HIV DUO TEST AT 4 WEEKS POINTLESS & INACCURATE??

[Hayer26th]

Hello, i am writing this in great despair, here is a little background to the nightmare predicament i am in. I made the worst decision i've made in my life on the 26th September 2017 where I received unprotected oral sex from a prostitute (36 year old Hungarian woman, unknown status) and brief unprotected vaginal sex which probably lasted around 15-30 seconds, which i know doesn't matter. I am uncircumcised; during the unprotected vaginal sex there was no blood, no skin torn, no cuts/sores on my penis. A week after this occurrence, i had mild stomach pains accompanied by weird crackling type noises from my stomach, diarrhoea & mild pain where my necks lymph nodes's are, but they weren’t enlarged or visibly swollen (to my eyes anyway). The crackling noise in my stomach & stomach pain stopped around week 3, however the diarrhoea continued and so did the occasional mild pain in my necks lymph nodes's (which usually disappeared and came back randomly). Also during this week (week 3), i also start getting random mild pains in my right inner thigh and upper/lower back, mainly upper back. I don't really know if i had a fever, as i didn't have access to an thermometer to check my temperature, i don't think i had a flu, i did however have a sore throat (mild pain around voice box) for around a day or two. I had a mild headache as well, which lasted a day, no signs of a rash however. As of currently (week 6, 43 days) i still have the diarrhoea which has got more severe, mild pains in necks lymph nodes (not enlarged or visibly swollen) & mild pains in right thigh/groin. Main symptoms currently are diarrhoea & pains in thighs/groin.      

2 weeks (exactly 14 days) after the potential exposure, i went to a local NHS GUM clinic, in which they tested me for Chlamydia, Gonorrhoea, HIV & Syphilis. I told the doctor the potential exposure was 14 days ago and my main concern was HIV, i'm not really sure what test she used, but I’m assuming it was the standard 4th generation DUO test. A week later, the results all came negative. Didn't really mean anything as i was well in the window period for everything except Chlamydia & Gonorrhoea.

4 weeks (30 days) after i went for 4th generation DUO test via a private health clinic (better2know) the test was shown as being 99.8% accurate after 28 days. 3 days later the results came, which was negative. It didn't really mean much to me again, as upon further research i concluded that, the test can only be accurate if your body produces enough antibodies (by week 4) that would show the HIV. Although most people produce antibodies by 12-26 days, it's not guaranteed. So in essence, if my body didn't produce antibodies by week 4, its ofcourse going to come as a negative.

I am booked in for a test at week 7, 8 & 13, in which i would update you on the results. If my 4 weeks negative DUO test (4th gen) turns positive during these weeks, then it would show the 28 days 99.8% accuracy to be BS.

Here's a history of my tests so far:

Week 2 (14 days after potential exposure) HIV Duo 4th gen test ==== NEGATIVE
Week 4 (30 days after potential exposure) HIV Duo 4th gen test === NEGATIVE
Week 7 (50 days after potential exposure) (15/11/17)
Week 8 (58 days after potential exposure) (23/11/17)
Week 11.5 (80 days after potential exposure) (15/12/17)

I also had a few questions i wanted to ask:

1) What are the chances of my negative 4 weeks, 4th generation DUO turning positive? I've heard of cases of late seroconversions up to 4 years, although late seroconversion up to that long is indeed rare, there are more common cases of people with no immune issues, not on hep c medication or on chemotherapy or PEP seroconverting between 3-6 months and not producing antibodies till 3+ months. Have you seen anyone that took a 4th gen test after 4 weeks and got a negative result, then test after 6/12 weeks and there test turn positive?

2) As I did display symptoms associated with HIV such as diarrhoea, muscle pains in thighs & groins, abdominal pain, pains in lymph nodes before I got tested and the test was negative, if in theory and hypothetically speaking those were symptoms from my body seroconverting, did my body not produce enough antibodies for any HIV to be detected, as those symptoms are now becoming more severe, would any HIV antibodies show up, if any there?

3) What HIV test is recommended at week 7/8, as I’ve read a 3rd generation antibody test is most effective (after 6 weeks) as apparently an antigen test is ineffective after 6 weeks as HIV antigens become undetectable after this period.

4)   How can a 4th generation DUO test be 99.8% accurate at 28 days, when people produce antibodies within weeks 4-6 usually, and the rest during up to week 12, if a individual doesn’t produce antibodies by day 28 for example, then how is the test 99.8% accurate?

[Psyntax_error]

My 2 cents,

A. Documented cases could never be scientifically confirmed. individuals that claimed to have late sero-conversion, were NOT ruled out to have not had another possible exposure after their original exposure.

B.  Practically, you could only sero-convert late should you have a chronic auto-immune disease or you are on chemo therapy. The average time for detectable amount of antibody detection is 22 days. CurfewX has already offered you the insight for effectiveness of 4 Generation HIV test.  

C. You could take a final test with a standard antibody test at 6 weeks for a conclusive. I don't see your results changing. No one needs to test out till 3 months.

[CurfewX]

I'm not going through each of your questions, line by line, because you're asking for way too much time from a group of volunteers.  However, I'll tell you that you are not understanding what a DUO test is.  It tests for both antigens AND antibodies, which is why it is extremely accurate.

Antigens start to form quickly after infection, and start to drop off as antibodies form, right at about week 4.  They don't completely go away - they just start to diminish at that time.  Since the test looks for both, and there is some overlap in antibody and antigen presence, the test will almost certainly catch one of the two at 28 days or thereabouts.  The experts in the field didn't just invent a 99.8% accuracy rate for no reason, and you're not going to suddenly prove that all of the experts in the field are spouting BS.

You are conclusively negative, despite whatever symptoms you think you're having.  If you continue to test, the choice is yours, but it's a pointless waste of time and energy.  You are HIV-negative.