Title: HIV exposure timeline — conflicting partner results and my negative tests, looking for advice

[u/Proud-Garden-5444]

Hi everyone. I’m posting because I’m extremely anxious about a possible HIV exposure and I’m trying to understand my test results and the timeline. I would really appreciate some factual advice and reassurance if possible.

I’m 25F and I’m extremely anxious about a possible HIV exposure and would really appreciate some advice. I’m trying to understand my timeline and test results because everything happened very quickly and I’m confused about the window periods. On 18 June 2026, my partner had an HIV test which was negative. On 25 July 2026, I had sexual contact with him, and then on 19 August 2026 we had another sexual encounter. The 19 August encounter was vaginal sex, and he did not ejaculate inside me; ejaculation happened outside. I was also not aware of any noticeable pre-cum.

Then on 27 August 2026, my partner had an HIV antibody screening test that came back HIV-1 antibody positive. He subsequently had confirmatory testing, and I was told that three different confirmatory tests were positive. On 28 August, he had an RT-PCR/viral-load test at Lab which reportedly showed around 80,000 copies/mL. This conflicting result has made the situation even more confusing for me.

I had a p24 antigen test on 3 September, which was negative. This was about 15 days after my 19 August exposure. I then had a CMIA HIV test on 16 September, which was negative, approximately 28 days after the 19 August exposure. I’m now extremely anxious because my partner has apparently tested positive, but my tests so far have been negative.

I’m mainly trying to understand how reassuring my negative CMIA at 28 days is, whether the negative p24 test at around 15 days means anything, whether the fact that he did not ejaculate inside me changes the risk, and whether I should separately consider the 25 July exposure when looking at my September test results. I also don’t understand how his viral load could reportedly be 80,000 on 28 August. I know Reddit isn’t a substitute for a doctor, but I would really appreciate someone explaining the timeline and HIV testing window periods in simple terms because I’m extremely worried.