Worried Husband

[worriedguync]

Dr. I thank you for your work on these pages they seem to help a lot of people. I first would like to state that I am a very anxious person so I understand why I am so scared of HIV. I slept with a women last year and tested negative at 13 weeks but I am a heavy drinker some would say that I am a binge drinker, would that effect my HIV negative test like would it cause my body to not produce antibodies. Also 4 weeks ago I went home for a funeral and saw a girl that i dated about 10 years ago and well we went and had some drinks and slept together without a condom dumb I know, well i freak out about it and asked her to go get tested and she said she did and got the results about a week and a half later and she said she was clean she also said she has only slept with 10 people in her life. Well last week my wife got sick had diarrhea for a day and a half and was just ran down. And then yesterday she told me she had a spot on her vagina near her opening and i looked at it and it is white and has a little tear in the middle we did have pretty rough sex two days before but that freaked me out again and has me thinking I have HIV and gave it to my wife. I know I have a problem and am going to go see a physcologist about my cheating and about my severe anxiety. I am just asking for your professional opinion thanks so much in advance have a great day.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Final answer OraQuick swab tests do not provide completely reliable results until at lest 8 weeks after exposure.  

EWH

[worriedguync]

I took a Oraquick HIV 1/2 Oral swab and it cam back negative is that reliable or not?

[Edward W Hook, MD]

If she is a friend, why would she lie to you and endanger your friendship.

It is time for this thread to come to a close. EWH

[worriedguync]

I understand and thank you for your encouraing words and patience. So should I belive my now former friend that she went and got tested and was all clean. She and I have been friends for a many years. I suppose this.all has to do with my quilt and paranoia. And thank you for your reply

[Edward W Hook, MD]

I am confident that you are being paranoid.  Please do not worry.  

You can call the Health Department and find out where to get a p24 antigen test done locally. EWH

[worriedguync]

Last thing sorry to bother you. I know this sounds stupid but I have this fear. This lpn that works at my dr office and i saw him out at a bar with a married lady that works at the place i do. My question is would he change my blood work on these tests so that i wouldnt get the correct results or just paranoia. The reason why i say this is i saw him a while back and he acted weird to me or maybe thats in my head to. Also where do I find the HIV P24 test. Just freaking out here... Sorry to post again.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

thanks.  I hope I have helped.  Seeking counseling is the right thing to do. EWH

[worriedguync]

Thank you for your advice and you are correct I have ruined a friendship of quite some time by doing this. I have made an appointment with a counselor next week to work on my problems. I thank you very much for your work...

[Edward W Hook, MD]

That would be my advice,  If you were pestering your partner to calm your guilt, I don't blame your other partner for not talking to you.  Your guilt over your actions is not her fault.  EWH

[worriedguync]

So I should just let it go and not worry about taking a test for the last one. She hadnt slept with anyone in six months prior to me. We talked all the time before this now she wont speak.with me because I kept asking her to promise me she got tested and she swore on her children she did bit i kept asking her over and over again and she wont speak.to me anymore. she also.said that she always used condoms and that she is not some internet ***** and she was clean to get over it she told me she wen get tested to calm me down not because she felt.she needed to. Maybe i am dealing with guilt and some paranoia.

[Edward W Hook, MD]

Welcome to the Forum.  I'll try to comment.  As far as your exposure last year is concerned, there is no reason at all for concern.  Your test at 13 weeks provides definitive proof that you were not infected.  your results should be believed- there is no reason to worry that your heavy drinking would in any way reduce the accuracy of the test result.

As far as your exposure 4 weeks is concerned, while it is too early for definitive testing unless you have access to combined HIV p24 antigen/HIV antibody tests (so-called DUO tests) which do provide definitive test results at 4 weeks, the exposure is quite low risk.  Very few heterosexual women (less than 1 in 10,000) have HIV and even if she were, the risk of a single unprotected exposure to an infected partner is less than 1 in infection in 1,000 exposures.  Thus there is little reason for concern.  A standard HIV antibody test at this time would detect over 90% of recent infections.

The lesion you describe on your wife’s vagina does not change my assessment of advice.

Personally, I would not worry about the specific recent exposure you mention but I do think that you should work to address your drinking and risk taking behaviors..  I hope my comments are helpful.  EWH