10 Common HIV Symptoms and Signs in Women

Check for signs of HIV

What is HIV?

HIV transmission occurs when human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is transmitted from one source to the other. The virus causes weakening of the immune system. People with HIV become vulnerable to illnesses manifesting as symptoms and signs of HIV. Many people have asked how HIV women’s symptoms will appear different from HIV symptoms in men.

As a result, this article therefore focuses on the symptoms and signs of HIV in women. It is important to state here that if HIV is not properly treated, it progresses to acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS). At this stage, the immune system is weakened leaving the body vulnerable to serious infections.

HIV pandemic has assumed an alarming rate around the world. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that more than 1 million people live with HIV in the United States. In 2016, about 40,000 people tested positive to HIV. The pandemic is more devastating in middle and low income countries.

You now understand a bit about what HIV means and how symptoms and signs of HIV evolve. It is time to look at how HIV can be transmitted.

HIV Transmission

HIV gets transmitted in more ways than one including sharing of needles, body fluids, sex, needle prick injury and blood transfusion, among others.

The risk of HIV transmission depends on sexual practices, needle sharing for drugs or tattoos, and use of condoms.

Other risk factors include level of viral load, use of pre-exposure and post-exposure prophylaxis, and HIV status of sexual partners.

Therefore, you need to understand your risk level based on the aforementioned factors, in order to prevent HIV transmission.

What is HIV staging?

Staging of HIV is a way of differentiating phases of HIV and associated HIV symptoms. Therefore, HIV symptoms vary, depending on the phase of HIV.

Statge1. This stage is known as the acute HIV infection or acute retroviral syndrome. At this stage of HIV infection, most people have symptoms similar to flu symptoms. Also, such symptoms may be similar to that of respiratory or gastrointestinal infection.

Statge2. This is the clinical latency stage. After the acute infection and initial symptoms, the virus becomes less active, despite its presence in the body. The initial symptoms and signs of HIV disappear as the virus slowly replicates and builds up. Clinical latency stage can last 10 years or more. Many people do not have HIV symptoms during this stage.

Stage3. At this phase of HIV infection, the virus has severely damaged the immune system. The infected person becomes susceptible to opportunistic infections. As a result, HIV symptoms become more apparent. During this phase, most people will experience high fever, fatigue, cognitive impairment, nausea and vomiting, among others.

Common HIV symptoms and Signs of HIV?

Generally, people living with HIV experience some common symptoms irrespective of their gender. Before I go on to specifically discuss HIV women’s symptoms, I will like to first highlight common HIV symptoms, based on HIV’s evolutionary phases.

Early Symptoms and signs of HIV may appear similar to flu symptoms. They include fever, thrush, sore throat, tiredness, headache and rashes. Other HIV symptoms include diarrhea, muscle and joint pain, swollen lymph nodes, mouth ulcers, genital ulcers and night sweats.

Early HIV symptoms occur within two months of HIV transmission. However, HIV.gov has it that symptoms can occur about two weeks after transmission.

Moreover, many people may not have early HIV symptoms after getting infected. You should take note that early HIV symptoms are related to some common health conditions and illnesses.

Many HIV symptoms result from opportunistic infections. Therefore, it is not always HIV itself that makes people fall sick.

Your immune system typically keeps at bay microorganisms that cause infections. This works well when the immune system is intact. But when the virus damages the immune system, these germs can cause illness.

Therefore, for you to be sure of your status, talk to your doctor about testing for HIV.

Some people may not have HIV symptoms for as long as 10 years, yet the virus is still there. HIV is manageable. However, if poorly managed, HIV progresses to an advanced stage that may result in AIDS. So, make sure you get tested.

Common Symptoms and signs of AIDS

Stage 3 of HIV results in symptoms such as chills, high fever, pneumonia, genital sores, severe weight loss, and rashes. Other AIDS symptoms include oral thrush, regular fatigue, chronic cough, memory and breathing problems.

These symptoms call for proper medical attention. If you have one or more of these HIV symptoms, quickly seek medical advice and treatment from you healthcare provider.

HIV is manageable, not a death sentence

HIV women’s symptoms

You now know that early HIV symptoms are usually mild and may be ignored. Though symptoms may not be noticeable, HIV transmission can still occur. For this and other reasons, it is important that you know your HIV status.

You may want to know what HIV symptoms women do have. You know what? Some HIV women’s symptoms may differ from men’s symptoms. However, both men and women share many HIV symptoms in common.

Here is a list of common HIV women’s symptoms:

1. Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID)

Pelvic inflammatory disease is an infection that occurs in the ovaries, fallopian tubes and uterus. It may present with lower abdominal pain, among other symptoms. These symptoms get worse if untreated.

Pelvic inflammatory disease is more difficult to treat in women living with HIV. Also, the symptoms of pelvic inflammatory disease may return more often or last longer than usual in HIV-positive women.

2. Changes in menstrual cycle

Menstrual changes are some of the HIV women’s symptoms that occur in women living with HIV for a long time with no proper management. The menstrual cycle of women living with HIV may change from time to time.

For example, their periods may be heavier or lighter than normal. Also, they may not menstruate at all. Women living with HIV may be experiencing more severe premenstrual symptoms.

3. Flu-like symptoms

Early flu-like symptoms occur in the early weeks after getting infected with HIV. However, some HIV-positive women can be without HIV symptoms at the acute infection phase.

Some people may experience mild flu-like symptoms. These symptoms include weakness, rash, fever, swollen lymph nodes and headache.

These early symptoms disappear after a few weeks. Sometimes, it will take up to 10 years before more severe HIV symptoms appear.

4. Opportunistic Infections

HIV attacks and progressively destroys the immune system, making it difficult for the body to fight off germs. As a result, opportunistic infections take root in the body with devastating consequences.

The opportunistic infections commonly seen in women living with HIV include oral candidiasis, pneumonia, vaginal candidiasis and tuberculosis.

Bacterial infections are also common in HIV-positive women. HIV infection makes it harder to treat these infections.

Women and indeed other people with HIV are also vulnerable to lung, kidney, brain, eyes, digestive tract and skin infections.

It is important to note that HIV can make it harder to treat common infections such as flu.

5. Skin rashes and sores

Skin conditions occur commonly in most people living with HIV. Rashes and skin sores are some of the HIV women’s symptoms with many different types occurring as a result of HIV.

Note that skin rashes and sores may result from a concurrent condition or infection. Also, they may be an HIV symptom.

If you notice a rash in your body, you may need to talk to your healthcare provider about it. Your healthcare provider will review your medical history and determine which tests you need to do. The diagnostic tests will help him/her determine the cause and which appropriate treatment is needed.

Women living with HIV may also have sores and other skin lesions on their genitals, anus and mouth skin.

Skin problems will become less severe or cured when properly treated.

6. Fever

Prolonged low-grade fever may occur in people living with HIV. A low-grade fever is a body temperature that is between 37.7C (99.8F) and 38.2C (100.8F).

The body temperature only goes high when something is wrong in the body, though the cause may not be obvious.

Women who are unaware of their HIV-positive status may ignore this important HIV symptom, because it is a low-grade fever.

Sometimes, the fever may be accompanied by night sweats which can affect night sleep.

7. Swollen lymph nodes

Lymph nodes are present all over the human body. They are located in the back of the head, neck, armpits and groins. Lymph nodes are part of the immune system. They store immune cells, filter pathogenic organisms, and therefore help to ward off infections.

The immune system starts to work harder as HIV begins to replicate and the viral load increases. This results in the enlargement of the lymph nodes, also known as swollen glands.

Lymph node enlargement is one of the first signs of HIV. It may last several months in women with HIV.

8. Recurrent sexually transmitted infections

If an HIV-positive woman has another sexually transmitted infection (STI), her symptoms can get worse due to the HIV infection.

Human papillomavirus (HPV), for example, causes genital warts. This infection is more severe in people living with HIV.

HIV-positive women having genital herpes may experience more intense and frequent outbreaks. Worse still, they may not respond well to their treatment of herpes infection.

9. Advanced symptoms and signs of HIV

As HIV replicates and spreads throughout the body, HIV women’s symptoms become more prominent and severe.

These advanced HIV symptoms include weight loss, diarrhea, severe headache, nausea and vomiting, and chronic cough. Others include difficulty in swallowing, joint pain, shortness of breath and muscle aches.

In the later stages of HIV infection, coma, mental confusion and short-term memory loss may occur.

Don’t let HIV symptoms get advanced

10. AIDS

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) is the most advanced stage of HIV.

At this stage, the virus has severely compromised the immune system. As a result, it becomes increasingly difficult for the immune system to fend off infections.

A healthcare provider diagnoses AIDS when the CD4 cell count is below 200 cells per cubic millimeter of blood (mm3).

When AIDS sets in, the risk of certain cancers known as AIDS- defining cancers rises. These cancers include cervical cancer which is one of the most advanced HIV women’s symptoms, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and Kaposi sarcoma.

Conclusion

To fully understand HIV women’s symptoms, this article first answered the question: what is HIV? It then explored the ‘what’ and ‘how’ of HIV. This has helped to provide a better understanding of how HIV symptoms and signs of HIV evolve.

But first, how can you contract HIV?

You can get HIV via needle sharing, sexual intercourse and through other body fluids.

Moreover, it is important to understand how you can reduce your risk of HIV.

You can reduce your risk of HIV by not sharing needles and not douching after sex. Also, if you have risk factors for HIV, taking pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is not a bad idea. Further, try and use condom correctly if you are in a relationship with an HIV-positive person.

You should always use condom when having sex with an HIV-positive partner. However, HIV-negative women are not at risk of HIV if their HIV-positive partners take HIV drugs and achieve viral suppression.

A viral load of fewer than 200 copies per mL of blood makes HIV transmission a remote possibility. According to the CDC, HIV-positive people with this level of viral load pose no risk of HIV transmission.

Get tested

If you have symptoms suggestive of HIV, take steps and do a test. This is the only way you will know if you have HIV or not.

According to the CDC, everyone aged between 13 and 64 years should get tested for HIV at least once. For those with known risk factors, they should get tested annually.

HIV testing is easy and can be done in a healthcare provider’s office. Also, it can be done at a testing site or at home.

Presence of symptoms like rashes may be a sign of a serious illness.

Therefore, if the HIV test results were negative, despite symptoms, follow up with your doctor. If the results were positive, a healthcare provider can help with a treatment plan.

Finally, HIV is manageable with appropriate and proper treatment. The life expectancy of people living with HIV has improved tremendously following recent advancements in HIV medicine.

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References:

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2018) HIV Testing in Clinical Settings [Online]. Available at: https://www.cdc.gov/hiv/testing/clinical/index.html (Accessed: 14 October 2018).

De Munter. P., Peetermans, W., Derdelinclox i., Vanderschueren S. and Van Wijngaerden, E. (2012) ‘Fever in HIV-infected patients: Less frequent but still complex,’ Acta Clinica Belgica, 67(4), p. 276-281 [Online]. Available at: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23019803 (Accessed: 10 October 2018).

HIV.gov (2017) What to Expect at Your First HIV Care Visit [Online]. Available at: https://www.hiv.gov/hiv-basics/starting-hiv-care/getting-ready-for-your-first-visit/what-to-expect-at-your-first-hiv-care-visit (Accessed: 10 October 2018).

Illinois Department of Public Health (n.d) Facts about HIV/AIDS, women’s health [Online]. Available at: http://www.idph.state.il.us/about/womenshealth/factsheets/aid.htm (Accessed: 13 October 2018).

National Cancer Institute (2017) HIV Infection and Cancer Risk [Online]. Available at: https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/infectious-agents/hiv-fact-sheet (Accessed: 08 October 2018).

New York State Department of Health (n.d) 100 questions and answers about HIV/AIDS [Online]. Available at: https://health.ny.gov/publications/0213.pdf (Accessed: 11 October 2018).

U.S Department of Health and Human Services (2018) Women and HIV [Online]. Available at: https://www.womenshealth.gov/hiv-and-aids (Accessed: 10 October 2018).