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Lymph nodes inflamation seroconversion?
Hello, please i am sorry for the long story, i need help. I had a posible exposure 5th April, a month later i had sorethroat, when i checked the causes of sore throats i saw HIV among the causes. I read about lymph nodes inflation, so i began to touch the ones behind my ears, few days later i noticed the one behind my right ear was a bit bigger than normal, because the one behind the left ear was normal. For 2 weeks i was worried about it and only stayed indoors, i had no fever, diarrhea, rashes or headaches. I only felt dizzy with mild neck pain which made my neck feel a bit different. I later stopped touching the lymphnode behind the ear and it reduced almost completely. Not long after, i went out and i saw someone with a big lymph node inflamed in 2 places on the neck and around the throat side. I began touching my neck, looking for the lymph nodes until i found one close to my throat. Though i could feel it, but i can't see it with a mirror, and people didnt notice it too. Days later, it became a bit painful and a bit enlarged, may be after too much touching but still not visible for me to see in a mirror. I had no other symptoms. 03 June, i went to a lab for an HIV test and it was negative, that was almost 2 months post exposure, I went again to another place (hospital) for another test by 7th june, (2months post exposure) still came out negative. I was relieved, but i still have some doubts, is it posible that i might just be seroconverting, and can't I test positive during seroconversion?. Because my neck still feels a little different to me than normal.
Yes, actually it was an unprotected sex. I will go for a test by July (12 weeks). Thank you.
It was a vaginal sex, i am a male. I think it was a rapid test or so... i dont know much about the test types. But the result didnt take morethan 20 minutes. The first test i took, i was only given the result, but he drew the blood from my vain, my arm. The second one, i was inside the lab and he used a test strip. He used a needle on my thumb. Drip the blood on the strip and put a liquid like thing on it. But they said nothing was wrong.
1 Comments
I am assuming you had unprotected sex (i.e. no condom used or condom broke) correct? (if protected then no risk and no need to test).
The rapid test you took (20 minutes) was most likely a third generation test (looks for antibodies only) and has a window period of 12 weeks (i.e. an infection may not be detected before that time). A negative test at 8 weeks is very encouraging but it needs to be repeated at 12 weeks.
The rapid test you took (20 minutes) was most likely a third generation test (looks for antibodies only) and has a window period of 12 weeks (i.e. an infection may not be detected before that time). A negative test at 8 weeks is very encouraging but it needs to be repeated at 12 weeks.
Symptoms are not/never a good indication for HIV and yours are not even suggestive of ARS (no fever, no rash...). Stop poking yourself! You don't tell about your exposure nor about the tests you took. A 4th generation test at 8 weeks is considered conclusive by many experts. Even if you took a 3rd generation test this would be highly indicative (repeat at 12 weeks to be absolutely sure). Ask your test provider about the window period of the tests you took and whether further testing is needed.
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