HIV test was NEGATIVE, but I want to get re-tested?!
Question: HIV test was NEGATIVE, but I want to get re-tested!?
3 years ago (my senior year of high school) I made a really bad choice to sleep with somebody (unprotected) who I later found out used drugs & needles! This was NOT something that I did often!
About 7 months later I decided to go get tested for STD's including HIV!. My test was NEGATIVE!.
Nobody ever told me I had to go back and get re-tested, but lately for some reason its been on my mind!. I'm so scared! I'm freaking out! what if that test was wrong!!?
Its been 3 years, and I figured I'd be fine b/c I dont have any bad symptoms (i'm not sick/losing weight/etc!.!.) but I read that it could take 8-10 years for someone with HIV to show symptoms!
I went for a lot of blood work last year (Sugar, gluclose, thyroid)!. If I DID get HIV 3 years ago, would my blood have shown up abmormal in those blood tests!? !.!.
I'm just freaking out!. I'm going today to get re-tested!. HOPEFULLY I'm fine, but i'd rather prepare for the worst and hope for the best!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
About 7 months later I decided to go get tested for STD's including HIV!. My test was NEGATIVE!.
Nobody ever told me I had to go back and get re-tested, but lately for some reason its been on my mind!. I'm so scared! I'm freaking out! what if that test was wrong!!?
Its been 3 years, and I figured I'd be fine b/c I dont have any bad symptoms (i'm not sick/losing weight/etc!.!.) but I read that it could take 8-10 years for someone with HIV to show symptoms!
I went for a lot of blood work last year (Sugar, gluclose, thyroid)!. If I DID get HIV 3 years ago, would my blood have shown up abmormal in those blood tests!? !.!.
I'm just freaking out!. I'm going today to get re-tested!. HOPEFULLY I'm fine, but i'd rather prepare for the worst and hope for the best!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Answers:
the only blood work that HIV shows up in is HIV testing!. So for your own peace of mind, it's a good thing to re-test!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Yes go and get retested, but if it was negative!. It will be negative!. It takes only 10 days after the activity for the results to show up!.!. not couple of years!.
Do it as a routine physical to clear u r doubtWww@Answer-Health@Com
Do it as a routine physical to clear u r doubtWww@Answer-Health@Com
I think you have made the right choice to retest!. That will give you peace of mind!. HIV usually shows up with in 90 days after infection, so realistically if you tested 7 months after the relationship ended you are fine, but I agree retesting is a great idea!.
About the blood work, no HIV testing is not included in a normal blood work up, unless it was requested by the doctor and you have to ask him specifically, then it can be done!.
Idealistically everyone who is sexually active should have a HIV test once a year, this is the best way to stop the spread and for people who test positive early they have a better chance after getting into health care!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
About the blood work, no HIV testing is not included in a normal blood work up, unless it was requested by the doctor and you have to ask him specifically, then it can be done!.
Idealistically everyone who is sexually active should have a HIV test once a year, this is the best way to stop the spread and for people who test positive early they have a better chance after getting into health care!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
The evidence regarding the risks and benefits of HIV screening was reviewed in July 2005 by the U!.S!. Preventive Services Task Force!.[11] The authors concluded that:
!.!.!.the use of repeatedly reactive enzyme immunoassay followed by confirmatory Western blot or immunofluorescent assay remains the standard method for diagnosing HIV-1 infection!. A large study of HIV testing in 752 U!.S!. laboratories reported a sensitivity of 99!.7% and specificity of 98!.5% for enzyme immunoassay, and studies in U!.S!. blood donors reported specificities of 99!.8% and greater than 99!.99%!. With confirmatory Western blot, the chance of a false-positive identification in a low-prevalence setting is about 1 in 250 000 (95% CI, 1 in 173 000 to 1 in 379 000)!.
Other studies have confirmed the accuracy of current methods of HIV testing in the United States, reporting false-positive rates of 0!.0004% to 0!.0007% and false-negative rates of 0!.003% in the general population!.
That was excerpted from Wikipedia, so it shows there is a possibility of error so if you want to get retested, it will only ease your mind and answer your questions!. Never to safe to be sorry!Www@Answer-Health@Com
!.!.!.the use of repeatedly reactive enzyme immunoassay followed by confirmatory Western blot or immunofluorescent assay remains the standard method for diagnosing HIV-1 infection!. A large study of HIV testing in 752 U!.S!. laboratories reported a sensitivity of 99!.7% and specificity of 98!.5% for enzyme immunoassay, and studies in U!.S!. blood donors reported specificities of 99!.8% and greater than 99!.99%!. With confirmatory Western blot, the chance of a false-positive identification in a low-prevalence setting is about 1 in 250 000 (95% CI, 1 in 173 000 to 1 in 379 000)!.
Other studies have confirmed the accuracy of current methods of HIV testing in the United States, reporting false-positive rates of 0!.0004% to 0!.0007% and false-negative rates of 0!.003% in the general population!.
That was excerpted from Wikipedia, so it shows there is a possibility of error so if you want to get retested, it will only ease your mind and answer your questions!. Never to safe to be sorry!Www@Answer-Health@Com
If your last sexual contact was 3 years ago, but you got tested 7 months after the incident, consider yourself HIV-
All doctors I spoke to had told me HIV would be in your blood by 6 months 100%!. Very rare it would take a year or so!. It has happened before, but we are talking about rare!. That also may include if someone had HIV, but had a weakening immune system due to some other problem, or was not following up getting tested!.
So you are okay, and if you haven't had sex since you got tested 3 years ago, and you test NEGATIVE now, you really need to stop worrying and find something else to distract your mind from!.
I think you are okay, and you dodge a bullet, pretty harsh to say, but I am sure you learned a valuable lesson, and keep that to your heart forever and always protect yourself and get tested with your partner!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
All doctors I spoke to had told me HIV would be in your blood by 6 months 100%!. Very rare it would take a year or so!. It has happened before, but we are talking about rare!. That also may include if someone had HIV, but had a weakening immune system due to some other problem, or was not following up getting tested!.
So you are okay, and if you haven't had sex since you got tested 3 years ago, and you test NEGATIVE now, you really need to stop worrying and find something else to distract your mind from!.
I think you are okay, and you dodge a bullet, pretty harsh to say, but I am sure you learned a valuable lesson, and keep that to your heart forever and always protect yourself and get tested with your partner!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
There are often no early symptoms of HIV, which is why testing is important!. It usually takes 3-4 months after exposure for HIV antibodies to show up on a test!. In rare cases, it can take 6 months for them to show up!. It would not take longer that, as some people may have suggested to you!. If you tested negative 7 months after the possible exposure, you do not have HIV from that experience!.
Also: An HIV test is specific, and requires specific written consent!. The blood work you had last year probably did not include HIV testing!. If results of those tests were abnormal, it was probably not due to HIV!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
Also: An HIV test is specific, and requires specific written consent!. The blood work you had last year probably did not include HIV testing!. If results of those tests were abnormal, it was probably not due to HIV!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
If you were tested 7 months after you were possibly exposed and the test came back negative --- you were not infected from that exposure!.
Yes, it can take 8-10 years for recognizable symptoms to present, but it only takes 3 months for an HIV antibody test to be accurate (in 99!.5% of cases)!. In a fraction of a percent of cases it can take up to 6 months for the test to come back positive, but these cases involve people with pre-existing immune related issues (ie!. undergoing cancer chemo/radiation, transplant recipients on immunosuppressive drugs, etc!.)
Unless they were testing for HIV specifically, there wouldn't neccessarily be any signs in unrelated bloodwork that you had done a year ago!.
I always recommend annual testing for those enaging in sex or drug use, regardless of the precautions they may take (ie!. condoms, new equipment)!. So, I would never discourage anyone from testing!
There is little chance that a test is wrong as they run two separate tests (if required) on blood samples!. The first they run a few separate times and the second test confirms any positive/indeterminate result from the first one!. They are extremely accurate!!!Www@Answer-Health@Com
Yes, it can take 8-10 years for recognizable symptoms to present, but it only takes 3 months for an HIV antibody test to be accurate (in 99!.5% of cases)!. In a fraction of a percent of cases it can take up to 6 months for the test to come back positive, but these cases involve people with pre-existing immune related issues (ie!. undergoing cancer chemo/radiation, transplant recipients on immunosuppressive drugs, etc!.)
Unless they were testing for HIV specifically, there wouldn't neccessarily be any signs in unrelated bloodwork that you had done a year ago!.
I always recommend annual testing for those enaging in sex or drug use, regardless of the precautions they may take (ie!. condoms, new equipment)!. So, I would never discourage anyone from testing!
There is little chance that a test is wrong as they run two separate tests (if required) on blood samples!. The first they run a few separate times and the second test confirms any positive/indeterminate result from the first one!. They are extremely accurate!!!Www@Answer-Health@Com
In HIV testing, they test your blood for the amounts of antibodies your body has and base that on whether you have the virus!. It usually takes about three months for these antibodies to show up on the blood test but can take up to six months!. This is usually the max, so if you got tested seven months after I'm sure you're fine! Remember, you don't always get HIV even when having sex with someone unprotected!. I know a guy who's a recovered heroin addict- he doesn't have HIV!. Not all needle drug users have the virus!.
If you got blood work done, there's a chance that if you had HIV they'd find it in your blood depending on what kind of blood work you got!.
You shouldn't be worried, it seems like you have nothing to worry about!. They would have caught it in your system when you went after seven months!.Www@Answer-Health@Com
If you got blood work done, there's a chance that if you had HIV they'd find it in your blood depending on what kind of blood work you got!.
You shouldn't be worried, it seems like you have nothing to worry about!. They would have caught it in your system when you went after seven months!.Www@Answer-Health@Com