[Question #4455] When can It be eliminated?

81 months ago

Hello doctors I apologize her returning. I am now 10 months past my exposure, but am still having significant health issues. I won't bore you with prior stuff, but have experienced with massage parlors in past and last November 2017. I have tested multiple times with the last being:

A)LabCorp Hiv 4th generation, geenius, hiv-2 eia at 10 months post exposure

B)Quest 4th Feb, hiv-1 Rna, hiv-2 DNA

--all neg

I am more worried that I could be possibly infected longer than thought and tests unable to find OR I have a type that these tests cannot detect like a different strains or Hiv-2?

1)how much confidence no matter what health issues i have can I put in these tests( I have been more previously bit have not listed them )

2)Is it possible that multiple types of different test from different manufacturers and different modalities can miss a hIv OF ANY TYPE at 10 months or longer?

3)can you be seronegative on a these tests somehow but just not show up?

4)HIV-2 In particular, would you definitely have antibodies by the 10 month mark or longer?

5)with swollen lymph nodes or other, including muscle loss, can I totally disregard symptoms without any hesitation towards sexual relations with my wife?

6)If I went to see an infectious disease expert, would they do any different test? CD4/CD8, etc?

Thank you, I just want to put it to rest, but if there are other things one should do to be responsible, then I would make that happen.

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

81 months ago

I'm sorry to see you back, especially since you are merely repeating the questions that were answered and should have been settled for you 10 months ago. You have been seriously overtested. As discussed in all three of your previous threads 10-14 months ago (2421, 2512, 3081), HIV tests are always conclusive if enough time has passed since the last possible exposure.

"When can 'it' eliminated?" Assuming you mean when HIV can be reliably ruled out, that was many months ago.

1) You can be 100% confident you do not have HIV, regardless of what symptoms you have now or might develop in the future.

2) No, not possible.

3) Same question with different words. No.

4) Yes.

5) Same as question 1, different words. Not HIV. See a doctor to learn the cause of these symptoms.

6) An ID specialist would not recommend any more HIV tests of any kind. CD4/CD8 are never used to diagnose HIV, only to judge immune deficiciency in people known to be infected.

As for "other things [you] should do to to be responsible", you really should consider professional counseling if these concerns continue, as I am sure they will, since the reasoned, science based reassurance you have had repeatedly obviously has made no difference and probably neither will these comments now. It is way off the normal scale to be so irrationally frightened (for 10 months!) in the face of the reasoned, science based reassurance you have had, not only about test performance and symptoms, but in the face of the low risk exposure you had. Please take this recommendation seriously; it is offered from compassion, not criticism.

Best wishes to you-- HHH, MD

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81 months ago

Thank you for your prompt reply. I am going to try and ask questions that have value and if they are in duplicate I apologize. Today was TERRIBLE for GI issues which have not subsided over these past 10 months. As I mentioned I have also had multiple exposures prior to my 11/2017 one. I am VERY concerned that this could be hiv-2 because of nature of exposures and where they immigrated from.

Tests: 3,4,6,7,9,10 month duos, 3,10 month hiv

1) with hiv-2 alone and antibody test, what would be the most outside window in your opinion?

2)can a person be in more of advanced stage of the disease, but tests are now unable to detect(loss of antibody 1/2, other?

3)if the tests haven’t picked up by this point, would that mean they aren’t sensitive enough and never would at any timeframe?

4)if a person deems what they believe to be classics OI, but negative tests, would tests still win?

5)are there any better tests at a more conclusive time to absolutely rule out ANY TYPE of hiv?

6)would you feel no hesitation about me having sex with wife with these tests?

7)what are the chances of these results changing from this point forward?

H. Hunter Handsfield, MD

81 months ago

Once again you are re-asking the same questions in different words.

1) 6-12 weeks, depending on the specific test.

2) No. Once infected with a positive HIV blood test, the test remains positive for life.

3) There is no such thing as test that don't pick up HIV by the times you were tested.

4) Yes.

5) No, none.

6) Correct, no hesitation. If I were ever exposed to HIV, I would resume unprotected sex with my wife after my first duo test 6 weeks or more after exposure. And maybe sooner than that, depending on how risky the exposure was.

7) Zero.

PLEASE just accept the fact that your test results PROVE you do not have HIV. Do not ask any more questions about possible exceptions to that statement. There are none. Please note the forum does not permit repeated questions on the same topic or exposure. This will have to be your last one; future new questions about this exposure and HIV testing will not be answered and the posting fee will not be refunded. This policy is based on compassion, not criticism, and is designed to reduce temptations to keep paying for questions with obvious answers; because experience shows that continued answers tend to prolong users' anxieties; and because such questions have little educational value for other users, one of the forum's main purposes. Thank you for your understanding.

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