Please Note: Due to volume considerations, not all questions can be answered. Questions most likely to be answered will be those of general interest to a broad group of visitors to this forum. Questions pertaining to a specific case; requests for diagnosis, medical advice, or second opinion; or requests for opinions about untested alternative therapies will generally not be answered.
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Important test question?
Jan 26, 2002
Dear Judith,
Thanks for taking the time to look into my case, I would appreciate your comment.
After risk exposure I ran several tests:
1. Elisa 27 days
2. p24 Antigen 33 days
3. HIV RNA PCR 47 days
4. Elisa 47 days
All came back negative. My full blood test was all within normal limits at 47 days and my WBC 6,5M, CD4 cells were 800 (52), CD8 200 (13) and CD4/CD8 Ratio 4.05 -
It is nine weeks now and I still feel nausea, very mild night sweats on the chest, soar throat, running nose, pain in the neck and from time to time small joint pain in the ankle.
My GP thinks that I have tested enough, but I need a second opinion.
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Response from Dr. Aberg
I do not know what your risk was. The current CDC guidelines recommend HIV antibody testing periodically up to six months. The problem is that the guidelines have not been updated yet to reflect the clinical utility of using HIV RNA PCR. At 47 days, one would expect that if you did acquire HIV that the PCR would be positive. Nevertheless, I usually ask my patients to get follow up testing. I also look at this as an opportunity to discuss risk reduction.
I doubt your symptoms are related except that many people do develop vague symptoms secondary to anxiety. It is not uncommon with stress that people experience headaches, gastrointestinal symptoms, muscle aches, sweats, palpatations, etc.
You need to move forward in your life. Relax. Your symptoms could be a common viral infection (not HIV), but most likely anxiety/stress related. I would still recommend the follow up HIV antibody test at 12 weeks and six months. It will help give you peace of mind.
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