I am a Dutch heterosexual male, begin thirdy, and I had unprotected vaginal sex with a young Dutch
woman (18-20) with unknown hiv-status. I don't know if she has (had) many unprotected sex exposures
before, but I'm worried for that because she is a pretty but naive young girl, and let me have
unprotected sex while she didn't even know me well, she just trusted me. But of course, I was just
as stupid in my behaviour as she was. But of course I'm worried since she may have done that more often.
She told me her last unprotected sex was with her ex-boyfriend about 4 months before our exposure,
and that she tested on STDs about 11-12 weeks after that (negative).
And that she had a STD test about 5 weeks after our exposure, again negative.
But of course I dont know if she was telling the truth.
What I did on tests:
- tested (urine) on gonorroe and chlamydia after 2-3 weeks: negative
- did (Abbott) hiv rapid test after exactly 6 weeks (42 days): negative
- did 'normal' hiv antibody test (tets using 5 lanes or so?) done by a lab via my docter after 8.5 weeks
(59 days): negative
I was also tested on other STDs here (syfillus, hepatitus (I guess a,b and c)), also negative
I've been tested regulary and never had any STD in my life, I normally always use condoms, except this exposure.
I dont drink, dont smoke, I sport and I am not a drugs user. The worst thing I did in my life is taking
2 small lines of coke, about 3-4 years ago. Stupid, and will never do it again. It was about 1-2 gram total
(through the nose) in my entire life. Could this 2 times usage have serious consequenses for my immune
system / health?
I haven't (had) any hiv symptons.
I still have some weeks to go before I reach the 12 (or is it 13?) weeks but anxiety is (again) killing
me, in spite of my negative tests, because they're still in the window-period of 3 months.
Anyway, I have made an appointment to test (after 12.5 week).
I know there are a million questions about the window-period all around the Internet, but I see
conflicting information every time. Evene from the same docters, but different in time and per exposure.
I read docters saying a 6-8 week bodytest is 'only' highly reliable, I read docters saying it says nothing, and I see docters saying that it is conclusive.
And there's also difference in judging whether it was a high or low risk, and from that given different test
periods (eg. high risk exposure: 12 weeks, low risk 6 weeks).
Some docters say they've never seen anybody testing negative before 6-8 weeks and test positive after it,
and some say they do, but usually without giving any details, so it's hard to judge whether it was legitimate.
Or was there something special with these people / immune systems? Is it 100% they were honest about the date of their last risky encounter? etc. I keep wondering that.
I only mentioned that the latest cases mentioned of such were around 2007/2008. I dont know if the tests
have become much better since then or if that is just coincidence?
And then you have some 'myths' I read, like that sometimes hiv can show up after years after risk, or
that it could take 6 months to produce antibodies. But what I understood, that is only for cancer-patients
and/or drugsusers?
I think my sexlife has changed from now anyway. I will always have fear, even when using condoms. Because there is a small possibility those can break (occured once to me in my 10-15 years of being
sexually active). I am a man and so I like women and I enjoy sex. But I've simply become too afraid,
havent had any sex since my last encounter anyway. And possibly even much longer because of my fear.
Anyway, I'm still very worried, the waiting for testing is torturing. And I want to know how I do have to see
my current situation. So I hope you can clarify some things for me and give me advice.
Thanks in advance.
And keep up the good work.
Kevin
If you ask 100 different people what colour this is bbbbbbbb then you're going to get very many different answers. The same applies to doctors opinions. I work partly as a court appointed medical expert and often when I'm in Court we have 8 or 9 different experts - all of whom will give different answers.
The simple fact is that you are looking for something that isn't there - the absolute 100% certainty.
When we assess poeple here at Freedomhealth we take account of what they say, how and what answers they give to our questions and what the exact circumstances are.
In your case you've had a good range of tests and I would now say that you are HIV negative.
That may not be enough for you but there it is - I'd suggest you stop searching the net for more pessimistic outcomes.
The key is to concentrate on the facts and the tests form part of the facts.
Still worried - need advice
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