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Wife Tested Positive, I am Negative so Far
I am an African male 30 years. I have been living out of my home country for 3 years in US. I did not have any form of sexual contact during these three years. I fully abstained. I returned to Africa – (Sub Saharan) and after some time asked my wife that we do the routine HIV test for insurance renewal purposes. Unfortunately, she turned out to be HIV positive. I turned out to be negative. However, I had had sex with her at least nine times without protection. After finding out she is positive, we stopped all sexual contact. I did a rapid HIV test and an Elisa test at 8 weeks (22nd July) and (29th July) 9 weeks after the first exposure with her. Both Rapid and ELISA tests came back negative. I went 10 weeks after the first exposure and I re-tested and still negative though still within the window period. The day she got her positive result, the doctor decided to put me on PEP ARV for 28 days because we had had anal sex. All the other encounters were 11 vaginal sex (were between 26th May and 29th July), 1 anal sex (the last exposure was actually on 29th July). Between 20th June and 9th July there was no exposure since I was out of the country. I have the habit of washing after every sexual encounter, after 5 to 10 minutes after each encounter and always use antiseptic soap as standard in the house. I am a circumcised male. I finished Combivir. What are my chances that I shall maintain negative status?
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Ask the questions of your own doctor. I have no additional comments or advice.
It is exactly 90 days - 3 months from the last exposure which occurred on 29th July. I have to wait for more time as per my doctor before testing as she says because I took PEP I should wait longer.
I know symptoms do not say much but I need to understand whether ARS symptoms can appear 3 months after exposure as I have runny nose, sneezing, coughing, slight fever, burning sensation in my legs and feet and generalised tingling the whole body? I have no rash.
Is it true that in some individuals there are no ARS symptoms that occur?
I shall test when my window period is over as per doctor's advice.
I know symptoms do not say much but I need to understand whether ARS symptoms can appear 3 months after exposure as I have runny nose, sneezing, coughing, slight fever, burning sensation in my legs and feet and generalised tingling the whole body? I have no rash.
Is it true that in some individuals there are no ARS symptoms that occur?
I shall test when my window period is over as per doctor's advice.
meant Snoop34 should wait till then
The test results are definitive and I shall wait till then.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The comment from phinx about circulation issues explaining certain symptoms--which I deleted--didn't make much sense. And in any case, individual testimony about symptoms rarely is useful in helping other people figure out their own medical issues. Please take speculative comments and personal advice to the support forum, not here.
Thanks you. I shall revert with my results at the end of my window period.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The additional information doesn't change my opinion or advice. Best wishes.
I am circumcised and both of us have never had an STD
Just to clarify that my last test was on 29th July, the date of the last exposure. My doc has insisted I only go back 3 months after this date and then at the sixth month mark which I shall do. Otherwise whatever test I do earlier is irrelevant. Though 9 weeks after the first four exposures I remained negative. Of course the concern is the remaining 8 exposures.
Does this change your comments?
I hope for the best though it is the test to determine.
Does this change your comments?
I hope for the best though it is the test to determine.
I totally agree, there should never be a debait between the two of you. I was just wondering if you would aslo agree on 6 weeks conclusive tests.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Dr. Hook will join the forum in the next week or so. Since my views on HIV testing are the norm among infectious disease, STD, and HIV/AIDS experts, I assume his views will be the same. In any case, any questions that suggest someone is "shopping" for different views between the two of us will be deleted without response. We are not going to be drawn into debates with each other on this issue or any other.
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
First, your primary source of information on all this should be the provider who prescribed your PEP, not me or any other online source. If the following information conflicts with his or her advice, follow that person's recommendations. For example, s/he might have a different recommendation than mine about how long to wait for a final HIV test after completing PEP.
The risk of HIV transmission for any particular episode of vaginal sex is in the range of 1 in every 1000-2000 episodes of sex. It can be much higher than that, depending on certain unknowns--such how recently your wife acquired her HIV infection, your circumcision status, whether either of you has herpes or other STDs, and so on. But even if all those factors fell on the high risk side, the large majority of people in your situation would not become infected after only 9-12 episodes of intercourse. That your HIV tests remained negative at least a few weeks after your last unprotected sex with your wife strongly suggests you weren't infected, and the PEP would have markedly reduced whatever risk there was. You need a final antibody test ~3 months after your last unprotected exposure, but almost certainly it will be negative.
Your symptoms make no difference whatsoever in this assessment. Symptoms are never as reliable as the blood test results, and your symptoms don't much sound like HIV anyway. And no, the flu vaccine has no effect on HIV test results. There is no known medicine and few if any medical conditions that do that. (It is often stated that advanced chemotherapy or immunosuppressive drugs might delay a positive test result, but even that is theoretical; I am not aware of any proved cases.)
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
The risk of HIV transmission for any particular episode of vaginal sex is in the range of 1 in every 1000-2000 episodes of sex. It can be much higher than that, depending on certain unknowns--such how recently your wife acquired her HIV infection, your circumcision status, whether either of you has herpes or other STDs, and so on. But even if all those factors fell on the high risk side, the large majority of people in your situation would not become infected after only 9-12 episodes of intercourse. That your HIV tests remained negative at least a few weeks after your last unprotected sex with your wife strongly suggests you weren't infected, and the PEP would have markedly reduced whatever risk there was. You need a final antibody test ~3 months after your last unprotected exposure, but almost certainly it will be negative.
Your symptoms make no difference whatsoever in this assessment. Symptoms are never as reliable as the blood test results, and your symptoms don't much sound like HIV anyway. And no, the flu vaccine has no effect on HIV test results. There is no known medicine and few if any medical conditions that do that. (It is often stated that advanced chemotherapy or immunosuppressive drugs might delay a positive test result, but even that is theoretical; I am not aware of any proved cases.)
I hope this helps. Best wishes-- HHH, MD
I dont want to thread jump but is there going to be another DR. on this forum answering questions as well. Does he reflect the same views on testing times as you?
To clarify, it was 12 times and not 9 times. I will definitely test after 3 months and 6 months. I will wait for the Doc to comment.
I have read in this website and others that antibodies appear and can be detected in most cases within 4-6 weeks of infection; it is rare for it to take longer, even though CDC and other authorities continue to stick to the historic advice to wait 3 months to be absolutely sure. Is this true? I was tested at 8 and 9 weeks after first exposure but that includes the last exposure which occurred on the 9th week, actually the day I went on PEP.Many websites claim that sero-conversion occurs within 4-6 weeks and ARS typically has onset at 7-14 days after exposure. In other words, most people seroconvert with a time course similar to that of ARS. Some claim the symptoms of acute HIV infection always start 1-2 weeks after exposure, not 3 months later. Which one is the correct information from your experience?
Is it true that when HIV causes lymph node inflammation, it's all over the body, not just in one localized area. Are there exceptions to this? I have two swollen lymph nodes at the back of my right ear.My doctor has insisted that I wait to get tested at 3 and 6 months to know my status and she is of the idea that I may have dodged the bullet since antibodies show positive result within 35 days (6 weeks). It is now 10 weeks with PEP but 6 weeks post PEP. I have not experienced any ARS symptoms but for the past 6 weeks I have been having tingling the whole body, generalized muscle twitching, numbness in the hands and my fingernails are darkish almost blue. I am also having pins and needles, burning sensation in the legs, crawling effect, chapped lips, slight cough, itchy feeling but no rash and no fever at all. What could this be? The doctor says peripheral neuropathy can never come at seroconversion time as it is later as progression to AIDS occurs.
Is it true that influenza vaccine can give false positive result? My wife had gotten a flu vaccine 11 days before her positive HIV result. How long should she wait to get tested again after the flu vaccine? Western Blot is okay for this?This does not change the fact that we are abstaining till I get to know my status. Are these websites misleading?http://www.aliveandwell.org/html/questioning/VaccineCrossReactions.pdf
http://www.aliveandwell.org/html/questioning/questioningrelated.html
My wife just got her second positive ELISA test and going through counseling before doing the Western Blot
Is it true that when HIV causes lymph node inflammation, it's all over the body, not just in one localized area. Are there exceptions to this? I have two swollen lymph nodes at the back of my right ear.My doctor has insisted that I wait to get tested at 3 and 6 months to know my status and she is of the idea that I may have dodged the bullet since antibodies show positive result within 35 days (6 weeks). It is now 10 weeks with PEP but 6 weeks post PEP. I have not experienced any ARS symptoms but for the past 6 weeks I have been having tingling the whole body, generalized muscle twitching, numbness in the hands and my fingernails are darkish almost blue. I am also having pins and needles, burning sensation in the legs, crawling effect, chapped lips, slight cough, itchy feeling but no rash and no fever at all. What could this be? The doctor says peripheral neuropathy can never come at seroconversion time as it is later as progression to AIDS occurs.
Is it true that influenza vaccine can give false positive result? My wife had gotten a flu vaccine 11 days before her positive HIV result. How long should she wait to get tested again after the flu vaccine? Western Blot is okay for this?This does not change the fact that we are abstaining till I get to know my status. Are these websites misleading?http://www.aliveandwell.org/html/questioning/VaccineCrossReactions.pdf
http://www.aliveandwell.org/html/questioning/questioningrelated.html
My wife just got her second positive ELISA test and going through counseling before doing the Western Blot
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