Am I infected? Going crazy

[printemps]

Hi everyone,

I'm a young male, and my story began approx. 5 months ago during an unprotected sexual exposure with a woman. After the intercourse, I noticed some of her menstrual blood in my penis, but at the time I had any concerns about it.

Days later I developed some symptoms, and I started to think I had caught a STD. I tested 8 times for HIV, the last of them being on the 16th week post-exposure, and all of the tests came negative, so I ruled out HIV, since the window period is 12 weeks.

Since there was blood on my penis, I'm afraid of Hep C. I tested anti-hcv at 11.5 weeks and it came back negative, with normal levels of liver enzymes. Then, I tested again 15 weeks after exposure, and the anti-hcv came back negative as well.

Do you think my tests, specially the last one at 15 weeks, puts me in the clear?
I have a normal immune system, and all my blood tests are normal.

I hope you can give me some insight and hopefuly calm my nerves, it has been a long journey full of fear and depression.   

[Philadelphia]

two negative tests? Count your blessings. It is my understanding that if you had hepatitis C, it would have shown up in your blood tests by now.

[printemps]

Thank you Philadelphia for your prompt reply.

So we can talk about conclusive results at 15 weeks? I read somewhere else that the window period can go up to 24 weeks, but I don´t know if that information is up to date.

[lporterrn]

The window period is for rare situations and mostly applies to those who are HIV+. You sound like someone who might like the extra assurance, so if you have any doubt despite the 2 tests, it won't hurt to get a test at week 24.