Aa
did i put my boyfriend at risk?
Hi Doctor,
Back in September 2006 (almost a year ago) my boyfriend of about 3 years and I had broken up and I made the dumb decision to get drunk and sleep with a co-worker. I am 19 and at the time the guy I slept with (unprotected) was 20. He is from the U.S., non -IV drug user and heterosexual and “claims” he does not have any diseases, although he is promiscuous. I know he sleeps around with many women and since he did not use a condom with me I don’t think he has with many other women. My boyfriend and I got back together and about 2 months after the exposure to my co-worker I was tested for all STDs and HIV. They all came back negative. Then about 117 days after the unprotected episode I got another HIV test which was Negative. This past June my boyfriend of 3 years came down with an illness; sore throat, I believe large lymph nodes, chills, sweats, and fever that came on very sudden and lasted about 2-3 days. Then he was all recovered. This made me very scared, thinking I could have given him HIV and it could be ARS. I am sorry if I sound irrational but I believe this is my fault. Please answer some questions.
1.) What is the likelihood that the co-worker I described (non-IV drug user, heterosexual, US. Resident male) has HIV?
2.) My b/f never went to the doctor to get diagnosed for his sickness. I can’t think of any other reason for my b/f to have this illness right in the middle of summer except ARS. So taking it from you, do his symptoms sound like HIV related or can many other things cause these symptoms?
3.) Can a deficiency in B vitamins (that help in making antibodies) cause delayed results on an HIV test? This was a topic in one of the forums lately.
4.) Can a cyst on either ovaries or cervix cause enlarged lymph nodes?
5.) Is it likely that I can really be positive after my 2 tests?
Thank you for your time and this wonderful forum.
Back in September 2006 (almost a year ago) my boyfriend of about 3 years and I had broken up and I made the dumb decision to get drunk and sleep with a co-worker. I am 19 and at the time the guy I slept with (unprotected) was 20. He is from the U.S., non -IV drug user and heterosexual and “claims” he does not have any diseases, although he is promiscuous. I know he sleeps around with many women and since he did not use a condom with me I don’t think he has with many other women. My boyfriend and I got back together and about 2 months after the exposure to my co-worker I was tested for all STDs and HIV. They all came back negative. Then about 117 days after the unprotected episode I got another HIV test which was Negative. This past June my boyfriend of 3 years came down with an illness; sore throat, I believe large lymph nodes, chills, sweats, and fever that came on very sudden and lasted about 2-3 days. Then he was all recovered. This made me very scared, thinking I could have given him HIV and it could be ARS. I am sorry if I sound irrational but I believe this is my fault. Please answer some questions.
1.) What is the likelihood that the co-worker I described (non-IV drug user, heterosexual, US. Resident male) has HIV?
2.) My b/f never went to the doctor to get diagnosed for his sickness. I can’t think of any other reason for my b/f to have this illness right in the middle of summer except ARS. So taking it from you, do his symptoms sound like HIV related or can many other things cause these symptoms?
3.) Can a deficiency in B vitamins (that help in making antibodies) cause delayed results on an HIV test? This was a topic in one of the forums lately.
4.) Can a cyst on either ovaries or cervix cause enlarged lymph nodes?
5.) Is it likely that I can really be positive after my 2 tests?
Thank you for your time and this wonderful forum.
uh yes sometimes. however for the most part i remained rational about the whole thing. i mean the chances of me or you contracting hiv from the guys we slept with is minimal, the chances of our bfs contracting hiv from us is minimal (female to male transmission is extremely low) ... the chances of us having hiv after a test past 3 months is almost impossible. therefore we can resume our lives knowing we do not have hiv.
hiv is not easy to catch. there has been cases of people in relationships having unprotected sex where one people is pos and the other neg, where the negative person hasn;t even caught the diesase even after numerous exposures. so you cant assume you can catch hiv from a single or a few exposures. the reason why we tested negative is eithe rbecause the guys we slept with are negative (even thought in my situation that seems impossible, considering the guy i slept with was extremely slutty) or which is most likely did not catch the disease from a single episode of heterosexual sex (which is a low risk )
to add, keep in mind that their is groups of people who are more at risk for aquiring or even havign the disease. for an example gay men, heroin or injection drug users, or people who immigrated from other countries with high rates of hiv such as africa. we definitely do not fit into any of those categories and havent slept with people who fit into those categories.
hence with our test results, and that previous stated info we are definitely not at risk nor have the disease
hiv is not easy to catch. there has been cases of people in relationships having unprotected sex where one people is pos and the other neg, where the negative person hasn;t even caught the diesase even after numerous exposures. so you cant assume you can catch hiv from a single or a few exposures. the reason why we tested negative is eithe rbecause the guys we slept with are negative (even thought in my situation that seems impossible, considering the guy i slept with was extremely slutty) or which is most likely did not catch the disease from a single episode of heterosexual sex (which is a low risk )
to add, keep in mind that their is groups of people who are more at risk for aquiring or even havign the disease. for an example gay men, heroin or injection drug users, or people who immigrated from other countries with high rates of hiv such as africa. we definitely do not fit into any of those categories and havent slept with people who fit into those categories.
hence with our test results, and that previous stated info we are definitely not at risk nor have the disease
thank you so much for that reassurance. Did you at times also think that any symptoms your boyfriend was having b/c of your mistake?...thats what kills me the most which makes me think a lot of it is guilt....it helps hearing about someone in the EXACT situation.
i was in the same situation as you. me and my boyfriend broke up, and i ended up sleeing with someone else during our break up. who knows why, the guy i slept with was a total s***... like he might as well been a prostitute with the amount of girls he slept with... at that point i never thought me and my ex at that time would get back together. anyhow, listen to the DOCTOR he is right, and he is NOT providing you with unnecessary reassurance, everything he said was accurate and compliments what many other hiv specialists have stated..... a test past 6 weeks is highly accurate..... also i read a document on the body. com suggesting that late serconversion never really happens anymore, and their has only been about 10 documented cases of people serconverting past 3 months and those are even up to 10 years old!!!! even with the older testing equiptmen it was rare for people to test postive past 3 months.
I took a test at 3 months and also 5 months and learned to have faith in the results. Realistically, why would you think you are different than the average person and would need longer than a couple of weeks to produce antibodies?? Your 19 years old and healthy, your body would react in a normel way. The people who need to test past 3 months have most likely have already been told by health care professionals to do so, do to a problem with their health or some sort (being immunecomprised)
Get over your fear, its the guilt that making you worry. Believe in your results. Goodluck hunny.
I took a test at 3 months and also 5 months and learned to have faith in the results. Realistically, why would you think you are different than the average person and would need longer than a couple of weeks to produce antibodies?? Your 19 years old and healthy, your body would react in a normel way. The people who need to test past 3 months have most likely have already been told by health care professionals to do so, do to a problem with their health or some sort (being immunecomprised)
Get over your fear, its the guilt that making you worry. Believe in your results. Goodluck hunny.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
I haven't changed my mind on any of those things. For more information, use the search link to find innumerable discussions on "time to positive HIV test". The bottom line is that with the currently used tests, I am unaware of a single person who has taken more than 3 months to become positive. Such problems were limited almost entirely to the older tests, which have not been used for the past 15 years.
You came to this forum for reassurance, presumably. I gave it. Stop trying to talk me (and yourself!) into believing you really might have HIV. It is simply impossible. Take it to the bank.
I won't have any further comments on this thread.
HHH, MD
You came to this forum for reassurance, presumably. I gave it. Stop trying to talk me (and yourself!) into believing you really might have HIV. It is simply impossible. Take it to the bank.
I won't have any further comments on this thread.
HHH, MD
Hi doctor thank you for your answers.
I was just reading a thread that was up today where you were saying that it is not necessary to test past 3 months, let alone a year. If my exposure was a year ago, would the 4 month mark ( that I had in Jan 2007) still go for that 3 month guideline? Or is that "conclusive test" very very recent?
You also said:
"No medical condition and no drugs are known to delay HIV seroconversion or to make HIV tests falsely negative. In theory, very potent chemotherapy (as for leukemia) or being very ill (e.g., close to death from cancer) might do it, but to my knowledge, even these have never been documented, only speculated. "
If nothing has ever been documented then why was there ever literature about seroconversion taking 6 months or even a year!? If this actually happened to someone then what was their cause...chemo? cancer?
If I can just understand this then I think I can put my worries out of my mind...i just dont understand why some places say 6 months is "safe" when nothing has ever really been documented. I would greatly appreciate if you can define this for me.
I was just reading a thread that was up today where you were saying that it is not necessary to test past 3 months, let alone a year. If my exposure was a year ago, would the 4 month mark ( that I had in Jan 2007) still go for that 3 month guideline? Or is that "conclusive test" very very recent?
You also said:
"No medical condition and no drugs are known to delay HIV seroconversion or to make HIV tests falsely negative. In theory, very potent chemotherapy (as for leukemia) or being very ill (e.g., close to death from cancer) might do it, but to my knowledge, even these have never been documented, only speculated. "
If nothing has ever been documented then why was there ever literature about seroconversion taking 6 months or even a year!? If this actually happened to someone then what was their cause...chemo? cancer?
If I can just understand this then I think I can put my worries out of my mind...i just dont understand why some places say 6 months is "safe" when nothing has ever really been documented. I would greatly appreciate if you can define this for me.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Your HIV test results prove 100% you do not have HIV. Directly to the specific questions:
1) You describe someone at low risk for HIV.
2) That's why we docs get paid the big bucks. You may not be able to think of other causes, but I can. Trust me: any health care provider knows that lots of viruses and other infections cause the symptoms you describe for your partner. Strep throat or just a bad cold are pretty good bets.
3) Almost no known medical problems cause problems with HIV tests or delay positive results. Vitamin deficiency certainly does not do so.
4) Ovarian cysts do not cause enlarged lymph nodes.
5) There is no chance you have HIV after 2 negative tests, with the last one almost 4 months after possible exposure.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
1) You describe someone at low risk for HIV.
2) That's why we docs get paid the big bucks. You may not be able to think of other causes, but I can. Trust me: any health care provider knows that lots of viruses and other infections cause the symptoms you describe for your partner. Strep throat or just a bad cold are pretty good bets.
3) Almost no known medical problems cause problems with HIV tests or delay positive results. Vitamin deficiency certainly does not do so.
4) Ovarian cysts do not cause enlarged lymph nodes.
5) There is no chance you have HIV after 2 negative tests, with the last one almost 4 months after possible exposure.
Best wishes-- HHH, MD
your 2 months negative, and 117 days hiv test are inequivocal evidence against hiv infection.
at 117 days generation does not matter, his symptoms are impossible to diagnose, however its not hiv.
1) low risk, still test if your exposed
2)summer colds exist too. however we dont know your bfs exposure hx. and symptoms are notoriously un reliable, only test are golden.
3)not at all.
4)they can if there is a rupture and their is an infectious process. but not while their intact.
5)absolutely not.
at 117 days generation does not matter, his symptoms are impossible to diagnose, however its not hiv.
1) low risk, still test if your exposed
2)summer colds exist too. however we dont know your bfs exposure hx. and symptoms are notoriously un reliable, only test are golden.
3)not at all.
4)they can if there is a rupture and their is an infectious process. but not while their intact.
5)absolutely not.
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