Anabolic steroids effect on hiv testing

[farshadjoon]

Hi Dr.

I have been a user of anabolic steroids for about 3-4 years.  My last injection and/or oral use of anabolic steroids was probably around December / early January.  I had a possible exposure to HIV when i received oral from a male (also an anabolic steroid user) for only about 20 seconds before I asked him to stop sucking.  I was barely hard but I did not use a condom.  My question is given the fact that I used anabolic steroids for 3-4 years (mostly winstrol oral, trenbolone acetate injectable, stanozolol injectable, testosterone injectable, and several prohormones which are precursors to anabolic steroids once converted by the liver) does this mean i have to wait longer to test conclusively for hiv?  My exposure was in early February (the sex) but i have had a few rna tests done since then that are all negative as well as an hiv antibody around May which was negative.  However I want to make sure I am not one of those unlucky candidates that has to wait longer to get a conclusive test and that my 3 month test coming up at the end of this week will be conclusive and definite as it will have been 3.5 months or so since the oral sex?  It has been hell waiting this long and I really just want to make sure that my 3 month test marker is conclusive and I am not one of the unlucky few that has to wait for 6 months and retest again.  Can you please confirm.  Please also note that my steroid use did not revolve solely around testosterone but also included a wide arrangement of bodybuilding supplements and other non testosterone steroids that bulk you up.  Like I said they all add muscle and include winstrol, trenbolone acetate, testosterone enanthate, stanozolol, and other bodybuilding anabolic steroids (not necessarily strictly testosterone). I have read in your forums that prednisone can cause a false negative but what about these other anabolic steroids? Should i be worried that I have to wait longer for another test? Or am I home free after this 3 month test?  I have had so much anxiety these past few months I've been laid off and lost my job and have been put on a ton of medications just to cope with the possibility that i might have hiv.  Can you please let me know? Also i have been smoking so much because of the anxiety and been on ocd and anxiety medications.  Some of these include me shifting from Zoloft to Clonezapam to clomiprimene to buspirone to citalopram to lexapro to other ssri's and ocd medications .  Should i be worried about smoking cigarettes, and these medications possibly causing a false negative also?  The last time i smoked marijuana was in Late January/ early February right before the oral sex i received when we shared a bowl together.  Anyways i guess ultimately my question is whether or not marijuana in the past (February) oh and i forgot to mention I've been a tobacco smoker for the past 5-7 years i smoke about 5 cigarettes a day, so does marijuana tobacco and anabolic steroids like the ones above in addition to the meds I've been prescribed cause a false negative?  Am i home free after this 3 month test or do these steroids and other things like the meds put me in the 6 month range ?  I am so worried i cant sleep at night i have no social life all i think about is if i have hiv from this incident in February and whether or not me doing steroids would cause a false negative on all the tests I've done and any future tests.  

Yours truly,
Worried guy

[nursegirl6572]

Read this:

"Your doctor is right. No medicine delays or alters HIV test results.  In theory, certain immunosuppresive drugs might do it, but only in the giant doses used for potent chemotherapy--and even that is a theoretical concern, not a proved one.  In any case, anabolic steroids are not an issue in this."

http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV---Prevention/Can-Prednisone-affect-an-hiv-test-result/show/256274

You don't have a concern.

[farshadjoon]

Thanks this helps but 2 years ago i did have unprotected anal sex like July 2012 does that mean my hiv tests are null because i was doing  steroids at that time? I just want to make sure drugs dont affect the testing that is my main question.

[Teak]

The only risk you would have had if you shared works to inject the roids.