HIV Scare, Seeking Guidance, can someone help?
TL;DR
29 M, Bi guy, got unprotected oral + topped with condom (8th feb). HIV Combo reactive x2 (S/CO 44/46) - Mar 2, but Western Blot negative on March 3. Symptoms (fever/chills around Feb 22-23, ulcers 1wk, fatigue, numbness/tingling) gone. Quite Anxious, can’t hit ART for a week—false negative or positive? Next steps??
Throwaway cuz I’m freaking out—HIV test mess, help?
Hey all, new throwaway here. Had a rough week feeling like crap, super anxious, need some real talk.
Got sick starting Feb 22-23: chills, feverish, nasty ulcers in my mouth for a full week (finally gone), and wiped out with fatigue for 4-5 days, also had tingling /numbness in finger tips. Blood and urine tests normal. CBC had high Mean Platelet Volume and Platelet Distribution Width, but doc shrugged it off. Fever cleared after 2 days of meds, but those ulcers stuck around—so I panicked and got a full STD panel.
Quick backstory: Bi guy. Hooked up with two dudes around Feb 8-9. One gave me unprotected oral. I topped the other with a condom. Never done unprotected sex ever, but yeah, I’ve gotten oral without condom before, although never gave oral. Also deal with phimosis that sometimes gives me little cuts/lesions inside the foreskin (could be a possible entry point?)
Every STD test negative… except the HIV Combo (antigen + antibody). Lab called me back for a retest to double-check. Both samples reactive. S/CO scores 44 then 46. The guy on phone wasn’t even sure, he said usually he sees higher markers for positive patients. Asked about symptoms, told me to get confirmatory and hit up an ART center. This was March 2—my brain just imploded, could barely process.
Can’t get to ART for a week. So I did a Western Blot: straight-up negative on all markers on March 3
Mind’s racing with every worst-case scenario. All symptoms gone now. Is WB a false negative at 3-4weeks post-exposure? Or was the combo a false positive (they tested two samples tho)?
What do I do next??
Posted Mar 6, 2026, 3:46 PM UTC