hi moms. yesterday i went for a regular appt. i am 31 wks this week and it's my second pregnancy. last month when i was there they did the glucose test and another hiv test. well i don't have gestational diabetes, but the one of hiv tests came back with positive results. my midwife said that the confirmatory western blot was negative but that because the first test was positive, i need to be checked again, so they drew some blood. i have been trying not to get nervous but i can't stop thinking about it. i have been in a monogomous relationship with my husband for 10 years now, and have never had a positive result whenever I have had hiv testing done. i had negative results during the first trimester screening this this baby, and i was negative throughout my whole first pregnancy. i am dying to get the results back from yesterday's test. has anyone ever had results like this? is it possible that i do have hiv? this is so scary.
Always possible - but the western blot is generally the end all of lab testing. If the western blot says negative, I'd feel pretty safe to say it's negative.
This did happen in my Phoenix practice a few of times and 9 times out of 10 the HIV was positive but western blot was negative and indeed my patient was not HIV positive or at risk for AIDS. Your midwife is right about continuing to test to see if you convert to positive on the western blot. If you do convert, they will need to check your viral load. They will want to run another western blot test before delivery to make sure that baby gets the best care in case you do convert. For now, please try to relax. Western blot is highly accurate. Nurse midwife mom
I got a false positive HIV test once. I think the preliminary (simple) HIV test they do has potential for error. Then, if you get a positive, they do a more complex test that is more accurate. They retested me with the complex one and it was negative. Hang in there!
HIV and Hep C tests are notorious for false positives. Stay cautiously optimistic, I've got my fingers crossed for you sweetie!!
ooh I'm sorry...I don't know what to say other than you will be in my thoughts and prayers...I've never experienced this...I hope it was a mistake or a false positive...
So far as I know what R. C. and Michelle M. said is correct. The simple HIV test (ELIZA) sometimes gives a false positive and then they do the Western Blot (a more specific test). If the Western Blot is negative most likely you are too. I think your midwife is being cautious to retest you in 3 months. When you are first exposed to the virus it can take 3-6 months for there to be enough of the HIV virus in your body to show up on a test. Also, if by slight chance you are positive then you can take antivirals before and during delivery so that the baby is protected (with proper treatment most babies born to HIV positive moms are negative). I'm not a medical professional but I majored in biology and had a few HIV positive clients as a social worker (and my mom also taught HIV education for 10+ years).
