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Lingering HIV fears

I had a really stupid experience back in September--I got drunk and fooled around with a guy I didn't know, and we may have had unprotected sex. I got tested for HIV at 4 weeks and 11 weeks and they were both negative. I tend to be somewhat paranoid so I was interpreting everything as "symptoms." After the 11 week test I felt much better. However, I remain a little bit concerned because I have had recurrent yeast infections (they have been diagnosed as such) since that episode. I've never had this before in my life and I can't think of anything I'm doing that would be causing it other than a depressed immune system. I have a couple of questions:

1. How certain can I be that the test results at 11 weeks were accurate? I know it can't be 100 percent because everyone says that it CAN take longer. Is it 99 percent? What sort of number?

2. IF I had HIV, would recurrent yeast infections be a sign of ARS?

3. Should I bother getting tested again?

Thank you, this forum is great and I appreciate your help just as so many others do.
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239123 tn?1267647614
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
See innumerable threads on this forum for more detailed responses.  Search the threads for "time to positive HIV test" and "HIV anxiety".

1) Somewhere around 99%  But consider the odds:  Say there is a 1% chance your partner had HIV.  Then esttimate a 1 in 1000 risk you caught it.  Then a 99% accurate test.  Your odds of having HIV at this point are 0.01 x 0.001 x 0.01 = 0.0000001.  That's 1 in 10 million.  According to a statistic I heard on NPR today, he odds you will be struck by lightning someday are 1 in 28,000.  That's 357 times higher than the chance you have HIV.

2) No recurrent yeast infecttions in women rarely is a sign of HIV.

3) No, you do not need further testing.

Relax, you're fine!  Good luck--  HHH, MD
Helpful - 1
79258 tn?1190630410
I believe that Dr. Handsfield has said that recurrent yeast infections aren't a strong symptom of HIV.

You have yeast in your vagina most, if not all the time, but it's kept in check by the other little organisms. However, sometimes something happens to alter the balance of bacteria, allowing the yeast to overgrow. Are you on the pill? Taking antibiotics? Those can be big culprits. And are you sure you're getting rid of each yeast infection, rather than repeatedly treating the same one? There's at least one strain of yeast, I think it's called candida glabrata, that is pretty resistant to treatment. I think I'd ask your doctor to follow up on this. Having had more than my share of yeast infections in the past, I know how much this sucks. I hope you feel better soon!
Helpful - 0

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