False negative results in an HIV Ag/Ab combo test? Ginger?

[needinggoodinfo]

For the past few months I've been drinking a strong ginger tea twice daily for certain gastrointestinal issues I've been having. In early september, I had a possible hiv exposure. About 2-3 weeks after the incident I started getting symptoms similar to a cold or flu (nasal congestion, aches, etc). Didn't think too much of it and assumed it was just a regular cold/flu. Due to this I increased my ginger tea consumption to about 4 cups per day. Exactly 31 days after the possible exposure, I did a combo hiv ag/ab test which returned negative. I'm aware that 4 weeks after exposure a combo test will be conclusive.

Recently however, i've discovered some interesting information about ginger. Firstly in a study here (http://www.fasebj.org/cgi/content/meeting_abstract/20/5/A1103) ginger was found to inhibit t-lymohocites, which in turn could prevent antibody formation. I've also found that ginger can inhibit reverse transcriptase (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21091248) which is what allows viruses to replicate. This could lead to a low amount of hiv p24 antigens as the virus could possibly not replicate.

Is it possible then that the ginger (apparenly a strong antiviral) that I was taking prior to, and during possible ars symptoms could have caused a false negative on my combo test? I understand to an extent what the possible implications are of this, but I'm unaware of the actual mechanisms of how ginger could skew these results if at all. Am I just too worried or could this actually be a thing? I'm hoping someone with medical/biological knowledge can give me a clear answer about this.

Thanks

[AnxiousNoMore]

Ginger is possibly helpful for gastro issues, but I once read that it is useful only in limited amounts otherwise it hurts your gastro system; so if that is correct you are exacerbating that issue trying to cure it with  so much tea.

Unless you find some double blind placebo study proving that ginger does help, I wouldn't take too much of it. A cup or so a day might be a good placebo though, and when I had gastritis I tried it hoping for benefit. My gastritis disappeared overnight after half a decade and has never come back 4 years later but I have no idea why, so perhaps you will get relief too.

Many unscientific claims don't stand up to testing.

[Chima7]

I'm not a doctor nor a microbiologist but from all of my research I've never seen ginger come up as causing any kind of effect on HIV tests. Of course you can always go to an HIV specialist and ask but in the 10 years I've been reading and researching about this disease,the only drugs that have been reported to cause any issues with tests are the strong chemotherapy drugs given to very sick cancer patients and immunosuppression drugs given to people who just had an organ transplant to prevent organ rejection. If you're not getting chemo and you've never had an organ  transplant then I'm pretty sure you have nothing to worry about.

[RubyWitch]

You need to address your question to an HIV specialist or your doctor.
This forum centers on HIV Prevention and risk assessment............we are not pharmacologists.

I'm sorry I couldn't give you a more definitive answer, but your question is outside our knowledge base.

I hope you find the answers your seeking.

RW