i took mine at (almost) 12 weeks*
(i read in the article the doctor said that at ten weeks a 4th generation would not be recommended) why is this? can't i trust my result??
Your result is conclusive, I think you are misunderstanding some things. The 4th generation test is better than a 3th generation, because it can detect the infection at the 28 after the exposure, because they look for the antibodies and a antigen in the core of the virus itself (p24 antigen). The antigen start to decrease at one month after, but at that point the antibodies start to increase. If you take a test 8 week after exposure, a 3th generation test is good enough as a 4th generation test, but a 3th is cheaper and faster (no better)
What about a 2nd generation RAPID test at 10 weeks? Was taken at a clinic. Says to test at 3 and 6 months.
Of course it isn't useless. If you're talking about the DUO test (antibody and antigen), then what you've likely read is that the tests are conclusive at 28 days.
If you took a DUO test and it was negative, you don't need anymore testing.
I'm not sure why any doctor would say a 4th gen is useless at 10 weeks. That's the beauty of a 4th gen. It does what you would normally do at 10 weeks or 12 weeks or whenever + it does extra tests.
So if they are okay, with other tests then if they *really* knew what a 4th gen test does, they wouldn't be saying this.
If you have time, can you cut and post the link where you read this. I want to make sure there isn't some kind of context going on.
Be well
i couldn't find it, but i think i might've misinterpreted it. i actually found another post where he thoroughly explains how it works
http://www.medhelp.org/posts/HIV---Prevention/Are-my-test-conclusive/show/2064508
thank you for everything guys.