Glucose tester pen HIV

[XsamsaraX]

Hi Dr..
Really hope you can help me I have already asked this question in the forum
Teak, Lou and Nurse have been kind enough to answer
but would just like your advice.
.
I pricked my finger with an accu check soft clix glucose tester pen they use fine lancets.
I dont know the status of the person that used it before me
they used it two hours before me I think.
I soaked the nib with hot water and the inside cage but cant remember how well I cleaned it..
I then put a new lancet on the end although I keep daubting it!
Also I was worried that any excess water mixed with blood could of dribbled down onto the clean needle. ( Did not see any blood)

At 28 days exactly I started to have some strange symptoms
Day1/  Nausea, 5 itchy tiny vesicle spots on earlobe that had fluid and started to crust over ( Is this ARS rash??)
Day2/ Had to go to dentist in terrible pain with inpacted wisdom tooth that decided to flare up out of the blue.
He gave me a precscription for tetracycline and I was also taking codiene and paracetamol
Day3/  Gland swollen under neck. In the night I had to get up..my lower leg felt numb and cold like it had gone to sleep I walked around and it was ok again. then I got numb lower leg and face on right side,started to get anxious panick and felt dizzy had to lie down as I felt like I was going to faint! Started to feel clammy.
Day4/  Still have nausea stomach feels sore and making a lot of noise
Nausea lasted 8 weeks
The symptoms cleared and now I have a sore ankle and foot that I have had for the past few weeks,( 3 months on from the event )
Does this sound like Ars /Hiv???
I tested with a mirates rapid kit at exactly 6 weeks which was negative but Its not an approved test..
Would a test at 6 weeks,two weeks from the symptoms be long enough for antibodies??
Im still worried about this
Thank you

[XsamsaraX]

Thank you again for all your help  ; )

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

"Could" you catch HIV in that way?  I suppose so.  At a psychological level, you're obviously looking for confirmation that you are at risk, whereas I am trying to reassure you but you are rejecting it.  There also is a chance I will get hit by a meteorite, but it's too unlikely a risk to worry about or take precautions against.  The chance you would catch HIV by such a scenario is something like that.

I don't know the "Mirates" test, but it is not in any manufacturer's interest to market an inferior product.  All the rapid HIV tests are excellent.  Lack of FDA approval says nothing about the quality of the product, only about the manufacturer's application for approval to market in the US.

Please heed my advice about professional attention.  

[XsamsaraX]

Thank you so much for you advice
I really appreciate your help..
Hope I can just ask you just 1 or 2 questions.

1/ So even If the pen had any blood residue or say I did not change
    the lancet I still could not contract it this way.
2/ The test was not approved by FDA it was a rapid home test but you still think it
    will show reliable result.at 6 weeks???

Thank you again and best wishes to you too

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

Based on your two previous threads on the HIV community forum, you seem inordinately (and abnormally) preoccupied with catching HIV through sharp intstruments.  In both, you had detailed responses and eventually came to express understanding that you were not at risk.  That confidence apparently didn't stick or you wouldn't be asking the same questions here.  But the responses there were correct.  

There are 3 components to your questions:

First, was there any risk of exposure?  No.  I'll bet not a single person has acquired HIV, anywhere in the world, from the sorts of exposures you describe.  If you don't have sex or share injection equipment with HIV infected people, you are not at risk.

Second, do your symptoms suggest HIV?  No.  As discussed innumerable times on this forum, symptoms never are useful indicator of new HIV infection, because the typical symptoms are exactly the same as for many other conditions, mostly not serious.  And in any case, your symptoms don't sound like those of acute HIV.

Third, is your HIV test result reliable?  Yes.  Modern blood tests are highly reliable if done sufficiently long after exposure, and blood test results always outweigh symptoms in judging the possibility someone has HIV.  Your negative test results at 6 weeks prove you didn't catch it and that HIV is not a possible explanation for your symptoms.

Your obsession with these issues seems beyond reason, especially in view of your previous apparent acceptance of the same advice plus your need to have yourself tested for HIV after such a non-exposure event.  Please discuss it frankly with your primary care provider then follow his or her advice if s/he suggests counseling.  I suggest it out of compassion, not criticism.  In the meantime, please try to move on, secure in the knowledge you didn't catch HIV and that you never will, at least not from glucose testing.

Best wishes--  HHH, MD