Testing and first diagnosis

I am so glad you reached out because I can tell by your writing you are extremely worried and stressed. While we cannot provide medical advice, we can provide you with some information I hope will be helpful.

I think you may be referring to what is called a 'window period' before which some tests are not considered conclusive. THIV tests taken 6 months after a potential exposure are 99.9 percent accurate. This is an article that outlines different types of tests and their window periods - https://h-i-v.net/test-types .

Now before we give you any information on testing, I want to better understand what you meant about fear of poz news. There are many barriers concerning stigma and HIV, and I hope we can help you as you navigate them. Can you tell us more about what you meant by being afraid to be tested again?

Let us know how you are doing and what else we might be able to help you with. - Liz (Team Member)

thank you for info, I checked it out, and it’s clear I need to do another test.
What I mean by fear of poz news, I am afraid I would be suicidal. I already battle with depression, and some of my reckless acts are coping mechanisms that I always regret after the fact.
This was very hard to share, with a lot of tears.
Prayers up 🙏🏽

Alafia (Peace) I totally understand the fear you are experiencing regarding getting tested again. Especially since you have been having swollen lymph modes. I want to echo what shared with you. But I do want to say that I have been living with HIV for 33 years and if I had not gotten tested I would not still be living. Knowing your status is Power. Khafre (H-I-V.net Team Member)

and I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for encouragement and support.
Because of you, i decided to share the situation with my primary care provider. I have went in series of testing, and results came negative.
Although we still haven’t figured out why the jaw lymph nodes, and they still randomly show up, it’s an issue outside of this forum.


Now I know there is PREP, I hope i do not to need to use it, but if i do, i would not engage sexually with an unfamiliar partner without it. (I didn’t know it even existed before)