Bigtime Hiv Nightmare

[anotheridiot]

im a straight male. i had unprotected sex about 3 times in one evening with a bangkok gogo dancer.

one month later i was drunk and decided to get tested before going on vacation.

i had no symptoms apart from a sore throat, and a tight chest. i believe the symptoms are irrelevant to this situation.

I got tested at the free clinic in silom. at the Bangkok Christian Hospital.

i wasnt really concerned about my results, but i got a shock when i was called back into the room by the Dr.

the first antibody test was reactive. the second antibody test was also reactive. the third, confirmatory test, (this i assume is the western blot) was indeterminate/negative, meaning the overall result was inconclusive. The Dr explained that this wasnt a positive result, and that she had seen this happen several times. the clinic as standard then sends the blood for RNA PCR testing. (this is all free by the way, i thoroughly recommend this clinic) she said that i would be informed of the result by telephone, only if it was positive, between 3 - 7 days.

needless to say, that was a pretty horrible week, which i got through by getting very drunk. i received no phone call, so i thought i would call myself to confirm my situation. I was then told that the clinic was closed for 2 weeks for christmas, re-opening on Jan 4th. (the dates meaning that it closed the day after i got tested)

This has now thrown my situation into doubt. i have been receiving support from my friends, both Thai and Farang, and they have all said that even if the clinic is shut, someone would of called to confirm my positive result. Im really not so sure.....i have no idea of their ethical obligations, though i am fairly certain that the Dr said 3-7 days if positive. Im on holiday at the moment and i keep tellling myself to just relax, there is nothing i can do...but if anyone can offer any words of support or encouragement, or if anyone has heard of this type of situation before i would be so grateful to hear them!

[Sheryl]

I think what is closed for 2 weeks is the free clinic, not the lab where the PCR test is done. So the test has probably been done already. But the will have sent the results back to the free clinic, attention of the doctor who ordered it.

Do you happen to have that doctor's name? Because altho the free clinic is closed it is quite likely she's still around. You might be able to track her down at Bkk Christian and thus talk to her and put your mind at rest.

Otherwise you will just have to wait until the 4th. Had it been a positive result, you would probably have been contacted, so can reassure yourself with that fact.

[OxfordWill]

There are many things in life I cannot control, and sometimes I find myself worrying about them. You either do or do not have HIV. You have to wait a little bit to find out (but you could speed this up by finding an open clinic). During this time, you have absolutely no control over the outcome of the test. Worrying serves a useful purpose a lot of the time, but in this case, it has nothing positive to offer you. Try to think of it in these simple, yes/no, on/off, binary terms. There is something reassuring about knowing 100% that whatever the outcome, you have absolutely no control over it and therefore no obligation to "do" anything in the meantime, except try to relax. What you fill your time with and what thoughts you allow to occupy your mind in the meantime, is something you very much do have control over.

Edited December 28, 2010 by OxfordWill

[mstribling]

Hate to break this to you, but unless things have changed. It takes 3 months since the exposure for a test to be conclusive. Correct me if i'm wrong.

[OxfordWill]

Hate to break this to you, but unless things have changed. It takes 3 months since the exposure for a test to be conclusive. Correct me if i'm wrong.

RNA PCR is acceptable reliable within a week or so.

[Deserted]

I've heard of it before. It's advised not to take such a test if you have certain ailments as your body will be producing too many anti-bodies, which can throw the result in doubt.

On top of that, you'd have to be very unlucky to contract something like that from three encounters.

Let us know how you gt on.

[mstribling]

Hate to break this to you, but unless things have changed. It takes 3 months since the exposure for a test to be conclusive. Correct me if i'm wrong.

RNA PCR is acceptable reliable within a week or so.

Cool. Learned something today

[anotheridiot]

thanks for your replies...Sheryl what you say confirms what i thought...the testing centre would remain open, but the clinic was shut, what you...and my friends....and the woman who saw me at the clinic said was that i would hear in 3-7 days if positive. so im just hoping that like you suggest, the dr would of contacted me...thanks for your replies.....even having any dialogue about this is a help....oxford will...youre right, and for the main part ive been handling this all pretty well...its just occasionally i get overwhelming waves of total anxiety....about the life changing things i would have to do, because of being a drunken thoughtless idiot!

[Mossfinn]

Hate to break this to you, but unless things have changed. It takes 3 months since the exposure for a test to be conclusive. Correct me if i'm wrong.

RNA PCR is acceptable reliable within a week or so.

Cool. Learned something today

In your defence it did used to take a considerable time, but not for some time, thankfully Will is correct.

[wasabi]

I would go to the Thai Red Cross near Sala Daeng and explain what happen.

My understanding is that the majority of modern tests can detect HIV in a month or less. I still hear some people say you must wait up to 6 months but I think somewhere in the 90% range test positive within a month.

Unfortunately just a dog that has rabies is more likely to bite, a gogo dancer who was willing to go bareback with you likely did with many others and your risk is quite high however I hope for your sake it's just a scary lesson.

[Hairy]

Hate to break this to you, but unless things have changed. It takes 3 months since the exposure for a test to be conclusive. Correct me if i'm wrong.

RNA PCR is acceptable reliable within a week or so.

Cool. Learned something today

In your defence it did used to take a considerable time, but not for some time, thankfully Will is correct.

Depends on which test is used. IIRC, the PCR test is expensive and so is normally used only for blood-bank testing (to ensure that donated blood supplies aren't tainted). The regular antibody tests are much cheaper, but can only be relied upon after several weeks have passed (too early, and the body hasn't begun to react enough to the infection to be detected). Of course, if a patient wants to pay for the fast/expensive test, it's doable.

[OZEMADE]

Hate to break this to you, but unless things have changed. It takes 3 months since the exposure for a test to be conclusive. Correct me if i'm wrong.

Sorry but you are wrong. You can have a test for HIV at Bangkok Pattaya Hospital and will know the results in 2 Hours.

[anotheridiot]

well...i decided to wait it out until the 4th, when the clinic opens at 4 pm and then go in and see what the deal is. hopefully they were good to their word and the reason i havent heard from them is because its negative. its been a pretty unpleasant few weeks, as im sure you can appreciate.

regarding the different tests, etc....it seems like some of the posters here are a bit confused as to how they work.

the standard test is the antibody test. this is what i had done....it can normally detect the hiv antibody after about a month, but for 100 percent accuracy you have to wait 3. you can get this test at any clinic or hospital...like people have mentioned, you can get it done in the red cross, where it is about 200 baht i think, or at the clinic in the BKK Christian Hospital on the 3rd floor, where it is free. you can get the result at these clinics within about 30 mins.

if you cannot wait for the 1-3 month window period to get your test, then you can get a different test called RNA PCR. this test looks for the actual virus in the blood rather than the antibodies to it, and it is used to confirm any positive antibody tests. (I think - this is after becoming a paranoid HIV internet researcher) this is currently the test result which i am waiting for now. As another poster mentions you can use this test to test for HIV after about 10 days.

You can get this test done at the big hospitals, and also at the red cross, where i think it costs 2000, but the clinic where i went will also do this test completely free of charge - if Sheryl or any admin want to add that to any of the permanent HIV resources on this forum i think its definitely worth mentioning...the clinic is US funded and is mainly for gay men, but will see anybody, and offers an excellent service.

as for my situation, well...i figured i could go to another clinic now and get another antibody test, but if for some reason my body is doing something funny and im producing false positive results (and apparently they are not too uncommon) then they will have to do the RNA PCR test anyhow, which will mean another wait....

im just praying that they would of callled like they said....i take on board the poster who said cos she went bareback it means she probably has been doing the same thing with other customers...alcohol was obviously a massive player in all this, and i cant believe ive put myself in such a totally stupid situation, for something i cant even remember nor care about. fingers crossed

[Scott]

My thoughts are with you. I had my first HIV test many years ago while living in Hong Kong. A good friend was a Dr. at the clinic and knew me and suggested that "if anyone needs to get tested, you do!" The waiting period was something like 14 days and it included all STDs. Usually, they call you before that time.

My hair started turning gray waiting for the results. I talked to my Dr. friend, who said the tests are usually done immediately, but in case they had to do the 'long test' they kept the 14 day window to inform you. On day 12 I thought I was going to go into cardiac arrest. On day 13, I was hyperventilating. On day 14, I called and they said the test 'wasn't done'. I said I was coming to the clinic.

I got there and they said it was negative for HIV, but they had forgotten to do the syphilis test!!

The 2nd test (for insurance) was quicker, but still nerve racking.

My thoughts are with you. Hang in there.

[kyb789]

Stay calm. It happened to me in the U.S. when I was 24 yrs old. The first test was inconclusive and I had to wait 1 week for the results of the second. What a nightmare for a young kid to suffer through. Now yrs later and still no HIV. The nurst told me the same thing as others have mentioned. If you are fighting some other illness it can throw off the results.

[jeebusjones]

HIV is a fairly difficult disease to contract. As another poster noted, from three exposures your chances are quite slim. If I remember correctly, the female-to-male transmission rate for unprotected sex is something like 1 in 2,000.

That said, even if you had a tremendous stroke of bad luck and wound up with a positive result, HIV is not the death sentence it used to be. With access to modern treatment, you could expect to attain near-normal life expectancy.

Of course, protection is still always a must!

[metisdead]

Updated here:

This one now