They may sometimes make you feel worse than you did before you started taking them. Talk to your doctor about your side effects. He or she may be able to adjust your medicines or prescribe a different one. You may be able to take several medicines combined into one pill. This reduces the number of pills you have to take each day. Resistance to HIV medicines can occur when:.
Reducing stress can help you better manage the HIV illness. Some methods of stress reduction include:. Marijuana has been shown to stimulate the appetite and relieve nausea.
Talk to your doctor if you're interested in trying it. Alternative and complementary treatments for HIV need to be carefully evaluated. Some people with HIV may use these types of treatment to help with fatigue and weight loss caused by HIV infection and reduce the side effects caused by antiretroviral therapy ART.
Some complementary therapies for other problems may actually be harmful. For example, St. John's wort decreases the effectiveness of certain prescription medicines for HIV. Current as of: September 23, Author: Healthwise Staff.
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Top of the page. What is AIDS? With treatment, many people with HIV are able to live long and active lives. HIV-2 infection is uncommon in North America.
What causes HIV? Most people get the virus by having unprotected sex with someone who has HIV. Another common way of getting it is by sharing drug needles with someone who is infected with HIV. The virus can also be passed from a mother to her baby during pregnancy, birth, or breastfeeding. What are the symptoms? Common early symptoms include: Fever. Sore throat.
Muscle aches and joint pain. Swollen glands swollen lymph nodes. Skin rash. These symptoms usually include: Swollen lymph nodes. Extreme tiredness. Weight loss. Night sweats. How is HIV diagnosed? A doctor may suspect HIV if symptoms last and no other cause can be found. If you think you have been exposed to HIV but you test negative for it: Get tested again.
A repeat test may be done after a few weeks to be sure you are not infected. Meanwhile, take steps to prevent the spread of the virus, in case you do have it. How is it treated? Taking these medicines can reduce the amount of virus in your body and help you stay healthy.
How can you prevent HIV? So it's always important to protect yourself and others by taking these steps: Practice safer sex. Use a condom every time you have sex including oral sex until you are sure that you and your partner aren't infected with HIV or other sexually transmitted infection STI. Don't have more than one sex partner at a time. The safest sex is with one partner who has sex only with you.
Talk to your partner before you have sex the first time. Find out if he or she is at risk for HIV. Get tested together. Use condoms in the meantime. Don't drink a lot of alcohol or use illegal drugs before sex. You might let down your guard and not practice safer sex. Don't share personal items , such as toothbrushes or razors. Never share needles or syringes with anyone. Experts may recommend this for: footnote 1 People whose sexual practices put them at high risk for HIV infection, such as men who have sex with men and people who have many sex partners.
People who inject illegal drugs, especially if they share needles. Adults who have a sex partner with HIV. Health Tools Health Tools help you make wise health decisions or take action to improve your health.
Actionsets are designed to help people take an active role in managing a health condition. Symptoms HIV may not cause symptoms early on. The symptoms may include: Belly cramps, nausea, or vomiting.
Enlarged lymph nodes in the neck, armpits, and groin. Later symptoms Later symptoms may include: Diarrhea or other bowel changes. Loss of appetite or unexplained weight loss. Dry cough or shortness of breath. Nail changes. Swollen lymph nodes in the neck, armpits, and groin. Pain when swallowing. Confusion, trouble concentrating, or personality changes.
Repeated outbreaks of cold sores or genital herpes sores. Tingling, numbness, and weakness in the limbs. Mouth sores or a yeast infection of the mouth thrush. The virus may enter the body through a tear in the lining of the rectum, vagina, urethra, or mouth. Most cases of HIV are spread this way.
Infected blood. HIV can be spread when a person: Shares needles, syringes, cookers, cotton, cocaine spoons, or eyedroppers used for injecting drugs or steroids. Is accidentally stuck with a needle or other sharp item that is contaminated with HIV. How HIV is not spread The virus doesn't survive well outside the body. The window period After you've been infected, it can take 2 weeks to 3 months for your body to start making HIV antibodies.
What Increases Your Risk Sexual contact You have an increased risk of becoming infected with HIV through sexual contact if you: Have unprotected sex do not use condoms. Have multiple sex partners. Are a man who has sex with other men. Have high-risk partner s partner has multiple sex partners, is a man who has sex with other men, or injects drugs. Have or have recently had a sexually transmitted infection , such as syphilis or active herpes. Drug use People who inject drugs or steroids, especially if they share needles, syringes, cookers, or other equipment used to inject drugs, are at risk of being infected with HIV.
Birth mother infected Babies who are born to mothers who are infected with HIV are also at risk of infection. Most children younger than 13 years who have HIV were infected with the virus by their mothers. When should you call your doctor? You have engaged in high-risk behavior and are concerned that you were exposed to HIV. Your sex partner engages in high-risk behavior.
Your sex partner may have been exposed to HIV. Your sex partner has HIV. You have any of the symptoms listed above. Infectious disease specialists. Nurse practitioners. Physician assistants PAs. Complications of HIV may require treatment by the following doctors: Cardiologist Dermatologist Gastroenterologist Infectious disease specialist Nephrologist Oncologist Ophthalmologist Orthopedist Pulmonologist If you don't have a doctor Public health clinics and other organizations may provide free or low-cost, confidential testing and counseling about HIV and high-risk behavior.
Exams and Tests Early detection The U. For all pregnant women. For people younger than 15 and older than 65 if they have a high risk for HIV, such as for people who engage in high-risk behavior. You and your doctor can decide if testing is right for you. Fear of being tested Some people are afraid to be tested for HIV. This will give you an opportunity to: Discuss your fears about being tested.
Learn how to reduce your risk of becoming infected if your test is negative. Learn how to keep from spreading HIV to others if your test is positive. Think about personal issues, such as how having HIV will affect you socially, emotionally, professionally, and financially. Learn what you need to do to stay healthy as long as possible. Until you know the results of your test: Avoid sexual contact with others. If you do have sex, practice safer sex.
Do not share needles, syringes, cookers, cotton, cocaine spoons, or eyedroppers. If the results from a home test kit show that you have an HIV infection, talk with a doctor.
Testing positive for HIV If you test positive, your doctor will complete a medical history and physical exam. He or she may order several lab tests to check your overall health, including: A complete blood count CBC , to identify the numbers and types of cells in your blood.
A chemistry screen , to measure the blood levels of certain substances such as electrolytes and glucose and to see how well your liver and kidneys are working. You may be tested for: Syphilis. Hepatitis A , hepatitis B , and hepatitis C.
Tuberculosis TB. Viral load measures the amount of HIV in your blood. Testing for drug resistance HIV often changes or mutates in the body. You also may be tested for drug resistance when: You are ready to begin treatment. You've been having treatment and your viral load numbers stop going down. You've been having treatment and your viral load numbers become detectable after not being detectable. How is AIDS diagnosed? A certain kind of infection called an opportunistic infection that is common in people who have weakened immune systems, such as Kaposi's sarcoma or Pneumocystis pneumonia.
Treatment Overview The most effective treatment for HIV is antiretroviral therapy ART , a combination of several medicines that aims to control the amount of virus in your body. Other steps you can take include the following: Keep your immune system strong by eating right, quitting smoking, and learning how to avoid infection. For more information, see Home Treatment. For more information, see Exams and Tests.
See a counselor to help you handle the strong emotions and stress that can follow an HIV diagnosis. For more information, see Other Treatment. HIV destroys CD4 cells by using their replication machinery to create new copies of the virus. This ultimately causes the CD4 cells to swell and burst. HIV is transmitted through contact with the following bodily fluids, from most likely to lead to HIV transmission to least likely :. Sex without a condom and sharing needles — even tattoo or piercing needles — can result in the transmission of HIV.
View a timeline of HIV symptoms. Even without symptoms, HIV can still be present in the body and can still be transmitted. Receiving adequate treatment that results in viral suppression stops the progression of immune dysfunction and AIDS. Adequate treatment also helps a damaged immune system to recover. Symptoms of the acute infection may take place days to weeks after the virus has been contracted. During this time, the virus is multiplying rapidly in the body, unchecked.
This initial HIV stage can result in flu-like symptoms. Examples of these symptoms include:. The flu symptoms are due to the increase of copies of HIV and widespread infection in the body. During this time, the amount of CD4 cells starts to fall very quickly. The immune system then kicks in, causing CD4 levels to rise once again. In addition to potentially causing symptoms, the acute stage is when people with HIV have the greatest chance of transmitting the virus to others. This is because HIV levels are very high at this time.
The acute stage typically lasts between several weeks and months. The chronic HIV stage is known as the latent or asymptomatic stage. However, a person can still transmit HIV if the virus is left untreated and they continue to have a detectable viral load. Advances in antiretroviral treatments have significantly improved the outlook for people living with HIV. With proper treatment, many people who are HIV-positive are able to achieve viral suppression and live long, healthy lives.
Antigenic mutation within the T-cell epitopes can affect the binding capacity of MHC molecules to the viral peptides, resulting in the inability of the TCRs to recognise the MHC-peptide complex. Register Log in. Figure 1. Interaction between HIV and coreceptors of a T cell and a monocyte. Figure 2.
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