test result

[alfiero2]

hi, my exposure was oral insertive protected sex and fingering vagina with finger cut/s 1 or 2 days old. i tested at 2,4,6 and 8 weeks. all tests were negative.

i tested after 3 months. the lab changed the result format:instead of simply saying that it is negative, they gave the results as follows:

reference range: 0.35 positive.

my reading is 0.06, which i interpret to be negative...

however i am still worried as i would have thought the result should be a plain 0.. does it mean i am seroconverting, or that i need a western blot?

also 2 or 3 weeks after this exposure (around 9 weeks ago) i sucked a transexual's nipples..

[alfiero2]

Dear Dr Hansfield

I thank you for taking the time to reply to my question.

As a general comment, I think that the problem is that various websites (including those run by other medical professionals, as well as counsellors/educators) seem to take the stance that only no sex is no risk (so they would classify any thing as 'low risk but not no risk'), and that any test taken before 3 months means little or nothing...

It is this non-committal stance, which I presume leads to many of the anxiety-driven questions (and given the deadly nature of HIV, i guess some anxiety is warranted).

However, I once again thank you for your patience and compassion in helping so many users, like me, for whom this forum is the only outlet for their anxieties and, in many cases, guilt feelings.

[H. Hunter Handsfield, M.D.]

There is only one health problem evident in your multiple questions on this and other MedHelp forums and it has nothing to do with HIV but an irrational misunderstanding of HIV risks and inappropriate anxieties about it, to a degree that professional mental health counseling might be in order.  I suggest it out of compassion, not criticism.

Your test results are negative.  Values above zero but below the cut-off for positive results are absolutely, totally negative; it's just the way the test works.  Based on the exposure you describe, there was no need to be tested for HIV at all and it certainly was a waste of money, time and energy to have had more than one test.

MedHelp permits a maximum of 2 questions every 6 months in each moderated forum (see Terms and Conditions); this is your third since June.  This is not a site for personal reassurance every time someone has a new anxiety-related question.

You don't have HIV.  No follow-up discussion, please.

HHH, MD