I can’t believe I had unprotected sex!!

So what’s next? How do I test to see if I have HIV or AIDS?

Well you can’t test to see if you have AIDS. AIDS is an illness that is developed in HIV patients. What we are concerned about here is the possibility of contracting HIV through the incident of unprotected sex. YOU have various HIV testing methods at your disposal and regardless of how you go about having your HIV test the principal is the same. Whether through your doctor, AIDS clinic or an online provider such as HeadStarttesting.co.nz they all test for HIV antibodies. These are not developed until 12 weeks although many individuals will develop them within 4 weeks. So the first essential step to take now if your exposure was recent is to stop all sexual contact until your status is known.  Then you should decide which of the HIV testing methods is suitable for you. If buying an HIV test through HeadStartTesting.co.nz you must remember that you will not receive counselling.

Many choose home testing as it allows for convenient and private testing and they have resigned themselves to going through testing without counselling. Of course if your test result is positive you will need immediate medical supervision. Many individuals test for HIV at 4, 8 and 12 weeks in order to reduce worry whilst waiting for the 12 weeks to pass. Most online stores selling HIV test kits offer discounted rates for multi-packs for this reason.

Whichever testing method you choose, the important point to stress is that if you have been at risk, do not risk others until you are certain of your HIV status.

I need an HIV test, how do I go about doing that?

Today you have various HIV testing methods to choose from. All will test you for the HIV anti-bodies and not the actual virus itself so before you test you need to understand the HIV window period.

Regardless of which one of the HIV testing methods you choose to use, it is essential that you understand the HIV anti-bodies are produced in response to the virus and this can take up to 12 weeks in a normal adult. This means that if you had unprotected sex last night, that it may take up to 12 weeks to show up in your blood or saliva. The majority of adults will show within 4 weeks but 12 weeks is seen as the critical cut off period to be certain you are HIV negative. As such many people that test through STD clinics or through online HIV test kit vendors like HeadStartTesting.com will test at 4, 8 and 12 weeks.

An HIV test is the only certain way to know if you have the HIV virus. No HIV symptoms are specific enough or reliable enough to act as a diagnosis.

Bearing in mind the above information, and respecting the testing intervals you have the following HIV testing methods available to you. Remember you may choose to test 3 times if your exposure is recent and you do not want to wait until 12 weeks.

-Consult your doctor who will either arrange a test of refer you to a testing centre.

-Visit an STD clinic for testing.

-Locate your city’s HIV or AIDS foundation and enquire if they have a testing centre.

-Buy an HIV self- test kit (or HIV rapid test kit) from an online supplier such as Head Start Testing. These HIV test kits are not available yet over the counter.