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Do I have HIV symptoms?

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I have two swollen lymph nodes on either side of my neck. Those are the only ones I have. They have been there for 7 months. Could this be a symptom of latent stage HIV? I had unprotected sex with my former fiance; for 5 months in 2009. 2 months after we broke up I got a fever and sore throat, later diagnosed at strep throat by a throat culture. Could that be my ARS? My current husband and I started having sex and 2 months later he got dizzy, shaky, chills, and a fever, could that be his ARS. He currently has 0 symptoms and thinks I'm being crazy. 4 years later, could I be having HIV symptoms? I would assume my ex-fiance;, his sex partners, my husband, and I would have all been much sicker by now, right?

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Category: Family Physician-GP
 29 Doctors Online

Hello, you had mentioned that you have got swollen lymph nodes on either side of your neck for the last 7 months or so without any symptoms of HIV infection. But you had unprotected sex with your former fiance; in 2009 following which you developed fever, sore throat. At present you are developing similar symptoms again. Signs and symptoms alone cannot diagnose HIV. There are four stages: incubation period, acute infection, latency stage and full-blown AIDS. The initial incubation period upon infection is asymptomatic and usually lasts 2-4 weeks. This stage is devoid of HIV symptoms. The second stage lasts for 2- 3 weeks and the symptoms of HIV during this stage are similar to the symptoms of the common flu. Quite often HIV symptoms are mistakenly diagnosed as that of flu. The symptoms include fever, swollen lymph nodes, sore throat, tiredness and weakness, muscle pain that may be accompanied by a rash and soreness in the mouth and throat. The third stage shows no symptoms. It lasts from 2 weeks to 20 years and beyond. AIDS, the fourth and final stage of HIV infection shows symptoms of opportunistic infections. The symptoms of AIDS are primarily the result of conditions that do not normally develop in individuals with healthy immune systems. Most of the conditions are infections caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi and parasites. The five most common symptoms of people affected with AIDS are unexplained fever lasting over a month, unexplained chronic diarrhea, weight loss greater than 10 % of the body weight, sweats particularly at night and pulmonary symptoms that include cough and shortness of breath. The specific opportunistic infections that AIDS patient develop depend on the prevalence of the infections in the geographical area where the patient resides. I would suggest you to get a complete evaluation, blood tests including tests for HIV such as ELISA for diagnosing it. These reports can be reviewed with your physician. Hope this helps. Thank you.


Dr. John Monheit
Category: Family Physician-GP
Experience: 
Residecny: North Colorado Family Medicine
Medical School: The Chicago Medical Center
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