HIV paranoia.. anyone with knowledge please help?

Hello.. here is the story. went in to local clinic about a year ago and had an hiv rapidquick test come up positive. The clinic ran a second test called an elisa (no western blot though) that came up negative. Since the test was 6 months after my last exposure they told me i was negative.. since then i have had ten tests at different places... all negative. My doctor says the first clinic should have run a western blot to rule out the rapid test that came up positive...but at this point with all my additional testing that a western blot (or any other test) is no needed. The only real "risky encounterr" i had was with a girl from africa almost 8 years ago... I want to believe the clinic and my doctor but i am just having trouble letting this go. Does anyone have any advice? Thank you very kindly. ps.. Three of the tests i took checked for hiv 1/0/2 which i think are all the starins (because of the africa connection) ps. i have also posted this in ifectious d. sect.

Funny someone should ask about this today. I work for my state's Public Health Department and we are starting a pilot program that will utilize the Oraquick test (the saliva one). The goal behind it is to find the positives and get them counseled sooner. The problem we have is that once the blood tests come back, we can't run the patient down.

Anyway, the oral test are likely to have false positives and unlikely to have false negatives. Meaning, if you test positive you may not have it, but if you test negative, you certainly don't. Much like a pregnancy test, which obviously uses urine, the AIDS tests look for certain things in your saliva. Lots of things can throw this off. Smoking right before, drinking certain drinks, medications you take can alter your chemicals, etc. As long as the blood test they did came back negative you are fine.

I understand the stress. I can't imagine any greater fear than having ANY test for AIDS come back positive, no matter how the follow up test comes out. It's okay to be scared and I certainly hope this ingrained a bit of caution into your lifestyle. If you're confused or want more education about AIDS and the risks, you can go to your local health department and they have Risky Behavior counselors there who can help you.

OK, well there are many rapid test that show false positive, that is why they make you take the western blot, because the rapid may not be correct. In your case, it was no correct. All the other test you have taken would have shown positive atleast on one of them!! your negative, and should be happy with that!! it is stressful, but after 8yrs you would def. show positive on ALL test if you where carring hiv! so congrats and play it safe from now on!!

You are fine, move on, enjoy life, stop obsessing. You have the answer in front of you, you have to learn to accept the fact that you are not HIV+.

LET IT GO......10 negative tests and you are holding on to the results of a ( one) rapidquick test.......maybe you need to seek counseling for this

Definition
Paranoia is a symptom in which an individual feels as if the world is "out to get" him or her. When people are paranoid, they feel as if others are always talking about them behind their backs. Paranoia causes intense feelings of distrust, and can sometimes lead to overt or covert hostility.

Description
An individual suffering from paranoia feels suspicious, and has a sense that other people want to do him or her harm. As a result, the paranoid individual changes his or her actions in response to a world that is perceived as personally threatening. Objective observers may be quite clear on the fact that no one's words or actions are actually threatening the paranoid individual. The hallmark of paranoia is a feeling of intense distrust and suspiciousness that is not in response to input from anybody or anything in the paranoid individual's environment.

http://www.minddisorders.com/Ob-Ps/Paran...