Saliva Test

[Smithy]

I bought a oral testing kit online several months back with the intention of using it. Its one you send back to the lab. I have only just found it again and was wondering is it still ok to use?

[Poz1956]

Generally if something has a "Best Before" date it is marked on the box. It could also be marked on the sterile package containing the test swab. So check the box, and the internal package for a Use By date (I was going to write that as BB date - but considering the site, that would just cause confusion)

But logically speaking, even if it did have a best before date, the test will have a shelf life of at least a couple of years. Since you bought the test a few months ago, it should still be good. As it is a "send back to the lab" type test, it probably just contains a sterile mouth swab in a tube. There really isn't anything to go bad. It might have a use by date, because the packaging can degrade over time, which could cause leaks, thus causing potential contamination of the test swab. But again, that date is going to be a fair distance in the future.

A test kit isn't like milk. It doesn't go bad quickly. I must have a long shelf life, because there is always going to be a significant time lag between production, shipping to the distributor, shipping to the retailer's warehouse, shipping to the store, and the time it sits in the store before being purchased. (Be forewarned readers - I'm going to use the C word) For example, look at condoms. They have a 4 to 5 year shelf life. Last June, I bought the Magnum rubber I'm looking at right now. It has an expiration date of November 2017. I'm guessing it was produced in November 2012.

Your kit should still be good. Swab away, and best of luck on the results. I sure hope it comes back negative.

[wood]

Im sure its good for at least a year, and as poz1956 said, its probably just a swab and container, the reagent (mixing liquid for testing) is probably added on site.

[Smithy]

Correct it is just a swab and a container. Waited eight years to do this, dumb I know! still unsure what the outcome will be!

[Guest JizzDumpWI]

Eight years??? So have you had this kit for all of those eight years that you describe as buying "a few months back"? If that is the case, get yourself a new oraquick test. Or, better yet, get to and STD clinic and get the whole STI screening rather than just HIV....

[Smithy]

No its been eight years since i barebacked. The kit ive had a few months.

[Smithy]

Do you think after eight years I might start to show some signs that im possibly positive? or just lucky at the moment?

[Guest JizzDumpWI]

Doesn't matter really. Get a full STI panel as many of those will not be obvious. HIV. if you're a slow progressor might not have any obvious symptoms yet.

My bigger point though Smithy is that HIV is just one of the many sexually transmitted bugs out there. A full STI panel will determine if you have any of those.

[Poz1956]

I think the BIGGEST point is EIGHT YEARS and ZERO tests?

I would really like to hear your reasons for not getting tested in over eight years! And I mean that. I want to know. Maybe there's something in your explanation that I can use to encourage people to get tested more regularly.

Perhaps you're a mostly play safe guy. With that, once or twice a year testing might be appropriate.

Bareback frequently, and you should get yourself checked out once ever three months.

People continually trash Poz guys, who were responsible enough to get tested, and responsible enough to go on meds. Most "think they might be Neg" guys are 100% certain that it's guys like me that are spreading HIV. But an Undetectable Pozzie may not even be able to transmit the virus. In another thread, I got compared to Typhoid Marry, because I don't always disclose my status when playing safely.

To be blunt, HIV is spread by people who don't get tested. People who DO NOT know they are Poz cause almost all new infections. You're damn lucky you didn't end up Like this Kid, who was diagnosed with an opportunistic infection, and HIV at the same time. He had AIDS (HIV + OI = AIDS) because the didn't get tested for five years. He could have avoided AIDS by tested frequently, and getting on ARVs when he found he was Poz. It is pretty much a guarantee he passed the virus to others. The chance of that happening would have been minimized, if he was on antiretrovirals.

Edited April 26, 2014 by Poz1956

[Smithy]

I had a fuck buddy who I had sex with (bareback) on about six occasions. I didn't see her for awhile then she txt me to say she was pregnant and it was between me and another guy. She had the baby and said it wasn't mine. We then had sex again (bareback) that was eight years ago. Since then she has had another kid so obviously she has been tested as its routine. I have asked if I was at risk and she has said no. Now im just paranoid that she might be lying and I guess ive just been scared to get tested.

[bearbandit]

Strangely I remember someone with pretty much the exact same question a few months ago. Fear of HIV can ruin your life more completely than HIV itself: do the test and find out for sure. Or, even better, go to your local STI clinic and have a full workup, including HIV test. Embarrassment factor: practically none. In the UK when you have a complete workup, they let you take the anal swab (though it's better to have them do it the first time so you know what sensations you're looking for next time), they now just use a piss sample instead of a penile swab, so the only time they come near you is for a throat swab and to take a blood sample or two. Do it and stop worrying yourself...

[ffoz]

education is the best way.

[bootedskn]

its the hardest the first time going in to get tested when you know you did something that really put you at risk

then had some conversion things happen. when the nurse walks in to tell you the results deep inside i knew

but it still seemed shocking. now its what the fuck

[Guest JizzDumpWI]

its the hardest the first time going in to get tested when you know you did something that really put you at risk

then had some conversion things happen. when the nurse walks in to tell you the results deep inside i knew

but it still seemed shocking. now its what the fuck

True bootedskn... But I worry more about those who didn't think they were at risk... Those are the ones converting...

[Smithy]

Thanks guys doing it tomorrow then posting it off. I read lots of other forums where people think they are at risk and have every sympton under the sun and come back negative. I know it means nothing but i have never had a rash, not sure if i have had the flu properley (does two days count) i have colds that come and go and have had 24 hour viruses. But i know that dont mean jack.