HIV Symptoms

You should never solely rely on HIV symptoms in order to diagnose your condition, always go seek medical advice if you suspect HIV or if there has been an opportunity for you to be infected with HIV.

The main HIV symptoms include a sudden decrease of weight, dry or arid cough, repeatedly developing a fever or intense night sweats, fatigue, swollen lymph glands, intensive diarrhea, white marks or blemishes in the mouth or on the tongue, Pneumonia, blotches under the skin and a variety of neurological disorders such as depression or general memory loss.

There is often a long time period from the time of infection, where the person infected with HIV has no symptoms at all and can be anything up to 10 years. Some people develop a fever within 6 weeks of exposure. This illness is known as Acute HIV Syndrome and can include headaches, nausea and swollen lymph glands among other symptoms. More serious HIV symptoms may not appear for several years later but these for the most part will develop into AIDS if more serious symptoms do occur.

During Acute HIV Syndrome, the HIV viral count in your blood will be very high as it initially attacks your system. This is the time when the virus is the most infectious. After a while your body fights back vigorously and the levels are reduced and evened out a bit.

It is important to note that having HIV and having AIDS are two separate conditions. An individual can be infected with HIV but cannot “catch” AIDS from someone. AIDS develops as a result of having HIV, a virus that lowers the body’s natural defense system.