Talking about home testing for HIV

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Crystal

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01

Aug 20

Relieved after 3 and a half years

3 and a half years ago I had a sexual assault experience whilst at uni. I woke up in my own bed extremely hung over, nauseous, bad headache, and generally disorientated which never happens when I drink but especially not when I drank the amount I had (which was not a lot and I had a heavy meal and hour before to line my stomach). I apparently left the club with a man all of which I have no recollection of but my friends told me and I blacked out pretty much the whole night after his group had given us a drink in the VIP area. Long story short, I was never sure of what took place that night and the only memory I have is walking home from his house after I was woken up abruptly because he had to go out – this may have been around 6am. I got tested for the common sti’s which were negative but was always too scared to test for HIV. He was a lot older than me, by around 10 years and I tried to put it behind me after not getting any symptoms. I was sleeping with someone at the time casually, who then told me he had slept with another person and so he went and got tested for everything – I saw his results which were all negative including for HIV and this was over 3 months after exposure (it was a 4th gen test) – so I always took that as ‘I am negative too’. In 3 years I have not slept with anyone new after this person, but I suffer from severe health anxiety so decided to take a rapid test because after 3 and a half years if I was exposed I would definitely have antibodies. I work in science so I am pretty confident of that fact and done my research into CE approved tests and every article and NHS website pointed to biosure. So I went to boots pharmacy and picked up a test and done it in my car – done everything correctly and was able to get a lot of blood and my result showed negative after 15 minutes. I now feel I can put my mind at ease. Needless to say, since that event that happened to me at the club 3 and a half years ago I have never accepted a drink from anyone when I am out, and I have not slept with anyone new so don’t have to worry about recent risks. Thank you biosure, in future I will be sure to test for everything, again with any potential partners

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1 Responses

Becky, BioSure UK Ltd
 Work on 04th August 2020

Hi Crystal, Thank you for bravely sharing your story. Testing regularly for all sexually transmitted infections is important, especially for HIV as usually it is quite hard to know whether someone has been infected unless they know they have had a recent high risk exposure or experience symptoms. Regardless, HIV symptoms are present for only a short period of time and are flu-like so people often assume that is it a random cold/flu virus. We understand that testing for HIV may be especially scary as the virus is not currently curable, however it is ultimately better that everyone tests and knows their status. Treatment nowadays is advanced enough to suppress the harmful effects of the virus and a HIV positive person can now live a relatively normal and healthy life. We are grateful to be able to offer a self-test that can be done in the comfort of someone's own privacy and on their own terms. Thank you again for sharing your story. All the best, Becky

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