Aa
Seems Unfair
Hi. I am a woman. Back in November 2016 I made a bad decision to have sex, vaginal, without a condom. It was with a man that I knew casually for about eight years. I was at the time assured by him that he had nothing and had been checked for everything last time he was seen by his doctor. After having condom-less sex with him three times I started to worry, stress, about HIV realizing that I did not really know him and that you cannot go by what someone tells you and that condoms should always be used until exclusive. So after eight weeks and one day exactly from the last encounter I had blood drawn by Quest Diagnostics for a HIV fourth generation test. The test was negative and I was relieved and went on with my life. I had no more sex with with this man. Then I felt great fear when last year I read that Biotin in high doses interferes with lab tests and cause false results. At the time of my test I have been taking 10,000 mcg of pure biotin for a couple of years because of my thin hair. I looked it up online on the Quest Diagnostics website about biotin interference and they have a list of their tests that are subject to interference by high dose biotin intake and the HIV fourth generation test is NOT on this list. My question is should I go on without another test since it’s not on their interference list? Or should I get retested. It is very scary for me as I was terrified the first time I had the test. Thanks for reading.
You are negative because if you had hiv for 6 years you would have had health issues. If you are still worried about whatever you read about biotin then just take any cheap test today like Oraquick, because any test is conclusive after the 3 months window period.
3 Comments
Since Quest said biotin doesn't interfere with their 4 gen test, I'm not sure what your post is about though. Quest had to pass FDA testing so they know what affects their test better than someone you read about online.
Thanks for your reply. I guess it is doubt and entertaining “what if they are wrong “ type of questions. I have been working up the nerve for another test since last year.
Your concerns over this even vastly outweigh the risk from this event.
1. Most people aren't HIV-positive so chances are that your partner wasn't HIV+
2. The risk for a one-time vaginal encounter is 0.08% with an HIV+ partner. That means even if he WAS HIV+, you had a 99.92% chance of not contracting HIV from this event.
3. HIV tests are among the most accurate tests on the market for any disease, and you took yours at a reputable laboratory.
You don't have HIV. You don't need another test. You need to find a way to move past this very low-risk event and move on with your life, even if that includes counseling in order to do so.
1. Most people aren't HIV-positive so chances are that your partner wasn't HIV+
2. The risk for a one-time vaginal encounter is 0.08% with an HIV+ partner. That means even if he WAS HIV+, you had a 99.92% chance of not contracting HIV from this event.
3. HIV tests are among the most accurate tests on the market for any disease, and you took yours at a reputable laboratory.
You don't have HIV. You don't need another test. You need to find a way to move past this very low-risk event and move on with your life, even if that includes counseling in order to do so.
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