How common are false negative results from an HIV test?

Negative HIV test results after 8 months but still worried?!? need help and advice?

• I've been tested for HIV a few times after a few encounters with a woman. No anal. I used condoms for vaginal each and every time and unprotected oral both giving and receiving. My last test was at 8 months post last encounter. I also tested a few times earlier before that. My results were negative. what worries me is a few things. I developed molluscum on my lower a few months (4-5) after last encounter. And I also have some tiny red and white bumps on my penis right under my penis head, the area where the skin is folder from being circumcised. they are really small. I treated molluscum by liquid nitrogen. I also tested twice negative for HIV since I developed molluscum. I've been tested for all STDs. I was only diagnosed with oral herpes. There is no test for HPV and I have no health insurance to get it seen by a doctor. So i wanna know what this is from. Its been a year now and lately i have dry mouth and eyes. And when I wake up in the morning my mouth is full of thick saliva. I have a weird taste in my mouth some kind of metallic taste. During the last whole year I've only had the flu once and another cold. I also sometimes get a burning sensation in my mouth and a lil bit of white patches on the tongue. but not on all my tongue. I have been told as a kid that i had geographical tongue. I wanna know whats going on with me. I also tend to cough here and there and spit phlegm. please dont hesitate to give me advice and help. I'm really anxious and restless.

• Answer:

  You do not have HIV. HIV tests at 6 months have an incredibly small false negative rate (where you test negative but are, in fact, positive). In addition, the symptoms you describe are not common symptoms of HIV, nor does HPV cause any kind of changes in saliva, taste, or dry mouth/eyes. You can get free or low cost STD testing at many clinics around the country; http://hivtest.org is a good place to start looking. The sexual behaviors you're engaging in (oral sex without condoms and vaginal intercourse with condoms) are considered low risk for transmission fo HIV and most other STDs. While this is no guarantee that you won't contract any STDs (besides the oral herpes you already have), you're making choices about your sexual safety that are similar to what many other people make. However: It sounds to me like your fears about unspecified STDs and symptoms are becoming a problem for you. You can confront this in a few ways: getting tested regularly for HIV and other STDs so you have some peace of mind. You may also want to consider talking with the counselor at the test site about your concerns about STDs, or speaking with another adult or a therapist about this. You may be getting yourself into a headspace that is more about fear of disease than about actual symptoms. Good luck to you! .