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Avatar universal

Post-PEP Testing

5 weeks ago, I met a girl from another college (23 years old), and decided to have protected sex. However, near the end, I realized the condom broke and I stopped immediately. Worst case scenario, I would have been in with a broken condom for at most 1-2 minutes. I asked the girl about her status and she said she was clean from STDs and was tested a month before the encounter.

I went in to the clinic the day after and I asked for PEP given that I was very anxious about the situation. Even though, the person continued saying they were negative up until my last communication with them last week, I took  a full course of PEP (3 meds) for the whole 28 days initiated at 30 hours post-exposure. Never missed a single dose or anything.
At 4 weeks post-exposure and the last day of PEP, I took the PCR RNA test which came back negative (I think 40 is the lower limit), and the HIV 1-2 Antigen/Antibody 4th gen that also came back negative. I also tested negative for Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, Syphillis, and all versions of Hep.

I was wondering if this result is encouraging or not? I'm still a bit worried and I read about delayed seroconversion and I was wondering if this would affect any of the tests I have taken. I'm not sure if PEP would affect RNA in my blood or the presence of p24.

Please advise. I have not had any symptoms yet and it's been 5.5 weeks since exposure.
4 Responses
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Avatar universal
FYI, I spoke to my doctor who is an HIV specialist with 20+ experience and he confirmed that it is very unlikely for my test results to change and that results are near-conclusive. Empirically, there have not been recent documented cases where PEP delayed seroconversion. The combination of PCR RNA and IV Gen Antigen/Antibody is sensitive enough to detect any signs of infections. the CDC recommendation is an abundance of caution and assumes less sensitive testing. This was in CA if anyone is curious.
Helpful - 1
Avatar universal
Can anyone maybe comment on the level of risk, the effectivness of PEP after 30 hours and how likely would the follow-up test result to change?
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Yes, PEP delays seroconversion but lots of people think there is a different delayed seroconversion, We are mixing up the communication. The advice you got from Sillym was correct.
Helpful - 1
2 Comments
so basically my tests at 4 weeks post-exposure mean nothing given that I took pep?
You've already been told how to follow the guidelines to get a conclusive result.
Avatar universal
Ideally you should wait 4 weeks after finishing PEP for a conclusive test, however reading your risk I would not be overly concerned regarding the brevity of the penetration.
Helpful - 4
3 Comments
Delayed seroconversion is an old myth.
PEP is generally not something to be taken unless the other person is positive but you're past that now. Perhaps they just gave it to you to calm you down.
You should stop looking for symptoms and stop googling cold turkey, since symptoms can't be used for diagnosis, so it will just make you anxious every time you get a rash or sore, etc.
@AnxiousNoMore, does that mean that my results are pretty reliable, just not conclusive? My doctor says it's unlikely that PEP delays seroconversion but he can't clear me just yet because of guidelines. Any comments on that?
and you are correct. Doctors said my risk was pretty low but I insisted given I was very anxious (pretty much first unprotected exposure). They let me have it my way given my insistance.
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