Worried About Exposure

[Zep90210]

i had numerous unprotected heterosexual encounters with a woman of unknown status. as far as I know she's a non IVDU, doesnt regularly sleep with bisexual men, etc. this was over a year ago. also, about 4 years ago i slept with another woman numerous times, also of unkown status, also unprotected. the latter woman has since married and had a child.

i was tested over a year after my last exposure using oraquick's oral swab and tested negative. normally i'd be fine with this and just move on, but a number of symptoms have been bothering me.

i get mouth ulcers ALL the time. i also have a red line on my gums right above one or two or my teeth. i was worried this might be LGE.

i know i'm probably just being paranoid. i tested negative, and didnt sleep with someone who'd be considered a risk anyway. but i keep worrying. I know oraquick (and ELISAs) have 99.6% sensitivity, but there WERE false negatives in the clinical trials for people of long-time HIV infection. i was wondering why this happened.

do i have cause for concern? should i just let this go? i know the answer to these two respectively are "no" and "yes" but i'm having a hard time. i know this isn't a counselling forum, so instead i'll ask: why do we put such stock in a test we KNOW had some instances of false negatives in the clinical trial? were the false negatives only due to HAART, and the way those patients respnded, or can the test sometimes not pick up antibodies. also, what about the cases of HiPS (hiv1 infected persistently seronegative)?

sorry. i know i shouldn't be here and im only making myself worry more, but i'm really trying to move on.

if you do respond, kindly answer with more substance than just, "see a shrink, you're negative." that sort of response helps noone but the poster.

[scared_and_confused]

i called the aids hotline and she said we are in the clear 110%..she said false negatives are only in HAART patients and im sure u didnt take any haart, neithere did I..also learned that the test has a control line, making sure there are enuff enzymes...so i dunno, i think our mind wanders off to much, but lets keep in touch...i would hate to take another test tho

[Zep90210]

i also used the oral swab.

[scared_and_confused]

i have the same fears as you do, but i think the difference lies in the type of test you took, i am at more risk beacause i took the oral swab which had 1 false negeative, whil the whole blood and plasma had no false negative...i remeber reading that being on HAART may give someone a false neagtive, and im sure ure not on HAART, keep me posted cuz im scared of false negatives after 6 month unprotected vaginal encounter...

[joecool21]

ok i will take a look at it. if you doubt a Rapid test i suggest take a western blot test.that is the best way you could now your status. this i can assure you the western blot testing never lies.

[Zep90210]

http://jcm.asm.org/cgi/content/full/41/5/2153
http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov/MeetingAbstracts/102280377.html
http://www.orasure.com/uploaded/398.pdf

the last one specifically is from the orasure clincal trials. if u looka t the bottom ull see that there were some false negatives.

[joecool21]

a test taken after the 6 month window period would be 100% accurate since it is the old window period based on medical study and by 6 months upon post exposure to the virus the body has developed enough detectable antibodys by that time. it is impossible for someone getting infected without developing antibodys that would be a medical oddity, where have you read that article please post it here or you just got that gossip from some tom,**** and harry, you could sue the FDA is you got a false negative on a FDA approved product.

[Zep90210]

if there are no false negatives past the window period, why was the sensitivity of the test not 100%?there are documented false negatives from the oraquick clinical trials.

[joecool21]

your had a test years past and recieved a negative result. HIV is no longer your problem. HIV/AIds fear disorder. i cannot help you with mental problem.there is no false negative past the window period since the body has developed a very large amount of detectable antibodys so a negative result beyond the 6 month window period is precisely 100% accurate.seek counselling or talk to someone who you seem comforatable with. JUST GET OVER IT YOU DONT HAVE HIV PERIOD.