Good morning Dr. Bob. I am so scared because withing the last 12 months i caught pneumonia and 6 months after i caught and upper respiratory infection and now im having shoulder pain. The strange thing is that i am a young adult. I got a negative ELISA outside the window period, so i was wondering, is that result woohooable? I was worried about a false negative but according to this forum and your answers pneumonia and its meds wont cause false negatives. I just dont want to spend the next 10 years of my life without ART because that would significantly shorten my lifespan. I mean its true that i might have engaged in activities that might increase risks for pneumonia, URI and muscle pain.. such as: smoking, excercising and excesively trimming nostril's hair. So what do you recommend Doc? Should i get re-tested?? Thank you very much you.

Hi,

". . . excessively trimming nostril hair . . ."????? That's an extremely odd risk factor!!!!

A negative FDA-approved HIV-antibody test taken outside the window period trumps "symptoms" each and every time. Yes, your result is WOO-HOO-able.

My advice:

1. Stop smoking. If you don't, it will kill you in a very painful and undignified fashion. Yes, smoking significantly increases your risk for pneumonia and upper respiratory infections.

2. Stop worrying about HIV, a disease you could not possibly have.

3. Repeat HIV testing would only be warranted if you had a subsequent HIV-exposure risk.

Dr. Bob