In my last question (#12924), Dr. Handsfield reassured me that I had nothing to worry about since having unprotected oral sex performed and received with a woman.  Due to lingering thoughts, I've been planning to get a single HIV test through Quest once 42 full days have passed, but I have a question about the timing.  I have travel plans for Memorial Day weekend and this Thursday morning it will be 42 full days since the oral sex stuff I talked about in the last question.  The issue is that I'm supposed to leave town and I would have to test 2 or 3 hours before a full 42 days have passed (in other words, something like 41 days and 22 hours).  Would this be considered conclusive or should I wait until next week?  I'd prefer to have this done earlier as it's clearly still on my mind a bit and I'd like to get rid of it.  I appreciate all of your help!  Thanks!

You're way overthinking the situation. A few hours makes no difference in test reliability. And the actual interval to conclusive testing is 45 days; we just round it off to 6 weeks which is 42 days -- in other words, even a 3 days variation probably makes no difference. But anyway, given your zero risk and 100% certainty of a negative test result, it shouldn't be a big deal to wait until after you return home to be tested. Or do it at a few hours under 42 days if you just can't wait. There is no chance you have HIV. Believe it, stop worrying, and maybe don't get tested at all.

HHH, MD

Our role is to give our best evaluation based on the science and not otherwise to address your anxieties about all this. We aren't psychologists and that part is up to you. How to "get rid of it and just move on" is in your department, not ours. Thanks for your understanding.