# do i have HIV?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-hiv/294782
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 16, 2005, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-hiv/294782 "2005-03-16T07:24:23Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-hiv/294782/21 "2005-03-16T17:36:52Z")
If you suspect there is a possibility of HIV, you really should seek counselling even before you actually test.
There are a rane of issues you may need to consider, depending upon your circumstances, and you really need to have some idea of how these apply to you.
As a first look try here,
[http://www.health.qld.gov.au/sexhealth/clinical/Counselling.shtml](http://www.health.qld.gov.au/sexhealth/clinical/Counselling.shtml)
and possbly one of the very best sites to look, from a source that has very great, and sadly unfortuante, expertise in this area.
[http://www.kznhealth.gov.za/testing.htm](http://www.kznhealth.gov.za/testing.htm)
The idea of counselling is to try enable you to keep things in perspective, but realistic.
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### Author:  [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-hiv/294782/22 "2005-03-16T18:00:00Z")
Your chances are very low. Still, make an appointment with your doctor and tell him or her about your concerns and ask for a full range of STD tests – gonorrhea, syphilis, chlamydia, the works. You should know. And if you are all in the clear, which you probably are, just let the fact of all those scary words on the lab results help you decide how to approach your next trip to a bar.
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### Author:  [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-hiv/294782/23 "2005-03-16T18:00:08Z")
aside from HIV, chlamydia is on the increase and the old standbys, syphilis and gonorrhea, are on the march again, some strains antibiotic resistant.
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### Author:  [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-hiv/294782/24 "2005-03-16T19:41:42Z")
> [@Tulkas](#):
>
> My suggestion to you is to go to your local Red Cross tomorrow and donate blood. It’s free, you are helping to save lives, and they test all donated blood. If they find anything you should know about, it will mention it in the thank-you letter they mail you. Of course, this might not help for any other STDs, but its an easy, free, helpful way to test for HIV. 🙂
I donated for several years, at blood banks in a couple of cities, and I never received any sort of a thank you note. I seem to recall that one blood bank said that they quit mailing these to discourage people from using the blood supply as their personal STD test.
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### Author:  [@susie426](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susie426)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-hiv/294782/25 "2005-03-16T20:46:29Z")
If you are a student at a university, college, or community/tech college, check out if your institution has a student health clinic. Many post secondary schools have some sort of screening for STD’s and even HIV -with counseling if needed. Most screenings are VERY low cost and completely confidential. If nothing else, community free clinics are available (public health centers) are a viable option if you don’t have a ‘regular’ doctor.
Bottom line, you obviously should be screened for STD’s anyway (they can be nasty if not treated–and some dangerous ones are SO EASY to treat), so go for the cadillac and tack on an HIV test too.
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### Author:  [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-hiv/294782/26 "2005-03-16T21:26:02Z")
> [@](#):
>
> Assuming that the other person has HIV (which ranges from likely to virtually impossible depending on the population involved),
All we know about his partner is that she slept with at least two different guys she picked up in a bar over the span of a few hours. Offhand, I’d say that it’s at least plausible that she falls into a high-risk category. Meanwhile, the OP himself is sleeping with girls he meets in bars, and does not say whether this particular girl was the only one he’s slept with, so it’s also possible that he’s picked something up from someone else. And finally, AIDS isn’t the only STD out there. Given all this, I think that tests for not only HIV but for all the other common STDs out there would definitely be a wise idea.
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### Author:  [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)
#### Post date: [March 16, 2005, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-hiv/294782/27 "2005-03-16T23:43:16Z")
Just go and get tested. They don’t even need to draw blood for testing anymore. They can use a DNA swab from your mouth. If you are in college, most colleges have free annonymous testing.
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### Author:  [@Tulkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tulkas)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2005, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-hiv/294782/28 "2005-03-17T05:54:58Z")
I wasn’t aware that the Red Cross’ tests were any different than the test done at a clinic at the time of my previous post. No, I’ve never done this myself. My sincere apologies.
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### Author:  [@John\_Kentzel-Griffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Kentzel-Griffin)
#### Post date: [March 17, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-i-have-hiv/294782/29 "2005-03-17T06:55:59Z")
There is no way to give a _factual_ answer to this question.
You should go get tested.
This is closed.
**DrMatrix** - GQ Moderator
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