I live in England and have been very worried over the past five years that I may have contracted HIV.

It was 1999 when I last had unprotected sex with anyone other than my now husband who I married last year. I have never done drugs and have not heard that any of my past partners may be infected (although I do now live in another part of the country).

After reading the boards last week I plucked up the courage to ask my GP about an HIV test. He advised me that it was extremely unlikely that I would be infected and advised that the effects on my life such as not being able to get life insurance/a mortgage etc would cause so many problems for me that it was not advisable to have the test.

I still feel very worried at times, particularly when I am alone and my brain seems to work overtime. I would be grateful for any advice you could give me. Has anyone had experience of the home tests you can buy over the internet as I am now considering this as an alternative?

I live in England and have been very worried over the past five years that I may have contracted HIV.

It was 1999 when I last had unprotected sex with anyone other than my now husband who I married last year. I have never done drugs and have not heard that any of my past partners may be infected (although I do now live in another part of the country).

After reading the boards last week I plucked up the courage to ask my GP about an HIV test. He advised me that it was extremely unlikely that I would be infected and advised that the effects on my life such as not being able to get life insurance/a mortgage etc would cause so many problems for me that it was not advisable to have the test.

I still feel very worried at times, particularly when I am alone and my brain seems to work overtime. I would be grateful for any advice you could give me. Has anyone had experience of the home tests you can buy over the internet as I am now considering this as an alternative?

Hello, reading your story is like telling my own, i live in England also and find that the doctors were always telling me it was unlikely and the insurance thing. I recently moved house and to a new doctor and spoke to them about my fears. She told me it is now illegal for insurance companies to ask if you have had a HIV test and it was negative, if it was positive then of course life insurance would be hard to get.
I had a test done on monday and will find out my results next week. Its such a relief not to have to worry about should i have the test/ shouldn't I .
The home tests on the internet are illegal in U.K also they come with no form of counciling. You don't have to go to your doctor to get a test done, you can just ring any hospital and they offer anomoymous testing. Good luck

After the advice I received on the boards and worrying about my health some more, I decided to make an appintment at my local GUM clinic, which is scheduled for tomorrow.

I didn't tell them what I wanted the appointment for when I made it so I don't know if my test will be tomorrow or whether I will have to go back again on another day.

My anxiety is starting to reach the highest point ever now so I hope it is all over and done with tomorrow when I go.

Nyxin - you seem to be the most knowledgeable of the bunch on the boards here. Would I likely have very obvious side effects after five years or could they still be disguised as colds and sore throats?

Jazzy Pink Puppet - if you're reading this I would love to know how you got on with your results as you did give me some good advice when I originally posted.

Hello,
results came back negative, i feel so relived almost as if ten stone has been taken off of me. I am so glad you have gone to get tested, so you to will be able to carry on with your life.
Please post your result when you recive them, i will be thinking of you.
Jazzy

Just popping back to let you know that I telephoned for my results today. HIV and Hep B were both negative. I have to wait nine more days for syphilis and other STD's for which swabs were taken but HIV was my main worry - so that is now over.

I am so relieved. I really want to urge anyone who has been worrying about their HIV status to take the test. As you will see from my original post, this has been on my mind for five years (sometimes worse times than others but always there niggling away at me). I did not feel better after submitting the blood like a lot of people who posted say they did - in fact I felt worse, dreading the results, but it was only 24 hours to wait. After I had been worrying for five years, 24 hourse did not seem so bad, but the relief afterwards cannot be explained. I feel like I have been given a whole new chance to live my life and I feel happier than I have in ages.

Finally, a big thank you to jazzy pink puppet. You helped me when I needed it most.