Ok...I'm freaking out...?

Question

I went for an HIV test yesterday - I have to wait 3 weeks for the results. Four years ago, I was 17, I stupidly slept with a friend, two/three times, who injected heroin with his brother and his brothers girlfriend. She (the pleasant woman that she is - ugh!) had an abortion and got tested for HIV, she was negative, or so I hear. That was about a year or two previously.

So my question is: what are the chances of me having it?? :(

Because I was young, I didn't consider the risks and possiblities until this year when my boyfriend went on a course and learnt about HIV!! Guess I was too scared.

Answer 1

Hey I feel you! Waiting is terrible. I became manic when I thought I was. HIV was very close to me and I freaked out. I was too scared to get tested. I finally did and everything was ok.
HIV could take years to show up on a blood test. And usually wont show for up to 6 months after a possible infection. Get tested every 6 months.

Just have faith that God has taken care of you. And use protection in the future. Now that you've had this scare, NOTHING should be able to convince you to have unprotected sex again!!

Good luck sweetie!

Answer 2

It's hard to say what the chances are that you will be HIV positive- because unless that was the only sexual encounter you have ever had, there are other variables. On the positive side, it has been four years, and we are only talking 2-3 exposures to a potentially HIV positive person. At any rate, worry won't change the test results. You will be either positive or negative, and will have to lead life accordingly when that time arrives. If you are negative, and I'd be willing to bet that you would be if this is the only potential exposure- then you will be older and wiser for the scare. If you are indeed positive, then you will get the counseling you will need to make adaptions. HIV is not necessarily a death sentence, it has become more of a chronic medical condition anymore. Patients with full blown AIDS are living longer and better, and there are now anti-virals which do a fair job of supressing the disease. Nobody can say anything that will totally remove this from your mind, but there is no point getting worked up over what hasn't happened yet, so do the best you can to stay calm during the wait. I'd say think positive, but in this case perhaps you want to think negative. And learn from errors of the past.

Answer 3

Depends, did he use a condom when you guys were together? did you get injected as well, using the same syringe?
If he used a condom and you didn't get injected, then your chances are low, but there's still a vague chance.
Not everybody goes too long through a passive state of HIV, so if the for of you are still OK, then you, being the end of this chain, should be the least risked one.
However, try to look after you by carefully choosing who you deal with and who's this person dealed with. Nowadays anyone you know could be infected and going through a passive stage, which shows no symptoms.
Take it easy, relax, forget about the test for the next three weeks, since there's nothing you can do about it now, so getting worried has no point, the test results won't change just by you getting stressed during three long weeks.
Live a good life.
Regards, Lifeguard.

Answer 4

I can't speak as to your chances. It depends on too many circumstances. What was everyone's sexual past, how many other people had they shared with, etc. One thing is for sure. I have had a scare like this in the past, and everything I have read had said that tests are 80% accurate at 25 days, 98% accurate at 3 months, and 99.9% accurate at 6 months. A blood test will almost definately show antibodies at this time. Also, you usually have to have another known condition for the antibodies to take 6 months to show. Three weeks for a result seems a little long to me, but once you have the results, you will know for sure at this point. Relax, everything will be fine. I know this can be a trying time, but overall the chances are slim per exposure. I have read statistics that range anywhere from 1 in 1000 to 1 in 100000 per occurance for an HIV+ man to transmit to a woman during unprotected vaginal sex. I don't know how accurate this is, but read the following link. It'll make you feel better, especially since you don't know whether he was HIV+ or not. God bless you.

http://aids.about.com/od/hivaidsstats/f/infectionrisk.htm

Answer 5

Yes it was stupid, but people do stupid things at 17, It really depends on whether your boyfriend shared needles with anyone else apart from your brother and his girlfriend, If he didn't and only shared with his brother and brothers girlfriend, if she got a negative result for H.I.V then I would assume that your ex boyfriends brother would have been negative aswell, (only if he shared with his girlfriend and no-one else) as they would have been sleeping together and if they were sharing needles then I assume they didn't use protection so the brother may not have H.I.V but then again, if the girlfriend always used a clean needle before the brothers, she more or les is always using a clean needle and giving her boyfriend and your boyfriend the dirty needle to use. But then again if she was having unprotected intercourse with her boyfriend then there is a good chance but not great chance that the brother is clean, meaning your boyfriend may also would be clean, I feel so sorry for you having to worry about this, you need to find out if he shared needles with anyone else cause if he was sharing with his brother and his girlfriend then who else was he sharing with!!!!!!!! But it is a good sign that the brothers girlfriend is H.I.V negative. Or she could just be saying this. Did you use protection when having sex? If you did then it is likely you will be negative but if you were having unprotected sex then you never know as junkies don't always tell the truth, especially about who they have been sharing needles with. I'm sorry I can't be more helpful, but keep a brave face on and pray for the best, why were you with someone who injected heroin, did you have sex knowing that he shared needles or injected heroin with others? If so then thats not stupid its just plain irresponsible but I won't get on at you, as you are probably going through enough at the moment, but if this happened 4 years ago and you have been in good health then that is a good thing and you have the other girlfriends negative result, so maybe this time you will be lucky but next time you may not be so lucky, but hopefully you have learned a lesson through this and not be so stupid in future and always have protected sex, no matter who the person is and what he says. Good Luck, I will keep my fingers crossed but the odds are more on your side, with the girlfriend being negative, what about your ex, does he have H.I.V? I hope you had protected sex, if so you should be fine. Try to let us know your news in some way.
Wait a minute have I read this wrong you say she was tested a year or 2 previosly, do you mean previous to the 4 years when you went withy our boyfriend. Like did she have the test 5 or 6 years ago, if so its a completely different story, as she could have caught H.I.V in the 2 year before you met your boyfriend, meaning when you were with your boyfriend, she could have caught H.I.V in the 2 year before you even knew your boyfriend, so if this is the case then I don't know what to say, it depends on whether you had protected sex or not, and whether your boyfriend actually shared his needles. If he always had a clean needle then you should be okay but like I said you can't believe what a junkie tells you, he could tell you anything to get you into bed> Am I right, I pray you had protected sex, I wish I could give you the answer you want but I can't, as I don't know all the details, I will pray for you, but try not to worry, if it was 4 years ago and you've been perfectly healthy then maybe just maybe you're going to be ok. But for anyone else reading this, this is a valuable lesson to be learned.

Answer 6

Honestly, it's harder than you think to catch HIV. I always thought it was easy, but a friend who works in a hospital (doctor in the ER) told me that it's really not that easy to transmit through only one or a few instances of sexual contact. The idea that it is very easy to catch is promoted for reasons of public health and safety.

It is easier to catch depending on what sort of sexual activity you were involved in. Did you have anal sex? It can be easier to transmit the virus this way, because it is easy to tear the inside of the anal cavity. Also if you were not well lubricated before vaginal sex-you can end up with tears.

The next 3 weeks are going to be awful. Just keep as busy as you can, keep your mind occupied. Go to the gym, read books, take walks, watch movies, hang with friends-whatever it takes. But I think that you will be relieved when you get your results, which are probably going to be negative.

Next time, USE A CONDOM and don't sleep with guys who inject heroin. Get to know someone a bit before you have sex with them. Buy a vibrator-there's no risk of STDs with those.

Answer 7

Sharing needles and unprotected sex are the two most common forms of catching HIV. However, she is supposedly negative for HIV, so there is obviously still a chance you may have it, but it reduces the possibility alot. Unfortunately, you can only really wait and see though.

Answer 8

If this happened 4 years ago why are you freaking out now? You have known for 4 years that you could possibly have been exposed to HIV and you are just know getting tested and are freaking out about it. There is no way to tell how your test will turn out since you don't know if anyone in the group was positive or not. I doubt that you have HIIV since it was that long ago but this is something that you should have been tested for a long time ago since the incident was 4 years ago.

Answer 9

I wouldnt worry if i were you love..... i know 3 weeks is a long time to wait. Someone i know had to have a test recently and hers was ok. We all do silly things when we are young but i dont think you have a high chance of having contracted it.

Good luck babe.

Faith x

Answer 10

Not all people who do injection drugs get HIV so unless one of them have HIV or aids and shared the same needle, you really have nothing to worry about. Here is a website you can read....
http://www.cdc.gov/hiv/topics/women/resources/factsheets/women.htm