24 hour HIV testing in Ireland?

LegacyUser

If this post is too descriptive and not approved I understand.

Ok I did something incredibly stupid a month ago. Basically I went into a gay sauna and had unprotected insertive sex with another Irish guy. It last about 20-30 seconds. He was on top. Immediately I jumped into shower scrubbed and peed. I wasnt penetrated at all in any manner.

I have been laid up since Tuesday with the 'flu'...cold chills, sweating buckets, aching all over, very high temperature and swollen neck glands. Actually, this is my first time up.

I am now beside myself as that corresponds with a primary HIV infection from my internet searching.

Is there any 24 hour HIV testing place in Ireland I can go and where they can have initial results? I will drive anywhere tonight.

Do A&E departs do it?

No judgements please, it cant make me feel any worse. Thanks.

L1011

The symptoms your describing can match seroconversion but a month is a bit late for that to happen

No A&E department does HIV testing in and of itself (some will take bloods and send them to a lab, see below), all they can offer is post exposure prophylaxis which is, again, too late.

General testing done here by a clinic or a GP takes 3 to 5 working days depending on what lab is involved. This is a weekend and most labs are closed till 7am on Monday morning.

There is a thread on QID with details of a doctor here that can do the rapid testing (~1hr): http://queerid.com/topic.aspx?topicid=24626&pageno=4
Be warned that that testing is not very accurate for early stage infections. Early detection testing relies on detecing precursors to the actual infection and requires a skilled technician, not a machine, unfortunately.

TylerIE

Your symptoms are consistent with a variety of other potentially serious but treatable medical issues that are not quite as debilitating as HIV (e.g. meningitis) so It would be advisable to attend an out of hours GP service or A&E for medical assessment.


I had had a number of occupational exposures to HIV+ and potentially HIV+ blood/fluids and to my knowledge no public hospital does instant results, I think they are normally sent to UCD. However feel free to check the following Emergency Departments St James Hospital -01 416 2774. Mater Hospital - 01 [FONT=Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif]803 2651[/FONT]

Seeing as you are in a rush a private hospital may be of assistance. I would suggest the beacon - http://beaconhospital.ie/dep_emergency.html

GP Wise Dr. Shay Keating in Harolds Cross - http://dublin.ratemyarea.com/places/dr-shay-keating-22105 - offers instant HIV testing with results. However he normally only does clinics on Tuesday, but by arrangement may make contact sooner.

Furthermore he is one of, if not THE, leading professional in the field and is the Medical Director of the Gay Mens Health Service.

Feel free to PM me if you want to discuss further.

crotalus667

You are going to have to go to an sti clinic (i use the one in james) the first test after expouser is done at 3 months the one a 6 (if you go in now they will test you but tell you to come back for further testing) if you are that worried talk to your gp or look up one of the helplines

TylerIE

crotalus667 wrote: »

You are going to have to go to an sti clinic (i use the one in james) the first test after expouser is done at 3 months the one a 6 (if you go in now they will test you but tell you to come back for further testing) if you are that worried talk to your gp or look up one of the helplines

The HIV results from those clinics can take a few days.

They will test you now however an all clear at this point does not mean you are fully out of the woods. About 95% of people will shoe positive after 3 months and all cases would how within 6 months. Your doctor or the nurse
will explain same.

mrDerek

outa curiosity where does early detection get ya in regards to hiv/aids etc? from what iv heard once ya have it yer ****ed regardless on if ya find out early. by the way i base this information/opinion on no factual information :O

TylerIE

mrDerek wrote: »

outa curiosity where does early detection get ya in regards to hiv/aids etc? from what iv heard once ya have it yer ****ed regardless on if ya find out early. by the way i base this information/opinion on no factual information :O

If detected early you can ensure that you dont pass it on.

Also you can ensure that other aspects of your lifestyle are broadly healthier in order to ensure good general health. HIV brings with it a predisposition to catching other stuff from the common cold to more unpleasant things.

Also if you catch it early bloods will be taken regularly to determine if you need Anti-retro Viral drugs (Sp?) or ARVs. If there is delay in starting these the viral load may become quite hgh, but the ARVs can slow this down if started at the appropriate time.

I was more informed in the past but off the cuff!

L1011

The earlier its detected the more effective the treatment regimen will be, so it increases the length of time your life will be (relatively) "normal". There is also anecdotal evidence of people sometimes being cured if treatment is started early, but that could be down to inaccurate testing to begin with.

GalwayGuy92

Hey OP,
I'm not saying you shouldn't get tested nor trivialising your worries, but the symptoms you describe sound the same as an illness I had a week ago. It has been going around lately so it is possible that you just caught that.
As I have said though it is wise to get tested none the less, but maybe you should not be as worried as you seem to be.

greyed

Hi. No medical expert here but the timeline and symptoms you describe sound exactly like glandular fever, which I had myself a while back. As above, get tested of course, you cannot be sure, but if you kissed him (and you havnt had it before) its a possibilty.

TylerIE

greyed wrote: »

Hi. No medical expert here but the timeline and symptoms you describe sound exactly like glandular fever, which I had myself a while back. As above, get tested of course, you cannot be sure, but if you kissed him (and you havnt had it before) its a possibilty.

+1 on the Glandular Fever but didnt mention it above as the OP should really
get tested to find out what the cause is, particularly in light of the exposure.

LegacyUser

Hi guys OP here,

Thanks for measured and non-judgmental replies.

I forgot to mention that I went to GP last Wednesday but never mentioned the unprotected sex. No deliberately just was so sick and delirious just never entered my head.

My results today show I dont have glandular fever (which I had before but this was a whole new ball game). Seem to be the only thing they tested me for. I told them I had had it twice before and this was NOT the same.

This was the sickest I have ever been in my life. On the mend now. BUt will get tested for HIV asap.

I guess part of me was hoping that people would say

"The chances of you picking up HIV in a one half encounter like that are statistically min even if the other guy was HIV. Relax, get tested and dont do it again."

I'd want to be one unlucky MF but there are no rules and nobody is special.

LegacyUser

following a high risk hiv exposure there is now an hiv post exposure treatment protocol where you can take hiv medicines for a period of one month. this treatment is available at a number of places now, including the mater hospital and st james hospital. also, for sexual assault, there is a programme at the rotunda (SATU) for private treatment, not in the public system, there a number of consultants offering this service. check stidoctor.com for further information.
testing can be done in many places in dublin in a twenty four hour period with special arrangements if a person is thought to be in the hiv seroconversion period

Boston

lonhiro wrote: »

following a high risk hiv exposure there is now an hiv post exposure treatment protocol where you can take hiv medicines for a period of one month. this treatment is available at a number of places now, including the mater hospital and st james hospital. also, for sexual assault, there is a programme at the rotunda (SATU) for private treatment, not in the public system, there a number of consultants offering this service. check stidoctor.com for further information.
testing can be done in many places in dublin in a twenty four hour period with special arrangements if a person is thought to be in the hiv seroconversion period

Nothing new about this, it's called Post Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP). It can reduce your chances of contracting HIV by up to 80%. You're essencially given massive doses of Anti viral medication. This isn't a cure, nor a vaccine. The chances of success diminish rapidly after 24 hours and there's no proven effect after 72 hours. As such you need to begin treatment within hours of being exposed.

I'm not a doctor and neither are you, people can become seriously ill from glandular fever and just because you haven't in the past, doesn't mean damn.

You've been given the best advice already with regards your physical health but you cannot separate physical health from mental and motional health. I'd seriously examine the decisions you're making in life which lead you to have bareback sex with a stranger in a gay sauna. Are you depressed and looking to self harm? This is not me judging you, I've done some ****ed up things as a result of sexual hang ups, as have a lot of others, you just happened to have put your life at risk. You should talk to someone, it doesn't have to be a professional.

LegacyUser

stupid me wrote: »

If this post is too descriptive and not approved I understand.

Ok I did something incredibly stupid a month ago. Basically I went into a gay sauna and had unprotected insertive sex with another Irish guy. It last about 20-30 seconds. He was on top. Immediately I jumped into shower scrubbed and peed. I wasnt penetrated at all in any manner.

You had unprotected inservitive sex, you were bottom but you weren't penetrated? I don't get it. This could be easily cleared up if that was more clear. I know a few doctors who are friends and even they admit it's very unlikely to pick up HIV in any shape or form.. It's just a difficult thing to catch, but you can catch it. And even then HIV isn't a death sentence. I think you need to calm down. If your docs said glandular fever and the tests said it was glandular fever then it was glandular fever...

I'm not sure what exactly you did. I know the only high risk sexual behaviour among MSM is unprotected anal sex. You're probably fine and stop going to saunas if you're anxious about your health like this.

azezil

Boston wrote: »

I'd seriously examine the decisions you're making in life which lead you to have bareback sex with a stranger in a gay sauna. Are you depressed and looking to self harm?

oh dear gawd... :rolleyes:

This is not me judging you, ...

Eh YEAH it is!

*face palm*