Are there any symptoms of HIV?

What is it HIV/ARS Symptoms or Stress?

• I have a few of questions that I haven’t seen answered in this forum that hopefully other people will find helpful as well. I think i might have had a HIV-positive exposure 7 days ago! I developed a rash on my chest, back, and arms 5 days ago with a couple spots on my legs. The doctor said it was most likely a result of an allergic reaction but I couldn’t think of anything I used differently. Are eczema and HIV related? I know eczema occurs with a number of different rashes but I am not sure if any of these rashes are related to HIV. Getting this rash freaked me out. When I was searching for common skin rashes, I saw a heading that said HIV rash. This got me so nervous. I began suffering from so much anxiety. I started researching about HIV and read about the symptoms. This made me feel like I had developed so many symptoms. Is it common for people to start to think they have symptoms when they get anxious and stressed about something? Would ARS symptoms come so early like 7 days after exposure? Actually the rash and tension headache, neck pain, came like 3 days after exposure still have it Or could it be just all stress related? With all of this anxiety I started feeling hot in my back, my arms, and my neck. I'm having tension headache and neck pain, When I get stressed at work, my anxiety and stress has increased dramatically in these days. I also noticed that my foreskin on the penis was irritated yesterday but not like a sore just lil irritated this has happened to me before, could it just be cause of after the sex? I read that enlarged lymph nodes are a common sign of HIV infection so of course this has me scared. What do enlarged lymph nodes feel like? Are they painful? Noticeable? Do they burn? Is the pain from a swollen lymph node constant or can it come and go? BTW do all symptoms come all at once gradually? All this has happened in 7 days, is it just me and my stress or ARS symptoms? i'm getting tested but have to wait 3 months =( Thanks in advance for taking the time to answer my questions.

• Answer:

  You don't mention what your potential exposure was. Intravenous drug use with nonsterile needles is extremely extremely high risk, unprotected receptive anal intercourse with another male is extremely high risk. Heterosexual intercourse is not usually high risk (unless the woman is a sex worker, extremely promiscuous, or an intravenous drug user). However, it is always best to be careful and use a condom, and get tested regularly for HIV if not in a mutually monogamous relationship with someone who does not have HIV. Acute HIV infection is possible a week after exposure, but less likely three days after exposure. Symptoms are usually similar to that of flu--body aches, fever, swollen lymph nodes, and fatigue. Rashes are also common, and oral ulcers are a very likely indicator in combination with these other symptoms. The swollen lymph nodes would be similar to what you can get when you have a cold or the flu: hard, tender lumps under the skin, possibly on the neck or under the jaw or in the groin and armpits. Acute HIV infection does not commonly result in headaches, and doesn't result in local symptoms like foreskin irritation. Acute HIV infection usually resolves in a couple of weeks as the immune system suppresses viral levels. After this initial counterattack the virus and immune system start a war of attrition, until the immune system is worn out and AIDS develops, usually years later. HIV tests look for antibodies to the virus. These antibodies take a while to be manufactured, so in the acute stage of infection a person will test negative while having a SKY HIGH VIRAL LOAD. Most cases of HIV transmission occur while a person is acutely infected. Because of this if you suspect you could have HIV, you should not have unprotected sex until you have been tested, and probably should not have sex at all! Often a person who is infected will produce measurable antibodies by a month after infection, although testing at 3 months is recommended. If this test is negative it should be repeated at 6 months, and if that is negative the person is clear. Unless you engaged in one of the high risk activities, it's unlikely you have HIV. Rashes can have all sorts of causes, and headaches and neck stiffness are probably attributable to stress at work and over worrying about HIV. It is very common to get stressed out about a disease and think you have symptoms for it when you don't really have it. The joke is that med school students think they have every disease they study in their coursework. Unless you have multiple possible symptoms and have a high-risk exposure, you probably don't have much to worry about. If you did have a high-risk exposure and have several symptoms, go to a doctor and ask for a PCR test. This test looks for the viral RNA, its genome, and is accurate before the antibody test is able to return a result. Otherwise, try not to stress out, be sure to use a condom!, and get yourself tested in three months.