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Early HIV Symptoms In Men
Most of the time, HIV symptoms are the same for both sexes. But there are a few symptoms that may be unique to men and people assigned male at birth (AMAB).
You may not have any early signs of HIV. But if you do get symptoms right away (called acute HIV infection), they probably won't be gender-specific.
Early HIV symptoms typically include flu-like symptoms that last for a few days to several weeks, such as:
Tell your doctor if you think you've been exposed to HIV and you get the above symptoms, even if you start to feel better. You should be tested for HIV. That's the only surefire way to know if you have it.
These male-specific HIV symptoms can also be signs of other conditions. So if you have any of the following, make sure to speak with your doctor:
Low sex drive. This can be a sign of hypogonadism, which means your testicles don't make enough of the sex hormone testosterone. This condition is tied to HIV, especially among older people with HIV who have advanced disease.
Hypogonadism (or low testosterone) can also cause:
Sores on your penis. A common sign of HIV is painful open sores (called ulcers) on your mouth or esophagus. They can also appear on your anus or penis. These sores often heal but keep coming back.
Tell your doctor if you have any ongoing sores on or around your penis. Long-lasting or recurrent genital sores can be one of the first signs of HIV.
Pain or burning while peeing. In most cases, this is a symptom of a sexually transmitted infection like gonorrhea or chlamydia. It may also be a sign of a urinary tract infection or other health problem associated with a weakened immune system.
Can HIV cause prostatitis?
Sometimes, pain when you pee can signal swelling of the prostate, a small gland beneath the bladder. This condition is called prostatitis. It's sometimes caused by a bacterial infection.
Your odds of getting prostatitis and the infections that cause it are higher if you have HIV.
Besides pain or burning when you pee, other symptoms of prostatitis include:
After HIV overpowers your immune system, it spreads at a slower rate. This stage is called chronic or clinical latency. In many cases, you won't have any noticeable symptoms.
Without treatment, this stage can last 10 to 15 years. With treatment, you may stay in this stage for decades and live a long and healthy life.
If HIV goes untreated and continues to damage your immune system, you may have mild or long-lasting symptoms such as:
AIDS is the last stage of HIV. This is when the virus has seriously damaged your immune system. Your body can't fight off many infections, which can lead to symptoms.
Signs of AIDS include:
HIV/AIDS can also raise your chances of getting certain cancers, including testicular cancer.
Can you prevent HIV from turning into AIDS?
AIDS can be prevented by starting antiretroviral therapy (ART) as soon as possible after you're diagnosed with HIV. But it's important to take ART even if you've already developed AIDS.
Your doctor will prescribe ART to keep your immune system as healthy as possible. You may also need medicine for any infections or other health problems caused by your weakened immune system.
HIV can cause similar symptoms in people of all genders. But if you're a man or assigned male at birth, signs of HIV may include low sex drive, sores on your penis, or other health problems that may cause pain or discomfort when you pee or ejaculate.
There's no cure for HIV, but it's treatable. With early and effective treatment, you can expect to live as long as someone without HIV.
Talk to your doctor about starting ART if you haven't already, even if you've already developed AIDS. They'll help you come up with an HIV treatment plan to support your immune system and help you stay as healthy as possible.
How long does it take for HIV to show up in males?
You may get flu-like symptoms 2-4 weeks after you're exposed to the virus. Most self-tests that check for HIV can detect the virus within 23-90 days. HIV may show up sooner on other tests, such as a nucleic acid test (NAT).
How do you know if a guy has HIV?
The only way to know for sure if you have HIV is to get tested. But some signs of HIV in males include low sex drive, pain when you pee, or sores on your penis.
Does HIV cause discharge in males?
HIV doesn't cause discharge from your penis. But you're more likely to get other infections if you have a weakened immune system due the virus. This commonly includes sexually transmitted infections that cause discharge such as chlamydia or gonorrhea.
Recognizing HIV Symptoms In Women: A Comprehensive Guide
The symptoms of HIV are mostly the same for both sexes. But there can be some differences. Women and people assigned female at birth (AFAB) are more likely to get yeast infections and changes to their menstrual periods. Men and people assigned male at birth (AMAB) may have erection problems, lose their sex drive, and develop inflammation of their rectum called proctitis.
Common HIV symptoms in both sexes include:
Fever
Headache
Muscle aches and joint pain
Swollen glands and lymph nodes
Night sweats
Weight loss
Diarrhea
Sore throat and mouth sores
Rash
There are a few symptoms that happen only in women, often in the later stages of infection:
Changes in your period. You may have lighter or heavier bleeding, skipped periods, or severe PMS. Stress or other STDs, which are common with HIV, can cause these issues. But they may also happen because of the virus's effects on your immune system, which may change your hormones.
Bacterial vaginosis. This is caused by an imbalance in bacteria in your vagina. You might have:
Symptoms related to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Genital herpes, pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and chancroid may show up more often and have more severe symptoms.
Vaginal yeast infections. Many women with HIV get these more often, sometimes several times a year. When you get a yeast infection, you can have:
About 2 to 4 weeks after you're infected, you may feel like you have the flu. It's a sign that your body is responding to the virus. This may last a few days to a few weeks.
Symptoms of a new HIV infection include:
Some people have no symptoms of early HIV infection. But you should get tested if you think you might have been exposed to HIV.
See your doctor or go to the emergency room right away if you think you could have been exposed to the virus in the past couple of days. Medications called post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) can keep you from getting HIV. But they work only if you take them within 72 hours of getting the virus. Your doctor can give you a prescription for PEP, and you'll take them once or twice a day for 28 days.
HIV and thrush
Men and women with HIV are at higher risk for a yeast infection of the mouth, called thrush or oral candidiasis. It causes swelling and a thick white coating over your mouth, tongue, and throat. Thrush is usually harmless and is treatable with the antifungal medicine, fluconazole (Diflucan).
Another way to treat oral thrush is to practice good oral hygiene by brushing your teeth and rinsing with mouthwash. Taking antiretroviral therapy (ART) to treat HIV should prevent thrush infections.
HIV skin changes
About 90% of people with HIV will notice skin changes at some point, including lesions, shingles, or a rash. The skin may look red and be covered in small bumps. Sores on your mouth or vagina are signs of a herpes infection. Other infections cause white spots on the tongue or cheeks. Red, purple, brown, or pink splotches can form on the skin inside your mouth, nose, or eyelids.
These symptoms happen because the virus weakens your immune system and leaves you at risk for infections like herpes. The skin changes could also be a reaction to some of the medicines that treat HIV infection.
HIV symptoms are the same, whether or not you're pregnant. Getting treated can protect your baby from HIV infection. Tell your doctor if you have symptoms of HIV, or if you think you were exposed to the virus during sex or drug use.
The earlier you get tested, the sooner you can start on treatment. If you didn't get tested in pregnancy, you can still get an HIV test during labor and delivery. Having a C-section can prevent HIV from spreading to your baby during labor. Your baby can also get treated after birth to reduce their risk of HIV infection.
HIV-positive pregnant women are 54% more likely to have human papillomavirus (HPV) than pregnant women without HIV. HPV is a sexually transmitted infection that causes genital warts and increases the risk for cancers of the cervix, vagina, vulva, throat, and anus.
Usually, HPV isn't dangerous to the growing baby. But genital warts may grow faster during pregnancy. Rarely, the HPV infection could pass to the baby during birth. During pregnancy, HPV might also increase the risk for early labor.
If you think you might have been exposed to HIV, your OB/GYN can test you for HPV.
After having flu-like symptoms in the first few weeks, you'll go into what doctors call the clinical latency stage. Other names for this stage are asymptomatic HIV infection or chronic HIV infection.
The virus will still make copies of itself in your body, but much more slowly. You'll start to feel better. Most people don't have any symptoms during this stage, which can last up to 15 years.
AIDS is the final stage of HIV infection. HIV can progress to AIDS without treatment. In this stage, the immune system is badly damaged.
The number of CD4 cells, immune cells that protect your body from infections, drops below 200 cells per cubic millimeter of blood (200 cells/mm3). In contrast, a person with a healthy immune system has a CD4 count between 500 and 1,600 cells/mm3.
Symptoms of AIDS in women include:
These can be symptoms of many different conditions. It's important to see a doctor to confirm the diagnosis.
HIV symptoms are mostly the same in men and women. Some women may have changes to their periods or more yeast infections, plus more typical HIV symptoms like fever, tiredness, and night sweats. If you think you've been exposed to HIV, see your doctor for a test. It's especially important to get tested if you're pregnant or you plan to get pregnant because you can pass HIV to your baby.
How do you know if a female has HIV?
The typical symptoms of HIV in men and women include tiredness, rash, fever, and night sweats. Women or those assigned female at birth may also have symptoms like lighter or heavier periods, yeast infections, and lower belly pain.
How long can you have HIV without noticing?
Some people develop symptoms a month or two after an HIV infection. Others may not notice symptoms for 10 years or more. How soon symptoms appear depends on how quickly the virus damages the immune system.
How do HIV-positive nails look?
Nail changes are common in people with HIV. Often a fungus or other infection causes these changes. The nails may turn brown or black, develop white spots or lines, become brittle and split, or get wider and rounder (clubbing).
The Stages Of HIV Infection
Key pointsMost descriptions of the stages of HIV infection describe the natural history of HIV, in other words how, over time, the disease progresses in people who are not taking HIV treatment. They show how HIV progressively attacks and weakens the immune system, eventually leading to AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome).
This is not what happens to people who take effective HIV treatment (antiretroviral therapy). These medications can keep the virus under control and stop a decline in health. They profoundly change the course of infection.
The following description of the stages of HIV infection takes account of the impact of HIV treatment.
Seroconversion and acute HIV infectionIn the first few weeks after infection with HIV, some people have a short flu-like illness that is called a 'seroconversion illness'. This coincides with the period during which the body first produces antibodies to HIV. The most commonly experienced symptoms are fever, swollen glands, muscle aches and tiredness.
The severity of symptoms at this stage can vary considerably between people – they can be so mild as to go unnoticed, or so severe that admission to hospital is needed. They usually go away within two to three weeks.
This early stage of HIV infection is called acute HIV infection. The US public health agency the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) describes it as stage 0.
During acute infection, there are very high levels of HIV in the body (a high viral load), which means that the risk of passing HIV on is higher than at other times.
You can start HIV treatment during acute infection. HIV treatment lowers the amount of virus in the body, which allows the immune system to strengthen and helps prevent illnesses from occurring. Starting HIV treatment in this early phase may have particular benefits in terms of preserving the immune system.
People who start HIV treatment go straight to the 'chronic' stage of infection, described towards the end of the page.
Asymptomatic HIV infectionOnce you have passed through the primary infection phase, you usually enter a phase in which you don't have any symptoms or obvious health problems, even if you are not yet taking HIV treatment. This period can last for several years.
In the classification system of the World Health Organization (WHO), this is stage 1 (asymptomatic). In the slightly different system of the CDC, it is also described as stage 1 (but defined in terms of a CD4 cell count above 500).
'Asymptomatic' means 'without symptoms'. It does not mean HIV is not having an effect on your immune system, just that there are no outward signs or symptoms. Blood tests will show how active HIV is inside the body and the impact it is having on your immune system. The viral load test will usually show that the virus is replicating, while the CD4 cell count will give a rough indication of the strength of your immune system.
The sooner you start to take HIV treatment, the sooner you can benefit from it. If you do so, you can skip the next two stages and go straight to the 'chronic' stage of infection, described towards the end of the page.
Symptomatic HIV infectionThe longer you live with HIV without treatment, the further your CD4 cell count will fall. This is a sign that your immune system is being weakened and that there is a greater risk of developing symptoms.
Glossary chronic infectionWhen somebody has had an infection for at least six months. See also 'acute infection'.
immune systemThe body's mechanisms for fighting infections and eradicating dysfunctional cells.
symptomAny perceptible, subjective change in the body or its functions that signals the presence of a disease or condition, as reported by the patient.
acute infectionThe very first few weeks of infection, until the body has created antibodies against the infection. During acute HIV infection, HIV is highly infectious because the virus is multiplying at a very rapid rate. The symptoms of acute HIV infection can include fever, rash, chills, headache, fatigue, nausea, diarrhoea, sore throat, night sweats, appetite loss, mouth ulcers, swollen lymph nodes, muscle and joint aches – all of them symptoms of an acute inflammation (immune reaction).
effectivenessHow well something works (in real life conditions). See also 'efficacy'.
Symptoms may include skin disorders, prolonged diarrhoea, night sweats, thrush, bacterial pneumonia, fatigue, joint pain, and weight loss. Opportunistic infections that the immune system is normally able to fight off may begin to occur.
In the WHO classification, this is stage 2 (mild symptoms) and stage 3 (advanced symptoms). In the CDC system, it corresponds with stage 2 (a CD4 count between 200 and 500).
Many people only get tested for HIV and receive their HIV diagnosis at this stage. This may be described as a 'late diagnosis'. If you are diagnosed late, it means that you have already had HIV for several years without taking treatment.
Nonetheless, you can start to take treatment now and it will still be effective. It will strengthen your immune system, reduce the amount of HIV in your body and prevent illnesses from occurring. You can skip the next stage and move on to 'chronic' HIV infection.
AIDSIf somebody goes a very long time without treatment, the most serious stage of infection can occur. This is known as AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) or advanced HIV disease. It refers to a range of serious illnesses that people may get when HIV has significantly weakened their immune system.
For WHO, this is stage 4 (severe symptoms). In the CDC system, it is stage 3 (a CD4 count below 200).
Thanks to effective HIV treatment, most people with HIV never develop AIDS. The syndrome most often develops in people who are diagnosed at a very late stage and so were living with untreated HIV for many years.
If someone develops an AIDS-defining illness, this doesn't mean that they are on a one-way path to illness and death. With the right HIV treatment and care, many people who have been diagnosed as having AIDS recover from their AIDS-related illness and go on to have long and healthy lives. They move on to the following stage: chronic HIV infection.
Chronic HIV infection with antiretroviral treatmentIf you take effective HIV treatment, you can live with HIV as a chronic, manageable condition. A 'chronic' health condition is one which continues for a long period of time.
This stage is not included in most descriptions of the stages of infection, which only describe disease progression in the absence of treatment.
However, most people living with HIV who have access to good healthcare are living with HIV as a chronic condition – and will continue to do so for the rest of their lives. They are unlikely to fall ill or die as a direct result of HIV.
In order to reach this stage and to remain in it, you need to take HIV treatment and continue to take it, on an ongoing basis. These medications reduce levels of HIV in your body and strengthen the immune system. This usually prevents the symptoms and opportunistic infections described above from occurring.
Some immune system damage and inflammation does persist. This is one of the reasons why people living with chronic HIV are more vulnerable to some other health conditions, including heart disease, diabetes and cancer.
One of the benefits of effective HIV treatment is that is stops HIV from being passed on. Treatment drastically reduces the amount of HIV in body fluids to the point where there is not enough HIV to transmit the virus to sexual partners.
The chronic infection phase can last for decades. People who start HIV treatment as soon as possible, are able to stick with it and have access to good healthcare are likely to have a similar life expectancy to their peers who don't have HIV.
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