Aa
hiv test and some more facts
I am going to make this short and concise.
I am a 26 year old heterosexual male who does not use drugs. I had unprotected vaginal sex with an ex, who I know sleeps around and does not use protection.
39 days after the encounter I visited a local clinic for a free anonymous rapid point-of-care test (3rd generation ELISA, I believe) which was negative.
Being concerned about some minor pain, which I sometimes experienced in my neck, armpits, and groin, I called the test center to ask about the reliability of my test. Oddly, the person I spoke to told me it was not conclusive (as I was not told this during my test) and that I had to be retested at 12 weeks, because my result was only 97-98% reliable.
My questions are:
1) What is considered late seroconversion? Seroconversion after 6 weeks or after 3 months?
2) What are possible reasons for late seroconversion? Only drug abuse and a weakened immune system? Or is it normal for a healthy person to seroconvert later than 5-6 weeks?
3) Do you know people who have tested positive at 3 months after receiving a negative test at 6 weeks?
4) Can painful lymph nodes without any swelling or any other symptoms indicate late seroconversion, if they started during week 6.
5) What would you consider my risk to be? Should I be worried, since I am extremely anxious about my current situation.
I am a 26 year old heterosexual male who does not use drugs. I had unprotected vaginal sex with an ex, who I know sleeps around and does not use protection.
39 days after the encounter I visited a local clinic for a free anonymous rapid point-of-care test (3rd generation ELISA, I believe) which was negative.
Being concerned about some minor pain, which I sometimes experienced in my neck, armpits, and groin, I called the test center to ask about the reliability of my test. Oddly, the person I spoke to told me it was not conclusive (as I was not told this during my test) and that I had to be retested at 12 weeks, because my result was only 97-98% reliable.
My questions are:
1) What is considered late seroconversion? Seroconversion after 6 weeks or after 3 months?
2) What are possible reasons for late seroconversion? Only drug abuse and a weakened immune system? Or is it normal for a healthy person to seroconvert later than 5-6 weeks?
3) Do you know people who have tested positive at 3 months after receiving a negative test at 6 weeks?
4) Can painful lymph nodes without any swelling or any other symptoms indicate late seroconversion, if they started during week 6.
5) What would you consider my risk to be? Should I be worried, since I am extremely anxious about my current situation.
All tests are approved for a conclusive result at 3 months. Quick tests, blood tests it doesn't matter 3 months is conclusive.
Hi joggen,
In oftaquix question, he stated "visited a local clinic for a free anonymous rapid point-of-care test (3rd generation ELISA, I believe)".
Would like to ask you if rapid tests are considered 3rd generation ELISA??
Or are they less sensitive than 3rd generation ELISA at 6-8 weeks?
reallyregret
In oftaquix question, he stated "visited a local clinic for a free anonymous rapid point-of-care test (3rd generation ELISA, I believe)".
Would like to ask you if rapid tests are considered 3rd generation ELISA??
Or are they less sensitive than 3rd generation ELISA at 6-8 weeks?
reallyregret
A small follow-up.
As I am nearing my 12 week mark, I begin to get anxious once again. I do realize odds are in my favor but I do need advice regarding some strange symptoms.
Now, I realize symptoms are notoriously unreliable but I need to know whether I should be concerned and whether I should seek a STD specialist.
About 6-7 weeks after the incident I began feeling a heaviness in my upper left abdomen. I think this would be my spleen, although I cannot know this for sure. I have had that same feeling long before the incident in question. But now it has persisted and gone from occasionally to constantly in the past 3 days.
I have also noticed I lost weight.
1) Should I be concerned about HIV due to what could be an enlarged spleen? (in view of having no other symptoms except slight weight loss) Could this be a form of very mild primary HIV infection?
2) Would such mild symptoms (no other symptoms - no fever, rash, etc.) be indicative of HIV or another STD? Should I seek specialized medical advice because of these or do I just wait for my 12 week HIV test and move on, if negative?
Thank you :)
As I am nearing my 12 week mark, I begin to get anxious once again. I do realize odds are in my favor but I do need advice regarding some strange symptoms.
Now, I realize symptoms are notoriously unreliable but I need to know whether I should be concerned and whether I should seek a STD specialist.
About 6-7 weeks after the incident I began feeling a heaviness in my upper left abdomen. I think this would be my spleen, although I cannot know this for sure. I have had that same feeling long before the incident in question. But now it has persisted and gone from occasionally to constantly in the past 3 days.
I have also noticed I lost weight.
1) Should I be concerned about HIV due to what could be an enlarged spleen? (in view of having no other symptoms except slight weight loss) Could this be a form of very mild primary HIV infection?
2) Would such mild symptoms (no other symptoms - no fever, rash, etc.) be indicative of HIV or another STD? Should I seek specialized medical advice because of these or do I just wait for my 12 week HIV test and move on, if negative?
Thank you :)
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There are some very NARROW exceptions to this, mostly involving people taking potent immunosuppressive or chemotherapy medications that would not apply to your situation.
3. With the latest generation tests, the doctors on this site have not seen anybody seroconvert after 8 weeks.
4. NO. Painful lymph nodes don't mean anything with respect to HIV- they probably mean that you have been poking/prodding them too much.
5. At this point, I would not be worried at all, since your negative result is highly unlikely to change at 12 weeks. You should go into your 12 week test expecting another negative result. Your risk was relatively low to begin with and the test you took was very accurate.