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Avatar universal

need advise...please help

Here is my situation...had protected sex (i am a little fuzzy as i was drunk and anxiety is playing tricks on my mind so i am not 100% ) with csw in tijuana dec 2010. 3 months later i developed an anal abcess which turned into a fistula. i had a surgery to repair fistula in june-2011. in mean time, i also got tested for whole STD panel (including hiv) in April-2011 and it all came in negative. testing was done a one of the private labs that uses quest for actual testing. i was told by my surgeon that i still had a fistula (it did not heal) and that i should probably have it taken care of. I freaked out again and got tested again in Sept-2011 (at the same place), this time only for hiv. it came in negative again.
questions:
i have been pretty healthy and neve had abcess in my life. could the abcess be due to some reasons other than hiv? i do not have chrons
how much can i trust the results of tests by a provae lab?
could they have made a mistake and mixed up names?
please help
13 Responses
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13473467 tn?1430230000
A related discussion, please need help was started.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
A related discussion, Anal fistula acute hiv infection was started.
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Avatar universal
thanks dr. hhh for your help. may be i will move over to anxiety forum
Helpful - 0
239123 tn?1267647614
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Read my replies above and concentrate.  You shouldn't need to hear the same information three different times in different words.  Move on.

That's all for this thread.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
thanks. so this means i do not need any more tests and i can put this behind me and treat other symtopms as something unrelated?
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Avatar universal
thanks. so this means i do not need any more tests and i can put this behind me and treat other symtopms as something unrelated?
Helpful - 0
186166 tn?1385259382
dr hansfield's words to you above:

"Anyway, absecesses and fistulas are not the kind of infection that raise suspicion about HIV."
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Avatar universal
thanks dr. hhh. one quick question.....is an anal abcess actually one of the symptoms of acute hiv infection? can this happen without any other sysmptoms?
Helpful - 0
239123 tn?1267647614
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
The timing is reassuring, not scary.  All your symptoms, abscess, etc were too late to be caused by acute HIV infection and too early to be due to advancing immune deficiency.
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Avatar universal
dr.hhh
thanks for your assurances. i have been scared due to timing of event. i have been healthy with no mdeical issues what so ever but i havent been feeling like the same person past 6 months. i will now put this behind me and try to move on
Helpful - 0
239123 tn?1267647614
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
See above.
Helpful - 0
239123 tn?1267647614
MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL
Welcome to the forum.

Bottom line:  As long as HIV testing is done sufficiently long after the last possible exposure (and 3 months is always enough), the results overrule all other considerations.  In other words, your exposure history, symptoms, and anal abscess/fissue are irrelevant; your test results prove you didn't catch HIV during your Tijuana adventure last December.

Anyway, absecesses and fistulas are not the kind of infection that raise suspicion about HIV.  The frequency of infections may be slightly higher in HIV infected persons, but only a little; and the vast majority of people with such problems do not have HIV.

Finally, the HIV antibody tests are among the most reliable lab tests ever developed.  And labs go to great effort to be sure that one person's specimen isn't confused with another; and so do doctors' offices.  Can you imagine the lawsuits they could face if they ever told a positive person s/he didn't have HIV, and s/he then infected a partner?  Or if someone were falsely told s/he was HIV positive?  All concerned in the testing sequence are very, very careful about it.  You can be sure your own HIV test was truly engative.

As for your weight loss and night sweats, the same answers apply:  HIV is not a common cause of such things, and your tests prove you don't have HIV.

So  ontinue to work with your doctor(s) about any symptoms that concern you, but stop worrying about HIV.  It's not an issue for you.

Regards--  HHH, MD
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Avatar universal
in addition, i have been having very heavy night sweats lately, have been diagonized with gastritis and lost 6 pounds in last 4 weeks. would like to contribute all this to anxiety but di need an expert opinion
Helpful - 0

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