonably healthy individual, i.e. with a strong immune system (which I take to mean I would create antibodies earlier rather than later), what level of confidence should I have that the negative rapid test is reliable at 1 month? 90%? 95%? What is the data on this?
2. I will, of course, be getting another test. Given that I do not have the fortitude to just sweat it out till 12 weeks, would you suggest I get the test done at 8 weeks? Is is reasonable to do it at 6?
3. If I were to take a Duo test this week, would it be basically conclusive?
If, in the course of my pre-post lurking, I've missed any replies (from the doctors on this site) that materially address questions & risks just like mine with a such a degree of specificity as to obviate my need to submit this post, I thank you in advance for your patience.
--SRM
That being said, here is my predicament: I'm a 34 year old uncircumcised heterosexual. On 9/3/12, I had unprotected vaginal sex with a 37 year-old latina woman I met at a pub. She was divorced with 2 kids. The whole thing was weird because she pursued me and told me she was looking for a guy who was "positive" and knew how to make love. After the strangeness that ensued, I started worrying about whether she was HIV positive--perhaps I'm reading too much into her use of the word "positive," but I am praying this isn't some kind of code between HIV positive people looking to hook up. Anyway, we went back to her house & didn't waste any time getting after it. We had sex & I came inside her; before I did, I told her I was about to come & asked her where she wanted it. She just held me in tighter, and I came before I could pull out. Afterwards she was pissed off about it because she claimed I never told her I was coming and she was not on birth control, then kicked me out of her house with no more discussion, and would not answer or return a call from me later. Needless to say, the whole thing was disturbing. I waited 30 days and got a rapid Uni-gold Recombigen test today, which came back negative. I got another test too, at a different clinic, which I guess must be an ELISA or something(?)--it was a full blood draw from my vein and it will take 4-5 days to get the results.
3 questions:
1. As a reasonably healthy individual, i.e. with a strong immune system (which I take to mean I would create antibodies earlier rather than later), what level of confidence should I have that the negative rapid test is reliable at 1 month? 90%? 95%? What is the data on this?
2. I will, of course, be getting another test. Given that I do not have the fortitude to just sweat it out till 12 weeks, would you suggest I get the test done at 8 weeks? Is is reasonable to do it at 6?
3. If I were to take a Duo test this week, would it be basically conclusive?
If, in the course of my pre-post lurking, I've missed any replies (from the doctors on this site) that materially address questions & risks just like mine with a such a degree of specificity as to obviate my need to submit this post, I thank you in advance for your patience.
--SRM
Symptoms or lack of will never tell you anything about your status. Numbers are for horse racing, leave them at the track they won't tell you anything about your status.
Like I said do what you will but I suggest you read several posts in the expert doctors forum
You have no advantages, a western blot cannot confirm a positive DUO test any earlier than it can a standard antibody test.
If you had a positive DUO at 4 weeks a confirmatory test would be requested,if that was positive then you would be diagnosed with HIV--there are benefits from a DUO,The UK,AUS & many other countries have been using this test for years.
There are no true benefits and a DUO test cannot give a confirmed postive result any earlier than any other standard HIV test.
There are some benefits & HIV specialists have expressed this,also you can look at many graphs were it clearly shows that p24 antigen will spike at 3 to 4 weeks--thats the benefit.
The USA is behind the times with the DUO sadly,it was only approved for use in june 2010 by the FDA but it's avaliable now in many states in the US.
Thanks. Actually, i was just looking for places to get the DUO, and I saw an old thread from medhelp that said you can't get the DUO in the US. I'm guessing that's changed by now?
I'll check it out. I thought I was developing a fever today with chills and lightheadedness etc. But i think it was some hydroxycut I took and too much coffee on top of it along with dehydration. I feel better now. And the nurse at the clinic took my temp at 98.3. As for the DUO, is it 99% + conclusive at 4-5 weeks?
Find a clinic in your area that offers the DUO or you can have an antibody test at 6 weeks.The only symptom I would worry about are extremely high fevers--101+
Agreed, it was f**ing crazy, I was in a daze for the rest of the night. I did have a full battery done and I'm waiting on those results. I know it was stupid to hit it without a condom. I knew it while I was doing it, even with a number of beers in me. Luckily I haven't had any symptoms of any STDs yet. Any advice on how to locate a clinic to get a DUO or how long it takes to get the results? Thank you for your quick response.
What a lovely lady--NOT.Look you have a few options here,you can take the DUO & then follow up at 3 months for a final result.I would suggest a full STD screen because this lady seems not to be the full deck,although you should have used protection,it takes 2 to tango.
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