blood test positive waiting for pcr
Hello everyone, I’m currently going through one of the biggest shocks of my life, and in the midst of all this uncertainty, I really need to vent and hear from anyone who might have gone through something similar.
I recently had a routine blood test done and I had absolutely no reason to suspect HIV and didn't even specifically ask for it to be tested. However, the initial screen came back positive for HIV-1. My doctor immediately ordered a PCR test for confirmation.
I am honestly completely devastated because this is something I never, ever expected or thought was even possible. I’ve been in a long-term, monogamous relationship. For my partner, I am their first relationship. As for me, I had a few one-night stands about 5 years ago, but I’ve never experienced a single symptom, and my routine blood work has always been perfectly normal (though, to be fair, I had never been specifically tested for HIV until now).
Right now, my mind is just looping on one question: "How is this even possible?" I'm trying to understand how common false positives are in initial screening tests and how this whole lab verification process actually works. Has anyone here gone through a similar experience where the first test was positive but the confirmatory test came back negative?
or never experienced single symptoms before and still diagnosed?
Thank you so much in advance for your support
EDIT: I was also diagnosed with Lyme Disease at the same time (was strongly positive), and was thinking the possibility of false positive.