Early Symptoms of HIV & AIDS

Based on just symptoms, you can't tell if you really have HIV. You can find this out if you get tested for HIV. Once you know your status, making healthy decisions will be easier for you. Different people show different symptoms of the disease. Moreover, the symptoms also vary based on the stage of the HIV. Given below is a description of some common symptoms of this disease.

Early Stage of HIV

Typically, 9 out of 10 people with this disease show flu-like symptoms within a few weeks of infection. Some people don't feel sick at this stage. They have acute HIV infection. Common symptoms include fatigue, mouth ulcers, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, muscle aches, night sweats, chills, rash and fever, just to name a few. If you have these symptoms, chances are that you have HIV. For confirmation, however, we suggest that you contact a good doctor.

Clinical Latency Stage

If left untreated, the patient may move onto the next stage known as the clinical latency stage or chronic HIV infection. At this stage, the disease is active but the reproduction level is very low. The symptoms are also mild.

If you don't take medicine to treat the disease at this stage, you may move onto the next stage within 10 years or so. In some people, the disease gets worse a lot faster. However, if you get treatment, this stage may last longer since the drugs can control the growth of the virus giving you more time.

Here, it's important to keep in mind that you can still transmit the disease to people around you at this stage even if you show no symptoms. However, if you are on ART, you are not as likely to get the disease transmitted to others. So, you have to be careful and get the required treatment as soon as possible.

Progression to AIDS

If you don't take meds for HIV, the virus will make your immune system a lot weaker. As a result, you will get AIDS, which is the last stage of this disease. Below are some symptoms of the disease:

• Weight loss
• Night seats or fever
• Extreme fatigue
• Inflammation of the lymph glands
• Prolonged diarrhea
• Pneumonia
• Sores of the genitals, anus or mouth
• Depression, memory loss or neurologic disorders

However, keep in mind that the symptoms listed above are not necessarily the indicators of HIV. They may also be related to other common diseases. Therefore, we suggest that you run some tests in order to find out which disease you have. The tests won't cost you much and help you know the disease you have.

Most of the severe symptoms of the disease appear because of the opportunistic infection, which is the result of weakened immune system.

So, if you have been experiencing the symptoms listed in this article, we suggest that you get in touch with a doctor for your medical checkup. The doctor will prescribe some tests that can confirm whether you have HIV or not.