High anxiety due to low risk exposure

[Veggiesnap]

Back in March I had sex with 3 CSW. All the intercourses were protected vaginal, and unprotected oral (receiving). However, I gave the last CSW oral sex unprotected and this is were my risk exposure comes from.

The problem is that due to high anxiety and being diagnosed with strep throat and mono throughout these 2 months, I have been ill for quite a while with swollen nodes and fevers. I still feel fatigue and my neck is stiff due to a swollen, but not huge, node on the back of my neck.

My question is, I tested negative at 19 days and 61 days in Canada using a 4th generation test after the oral sex/protected sex encounter. Both tests came back negative.

My questions are:

1. Do you think my mono and strep throat diagnoses will cause a case of late seroconversion in my body for HIV, or is my 8.5 week test conclusive? Do you see my results changing at 3 months? (No further exposures since the last incident).

2. Some websites like CATIE and other research papers I have read state that the window period of the 4th generation test is 1.5 months, while the rapid test is 3 months.

“Fourth-generation HIV tests can detect HIV infection in 50% of people by 18 days after infection; 95% of people by 34 days after infection; and 99% of people by one and a half months after infection”

My tests were done in a governmental sex clinic. My question is why did they tell me I am still in the window period and to come back in 3 months? Is it because they expect people to seroconvert at an unusual later date? Or is it because they want to give a uniform deadline to include the rapid and 4th generation tests? It looks like the UK, German, and Swedish guidelines will take a 4th generation that conclusive at 8 weeks (54 days).

Thank you in advance for answering my concerns and to put my mind at ease.

[Veggiesnap]

Thank you. It does a look like the events I went through are highly unlikely to infect me with HIV due to the explanations I received in this forum and others. Also, the 8.5 negative duo test is highly reassuring of my HIV status.

However, the anxiety and OCD in me
needs to finish the testing protocol to have a better state of mind in this matter.

[AnxiousNoMore]

You need to see a therapist because it is abnormal to test for disease you can't have, and to continue worrying about it afterwards and develop your own disease 'protocols' as you describe them. You don't have any medical training, so it is unrealistic for you to have so much confidence in your own made up theories and ignore the actual science. A therapist can help you with that.

[Veggiesnap]

Yes, I probably will do that since I came to the conclusion I cannot do it on my own. I over look the fact that I was not exposed to it, and instead, I read research papers about window periods, eclipse times, and conclusive results. I search the forums in regards to my 61 day test, and keep asking myself “what if I was infected and my mono viral diagnosis delayed my seroconversion”. I read about people that have caught it during one exposure or they don’t know when they were infected.

All the odds are in my favour but I still look for reassurance. I spoke to my doctor and I got a referral. Nonetheless, for piece of mind, I asked the CSW and she said she didn’t have HIV. I will still test at 84 days.

[AnxiousNoMore]

You don't have any medical training, so it is unrealistic for you to have so much confidence in your own made up theories and your ability to do research. Seek therapy because no one is going to believe your theory here, no matter how many times you quote some other site because we rely on the opinion of expert doctors instead.

[Veggiesnap]

Can I ask, regardless of my risk exposure, would you consider my 61 combo test enough to move on?

To be honest, it is hard to think logically when I had 3 fevers in the past 2 months while having a stiff neck because of a flared up lymph node on the back of my neck, which according to my doctor, time will only heal it.

[Chima7]

There's no window period for a NON risk like yours so a test taken at any time will give you the same response regardless of whether you take it now or any other time. The test is designed to look for something to which you were never exposed. Window periods are only relevant to those who've actually had an exposure, which you have not.

[Kirstie_MHModerator]

There isn't any information our members can add to your no-risk event, so we're closing this thread.

********* THREAD CLOSED *********

[Veggiesnap]

One more question to put my mind at ease. Hypothetically speaking, if the condom did break in one with one of my CSW encounters, will my 4th generation test at 61 test reassure me that I am in the clear of an HIV infection?

[AnxiousNoMore]

If a condom fails, it is a large rip down the seam and it hangs in tatters from the ring on your penis, so both of you would have started yelling and asking the other questions if that happened. the csw is likely negative anyway, otherwise why would she waste money on condoms? The condom is to protect her from you and her other clients, not to protect you which is a lucky side effect.

[GuitarRox]

Oral sex is not a risk for HIV.  People get HIV from unprotected vaginal or anal sex or sharing IV drug needles.  So, no.  None of your illnesses or symptoms are related to HIV.  You never needed to test but since you did, it was negative as expected with a no risk exposure.  People get sick unrelated to HIV.  

[Veggiesnap]

Thank you for your reply.

During my first visit to the sex clinic, the nurse told me that I had a low risk exposure. Not only that, but she did not want to give me probability numbers to explain what low risk meant, which means that I had to do the research on my own causing more anxiety. I mean, “low” can be open to interpretation depending of a range scale that it is not know to a patient. Also, this nurse and a hotline I have been using for months said that oral sex was a low risk exposure if the giver had cuts, ulcers, or bleeding in the mouth, lips, or gums.

Either way, my 4th generation test at 8.5 weeks was negative. Logically speaking, if some countries consider a 4th generation test at 8 weeks conclusive, it should be the same globally and I should trust my results, correct?

[AnxiousNoMore]

You had no risk and your HIV test was a waste of time.
HIV is instantly inactivated in air and also in saliva which means it is effectively dead so it can't infect from touching, external rubbing or oral activities. It doesn't matter if you and they were actively bleeding or had cuts at the time either because the HIV is effectively dead.
Only adult risks are the following:
1. unprotected penetrating vaginal
2. unprotected penetrating anal sex
3. sharing needles that you inject with. Your situation is a long way from any of these 3.
Even with blood, lactation, cuts, rashes, burns, etc the air or the saliva does not allow inactivated virus to infect from touching, external rubbing or oral activities. The above HIV science is 40 years old and very well established so there is no detail that you can add that will make any of your encounter a risk for HIV.  No one in 40 years of HIV history got HIV from the situation you are concerned about so it is unlikely that it will happen in the next 40 of your lifetime either.
The nurse ignored the "40" above and gave you theoretical risk just to get rid of you, so there is no purpose in wondering why.

[Veggiesnap]

Thank you.

I just neeeded to reassure myself that I was HIV negative. I am assuming my 8.7 4th generation test is conclusive enough at this point when taking into account my risk exposure.