Aa
Am i at risk, Just how good are 6 week Tests?
Hello Drs. I asked a question yesterday on the support forum and now i wanna get the expert advice. First off i have OCD and anxiety problems and i have had them for a while now. I work in a warehouse downtown and there are alot of homeless people around there and sometimes they would get into our building and stuff. Well yesterday i was on one of the floors and i went down the stairs and at the bottom of the stairs i found a brown paper bag sitting there against the wall, Obviously i didnt put it there so i went up to it and i just kind of looked in there to see what it was, it looked like a bunch of trash and stuff but its dark in the stairway. I was in a hurry so i just left and then i came back later with a flashlight becuase the curiosity was killing me. I looked in there and it looked like some trash, socks, and there was a little first aid kit and some opened bandaid wrappers and open disinfectant wrappers and stuff. I freaked out because i thought that someone was using needles in there or something. With my high level of fear i became scared. I went and got a long metal bar and i started to dig around in that bag with that bar just to see if there was a needle in there. I didnt see one but i didnt fully dig very well because i came to my scences and realized this is stupid. Well i am very very worried now and i couldnt sleep last night and i called my Dr. and he gave me a referral to a shrink. For some reason i cant convince myself that i never touched the bag. I know with my fear that i would just walk up to the bag and start digging around in there with my hands. I am gonna get tested at 6 weeks from yesterday, if that test is negative can i call that conclusive and work on therapy and forget about this? Please help me.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Reacting only to the question title, before I read anything else: A negative antibody test for HIV is virtually 100% certain evidence against HIV infection.
Now to read the question itself....
The only significant health issue here is described both in your direct words ("I have OCD") and in the actions you describe. Your doctor obviously agrees. It was not possible for you to catch HIV (or any other infection) from the events you describe.
From a risk assessment perspective, you do not need to be tested for HIV at all. Therefore, it doesn't matter when you are tested. But as I said above, if you're going to do it for anxiety relief, 6 weeks would be a good time.
Please follow your doctor's advice about professional mental health care.
Regards-- HHH, MD
Now to read the question itself....
The only significant health issue here is described both in your direct words ("I have OCD") and in the actions you describe. Your doctor obviously agrees. It was not possible for you to catch HIV (or any other infection) from the events you describe.
From a risk assessment perspective, you do not need to be tested for HIV at all. Therefore, it doesn't matter when you are tested. But as I said above, if you're going to do it for anxiety relief, 6 weeks would be a good time.
Please follow your doctor's advice about professional mental health care.
Regards-- HHH, MD
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I deleted your latest OCD-provoked nonsensical question. Once more and I will delete the entire thread without further comment.
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