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StupidMe
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Diverse strains, False negative
#256779 - 07/28/11 02:20 AM
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Hi folks,
I posted on here quite a while ago now but, im still worried. Probably more than ever!! The story goes that I had drunken sex with a CSW in Germany. It started out as protected but, I cant remember if it stayed that way as it ended with a handjob and no condom. Anyway, she wasnt German, most likely African or Brazilian. Anyway, I had flu symptoms 4 weeks later. Got tested with duo test at 7 weeks and 12 weeks, both negative. So I got on with my life. Well 2 years later odd symptoms started such as loose stools and aggressive gum disease so I worried about HIV again and got tested again. Again negative. To cut a long story short I've had 13 tests (mixture of duo's, rapid antibody tests plus one NAT test) over 4 1/2 years, all negative. But, the symptoms keep coming!! I'm getting peripheral neuropathy, had oral thrush 3 times and I've also had Seb derm for 2 years now (all diagnosed by my doctor). But, the real concern are the symptoms developing in my family. Both, my wife and kids all have seb dermatitis !! My son had a blood exposure from me when our cat scratched me and a fair bit of blood came out and he grabbed my arm right in the blood. He had a graze on his hand that definitely contacted the blood. My daughter has only had theoretical risks such as sharing a toothbrush and I believe she may have tried shaving her legs with my wife's razor. I remember though my daughter having an ARS like illness a couple of years ago with a measles like rash and enlarged lymph nodes behind her ears.
I'm scared stiff that this is HIV still and that it may be diverse strain that the tests are unable to pick up. I'm not sure what to do. I've tried my local GUM clinic and they won't do anything as I've tested negative. Plus, the private clinic I used won't do any other testing either. I've suggested CD4/CD8 ratio but, neither place will do it as it isn't an approved diagnostic test. Even though it can help check for HIV related changes to your immune system.
I'm in a pickle here as I've tried to go through the gp route to find out what is going on but, I'm testing negative for non-HIV related causes too!! I just can't get to a conclusion so my only thoughts are that it is a diverse strain of HIV. Not sure what to do now?
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kicker
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Here is an idea why not look at environmental factors. Being that your whole family is sick through means that are not consistent with hiv infection and its summertime I would look at mold, dirty air filters, water quality, etc. It is much more likely to be environmental.
To back up that claim your doctors have already tested you for hiv and found you negative. Youve tested at great lengths and they refuse to test you anymore because they think its insane. Environmental things such as black mold even in small amounts can be extremely dangerous to your health and would show up s the same symptoms in everyone exposed unlike hiv which would pose different symptoms to different people.
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StupidMe
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Hi, thanks for the reply.
I guess the whole scenario of the whole family becoming infected from low to theoretical risks via a strain not detected by 13 tests would be extremely low. Like 1 in billions I guess so the fact that we're all getting seb derm should be more of an indication that it isn't HIV given the odds. But, it's so scary to see these symptoms in my kids that my need for test conclusiveness has gone beyond just antibody testing. I guess for it to be HIV then it must be an undiscovered, more contagious strain of the virus. But,if it was so much more contagious then I guess it would have been discovered and in the news by now??
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kicker
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A strain that virulent would be affecting more than just you, yes. It would pass to your co workers, people you came into close casual contact with, etc. The odds are so against it slipping past mass infection would be probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 billion to 1 given today's society.
Look at other outbreaks of pathogens that were previously unheard of like the swine flu or bird flu and you would get the idea of how quickly something that is caught through casual contact would spread. Thousands of people sick within 2 weeks of the first confirmed case.
Your tests are conclusive. You don't have HIV. Again I would look at environmental factors such as pets, soap, mold, mildew, soil, etc. A lot of those things are easy to over look and easy to remedy.
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StupidMe
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Hi there, the risks to my kids wernt just close contact scenarios but, they were low or negligible blood exposures. So the virus wouldn't be that virulent but, would be moreso than the current known strains.
I just wish I could get a CD4/CD8 ratio test done to give either negative certainty or to at least give some direction to finding out what is going on with us.
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I have been tested for other std's and negative. I have been tested 6 times with ELISA and all negatives. I am not having unprotected sex or putting myself at risk for HIV Infection. My last at risk exposure for HIV was on OCtober 2006. I was tested with clearview Rapid test and ELISA test in a labratory in a public health clinic. I tested on August 2008, then on October 2010, then on February 2011 and June 2011. All were negative. I guess it is the guilt. But I have symptoms. Red throat with phlegm, folliculitis on my back, chest and arms, and fatique. I tested with the ELISA with my symptoms and negative. I am about to set an appointment with the. Infectious disease specialist. I know it is irrational fear, but the fear is real to me. I have not tested with western blot. I was wondering what are your thoughts about my situation with the 6 negative Elisa tests? Are they conclusive to you?
I can relate to you because I have rashes and it has been 4 years since my last at risk exposure. I have a son and wife and I am very paranoid when my son has rash like bites on his body. My wife too. I freak out and seen the doctor a lot this week and last year. I want to stop my obsession and compulsion of checking my tongue and throat and body. There are times when I feel like killing myself but I think of my son and wife. Well good luck and I am thinking that you and I are NEGATiVE because we both tested beyond the window period.
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bartleby
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you guys are both negative. the multiple negative test results you got well outside of the window period are conclusive. you don't have some rare strain, promise.
rashes are common. they don't equal hiv. now stop obsessing and move on with your lives.
--------------------
Bartleby at The Body
Bulletin Board Administrator
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