Aa
Big Mistake
Good afternoon Dr. HHH.
I am female. I thought I had finally met a good guy. It turns out that he is a good liar, and I now have reason to suspect that he is "down-low" or bisexual, even though he strongly denies it. We last had unprotected sex on 3/3/13. We did have protected sex late on 3/17/13 (so I'll just call it 3/18/13) but even though it was protected, you never know.
It looked like the condom was still intact after, but I heard that all condoms have pores. These were latex. I had him take an HIV 1/2 test on 1/9/13 before we ever did anything. We had sex only 6 times unprotected and twice protected. My worry is that he could have been in the window period. I just received the results of my HIV 1/2 test from 4/27/13 and it was negative. Assuming the worst case scenario that some exposure occurred on 3/18/13 from the stupid condom pores, and that he was infected and in the window period with a high viral load, how worried should I be that I am infected and will convert to positive after the negative test I had on 4/27/13? Note- His test says it was an Immunometric assay. Mine was from a different lab by Chemiluminescence. Do these assay methods make any difference?
Thanks in advance.
I am female. I thought I had finally met a good guy. It turns out that he is a good liar, and I now have reason to suspect that he is "down-low" or bisexual, even though he strongly denies it. We last had unprotected sex on 3/3/13. We did have protected sex late on 3/17/13 (so I'll just call it 3/18/13) but even though it was protected, you never know.
It looked like the condom was still intact after, but I heard that all condoms have pores. These were latex. I had him take an HIV 1/2 test on 1/9/13 before we ever did anything. We had sex only 6 times unprotected and twice protected. My worry is that he could have been in the window period. I just received the results of my HIV 1/2 test from 4/27/13 and it was negative. Assuming the worst case scenario that some exposure occurred on 3/18/13 from the stupid condom pores, and that he was infected and in the window period with a high viral load, how worried should I be that I am infected and will convert to positive after the negative test I had on 4/27/13? Note- His test says it was an Immunometric assay. Mine was from a different lab by Chemiluminescence. Do these assay methods make any difference?
Thanks in advance.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome back to the forum.
I'm sorry to hear you are having such uncertainty about your partner's truthfulness and worries about HIV. They seem quite overblown. People rarely lie about HIV status when asked directly -- and although I cannot comment on your suspicion your partner has had sex with other men, from both his reassurance and his test result, there is no reason to suppose he actually has HIV. The statistical chance he was in the window period when you last had sex is low.
In addition, it is not true that "you never know" about protected sex. If a condom was used and did not break wide open, protection was complete. There is no such thing as microscopic pores in condoms (especially latex ones) through which HIV and other bacteria or viruses can pass. That's an urban myth.
Accordingly, I am confident your latest negative HIV test result is reliable and that no further testing is necessary. However, you are free to be tested again if you would like still additional reassurance you were not infected during your last exposure. You can expect any additional test results to also be negative. (And no, the specific test methods make no difference.)
I hope this has been helpful. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
I'm sorry to hear you are having such uncertainty about your partner's truthfulness and worries about HIV. They seem quite overblown. People rarely lie about HIV status when asked directly -- and although I cannot comment on your suspicion your partner has had sex with other men, from both his reassurance and his test result, there is no reason to suppose he actually has HIV. The statistical chance he was in the window period when you last had sex is low.
In addition, it is not true that "you never know" about protected sex. If a condom was used and did not break wide open, protection was complete. There is no such thing as microscopic pores in condoms (especially latex ones) through which HIV and other bacteria or viruses can pass. That's an urban myth.
Accordingly, I am confident your latest negative HIV test result is reliable and that no further testing is necessary. However, you are free to be tested again if you would like still additional reassurance you were not infected during your last exposure. You can expect any additional test results to also be negative. (And no, the specific test methods make no difference.)
I hope this has been helpful. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
Thank you so much doctor!
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