will my plan work ?

[amipositive]

i am preparing myself for a positive hiv result. elisa was negative a few days ago and the doc said i should come back in 3-4 weeks for a pcr as i am probably at high risk category (i contacted herpes through a working lady in thailand).
i think i may know which one may have hiv (out of the 3 'workers' the first event involved a burst condom, the second was a bar girl (unprotected) - who are apparently tested every 3 months and thirdly, the one i suspect, said she only had 'boyfriends' (unprotected). But she had serious stability issues and many secrets so i doubt her claim that she tests regularly.
Note - first sex with girl three was saturday before last (last sex was about five days after) - girl 2 was friday before last - and girl one maybe a week before that.
Anyway, if i become positive i want to know if it was the third lady.
Plan 1 : If i take a pcr right NOW and it is negative does that mean i can not transmit HIV? If this is the case, if (and when) i become positive i can contact her and prove that i could not have infected her - because if i am not infectious now , i couldnt have been before that.
If this is not feasible then....
Plan 2 : If my PCR is positive i immediately see the girl in question and ask her to take a PCR and Elisa.
If the Elisa is positive (and obviously so will the PCR) then it means she has had it before she met me [ie. her elisa positive, me elisa negative]
If the PCR is positive and Elisa negative then she has had it for a short period. She could have infected me. It will also prove her claim that her past Elisas have been negative. I will be able to accept such an outcome. I will then have to test the previous ladies to show it is her that must have contrated HIV some point over the last few months.
But.....i suspect i know the answer.... everybodys immune system is different, and the timescales involved dont work like that - it isnt an exact science.
reading back through what ive written i think i'm confusing myself too!
i guess the likelihood is that all the girls will require testing to prove which one it was???
i hope someone can understand what i am trying to do and give me an opion.
and yes - i know i have been stupid so please dont say that. herpes will be a blessing in disguise for me (if, i am hiv -) as i will never put myself at risk again.
thankyou

[Xhost]

As I said in my earlier email, the results of a PCR, as far as I know, mean nothing unless and until confirmed by a standard HIV antibody test. This means that while, sure, you are taking the PCR test as recommended by a doctor, the results of this test really don't mean much until you have that final test.

And I hope that this answers your central question. Mainly, if it is positive, does this mean you may have infected someone else. The answer is: who knows, until the WB.

[amipositive]

perhaps i can simplify my previous ramblings......

If i take a pcr right NOW (maybe i will do in duplicate to increase reliablitiy of result) and it is negative does that mean i can not have transmitted HIV?

i know the chances are against me having it [although thailands HIV rate/my foreskin/the fact i got or had herpes (once you have herpes, HIV has an easy entry point)/i often have small cuts during sex/and yes i had sex with the herpes spot because i thought it was like a facial type spot]

..but i did say i am trying to Prepare for the worst (not expect)

[Xhost]

While I feel for you about having contracted herpes, you may be jumping the gun a bit in preparing yourself for a positive HIV test. I understand what you are doing, because I have been there - you feel, somehow, that you simply *must* have contracted HIV, and thus you are preparing yourself for what you see as the most likely eventuality.

Well, now I will point out to you that just because you contracted herpes does not mean that you have also automatically contracted HIV from the same encounter. First, you do not even know if the woman in question has HIV. Second, HIV is a more difficult disease to contract than herpes (even if the odds of transmittal increase somewhat in the presence of another venereal disease).

My advice to you is to take a deep breath, put aside all of these plans on confronting these women and wait to take your test. Your doctor has recommended PCR, and who am I to go against a doctor (even though I would probably counsel waiting until the sixth week to take a standard antibody test)? So, take the PCR and see what happens. The truth is that it will probably be negative. As to (some) of your questions:

A.) Confronting the women:  My thought on this is that you decided to have sex with them, you were a willing partner. Thoughts of confronting them with your positive HIV result seem, to put it mildly, a bit premature. My advice is to not to subject them to your present neuroses, as they have done nothing to deserve it, as far as you and I both know.

B.) You will be infectious for HIV fairly soon after contracting HIV. Meaning, of course, that you could possibly pass it on to a partner with whom you have engaged in unprotected sex. I have forgotten the timeline on this one, though I am sure someone will be able to answer approximately when you may become infectious. However, I hasten to point out, you do not need to worry about this until you actually have a positive result. And I mean a positive result confirmed by a Western Blot test. A positive result on a PCR means nothing until and if it is confirmed with a standard anti-body test. Remember this. And also remember, this is all probably much ado about nothing, as the odds are that you did *not* contract HIV. Simple as that.

Good luck with your tests.