Is a rapid test conclusive?
I gave oral sex to a guy a long time ago and have been stressed about it since. I know it is seen as very low/no risk. I've had a few mystery illnesses recently and am now sure I have AIDS. Really stressed out about it. I woke up in a panic in the middle of the night last week convinced and haven't slept well since. I'm married with kids. I bought a supermarket testing kit and fully expected the result to be positive. To my surprise it was negative. Now I'm stressed that the kit wouldn't pick.up late stage illness. Before I visit my doctor I wanted to be sure if I am negative. Can anyone help?
Hi
. I can tell you are stressed and concerned and it is good that you are seeking information. I need to tell you that we are not medical professionals and cannot assess your risk or status. That said, I do want to share with you this article on risk, which notes, as you said, that the risk from insertive oral sex is low (less than 0.04 percent): https://h-i-v.net/transmission-risks.
Concerning the test, I want to share with you this article which gives an overview of the different types of tests, including the at home test: https://h-i-v.net/test-types. In addition, this article focuses on the accuracy of rapid tests and notes that "Rapid tests are usually reliable for long-standing infections, but are sometimes unable to detect recent HIV infections acquired in the past few weeks:" https://www.aidsmap.com/about-hiv/how-accurate-are-rapid-point-care-tests-hiv.
Of course, to be sure and provide yourself some peace of mind you may want to see a doctor. The CDC recommends that sti testing be part of regular health care. Hope this information is helpful. Best, Richard (Team Member)Thank you so much. Yes, really stressed out. I'm feeling (imagining?) every symptom. I read that the current rapid tests are very reliable and have been told that I was at no risk.
