Post #4, Sniffle sniffle!

Good morning,
Well sorta. I woke up with a really raspy throat and the sniffles. No fun. General aching... fatigue, and an owwie headache. Yikes, sounds like I'm getting sick! Noooo!!!! Better not be the flu, any sort, I sure can't afford it. Oh wait, it could be the flu, it could be the cold, it could be nothing...

Or...it could be symptoms of HIV? What?! Relating back to the course, I wondered if the symptoms of HIV were different between men and women. The results I found overall were pretty interesting. Although there are some subtle different symptoms more specific to gender, the initial of both sexes are so non-specific, they are hardly good indicators that you need to see a doctor.

According to wrongdiagnosis.com about 1-2 months after exposure, these are the symptoms you can expect:
* Flu-like symptoms
* Fever
* Headache
* Tiredness
* Enlarged lymph nodes
The funny thing is, many individuals don't experience any early infection symptoms at all! Following this phase is the "latent phase" where the same website listed that again, it was likely and still possible to not experience any symptoms at all or possibly,
* Swollen lymph glands

The tricky part is, none of the symptoms listed so far are of course, specific at all to HIV. They are very general symptoms that could be just the flu, or a nasal infection, or something more serious. But none of them actually specific to any condition. Nothing significant enough for someone to automatically think, 'Hey, maybe I need to get tested for HIV.'.

It is not until the early stages of AIDS that the symptoms are really severe enough that I think a normal person would go to the doctor. Even then, I'm not sure that they'd go suspecting they might have HIV.

* Fatigue
* Lack of energy
* Weight loss
* Frequent low-grade fevers
* Night sweats
* Frequent yeast infections (oral or vaginal)
* Vaginal yeast infections
* Bacterial vaginosis
* Abnormal PAP smears
* Genital ulcers - not necessarily from herpes
* Persistent skin rashes
* Flaky skin
* Pelvic inflammatory disease - especially if it is difficult to treat
* Short-term memory loss
* Shingles
* Severe herpes infections
* Abscess

Most of those symptoms may not be specific, but they are bothersome enough for someone to go see a doctor, and hopefully the doctor would encourage them to be tested for HIV. Many of the symptoms are at least a sign of another underlying condition. Many of those listed in the preceding list are more specific to women, such as the vaginal yeast infection and abnormal paps smears. These are two of the most common symptoms in women according to Patrice K. Nicholas, D.N.Sc., M.P.H. who wrote an article for "The Body" website which I've used before entitled Women and HIV: Symptoms and Quality of life in Women.

What about women in other parts of the world? Their symptoms are similar except can be more severe due to their inaccessibility to OTC drugs such as Acetaminophen or Ibuprofen. (The Body)

I have a good feeling this is the cold my roommates keep passing around like a hot potato, but it did make me think twice about why people may not get tested right away. How often have you had flu-like symptoms and thought nothing of it? Hmm....



http://www.thebody.com/content/art2529.html
http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/h/hiv_aids/symptoms.htm






P.S. What is even funnier, and I think I'll never get over this... As I am looking up "Symptoms of HIV", people in close proximity can't seem to keep their g-dang eyes off my screen. Could they think I was suspecting it for myself, maybe that's why they are looking so closely? How bout we all keep our hands on our own keys, and our eyes on our own shiny LCD screens. I'd appreciate that. Even funnier... I guess the one to my right just realized I was probably writing about him... he's packing up and leaving. Awesome. I love blogging! hahahah!!!