Hi everyone in the PEP community,

I understand how terrifying it can be to constantly wonder whether you have HIV or not. Today, August 10, I finally finished my PEP treatment after completing 28 days of Biktarvy. I’m from Mexico, and it was a little difficult for me to get access to the medication.

Today was day 29, and I took a rapid HIV test. The test came back negative for HIV-1 and HIV-2 antibodies. I understand that this is not a conclusive or confirmatory test, but I have a few questions:

Is it a good sign that this test came back negative?

How can I manage the anxiety during this waiting period until the 90-day follow-up?

I’ll probably share more details and updates about my experience and, hopefully, good test results as time goes on. For now, I wanted to give you a summary of my situation.

PEP

-I started PEP about 54 hours after the exposure. I wanted to get an HIV test beforehand to make sure I wasn’t already positive, and unfortunately, the exposure happened over the weekend when the place where PEP was available was closed.

-My medication was Biktarvy, and I completed all 28 days.

I did not miss a single dose. The longest I was late taking a pill was about 20 minutes.

My partner / exposure

-My partner later tested positive, with a viral load of around 500 copies/mL. I didn’t know he was HIV-positive until he was tested when I sought PEP.

-During anal sex, the condom broke. I was the insertive partner. There was no blood and no ejaculation. I’m not sure exactly how long the condom had been broken, but I estimate it may have been around 3–4 minutes.

-Once we realized the condom had broken, I took a shower and urinated.

Symptoms I experienced (some of which I still have)

-Gas / flatulence

-Acid reflux

-Very vivid dreams, and even some mild hallucination-like experiences (such as seeing shadows)

-Anxiety

-Fatigue

-Depression

I really hope everyone here is doing well. If you have gone through something similar, I would really appreciate hearing your experiences and maybe getting a little reassurance or hope. I’ve seen so many stories of people who went through PEP and ultimately tested negative, and I’m trying to hold on to those stories right now.

This whole experience has felt like a maze.

Thank you so much for reading, and I hope everyone has a great day.

This is actually my first time on Reddit, so I’d also love to make some friends here. If anyone wants to share their own experiences with anxiety while waiting for their results, I’m more than happy to listen advices. ❤️