HIV Symptoms In Men

HIV (or Human Immunodeficiency Virus) can be defined as the type of pathogen that directly affects the immune system of human beings, by attacking the CD4 cells. The CD4 cells act as a shield to protect the body from any kind of acute illness.

When the CD4 cells get attacked and destroyed, the overall immunity of the body to fight back any major or minor illness gets substantially reduced, making the body weak and fragile. No two men will experience the same HIV symptoms. The following are some of the most known HIV symptoms in men that you should look out for before it gets too late to diagnose.

The Period of Acute Illness

More than 80 percent of men affected by HIV pathogen experience these early symptoms:

Fever
Skin Rash
Headache
Sore Throat
Tiredness

When it comes to men, the early symptoms related to HIV can be very unspecific. The above-mentioned symptoms come at least some days or weeks after getting in contact with the pathogen. The general early-stage time takes between 2 – 4 weeks. Since these symptoms can normally be bearable by the victim, the symptoms are most notably and also frequently mistaken as a mild condition or even flu as well. Most men try to underestimate these symptoms as typical minor conditions of health.

There are also several not-so-common symptoms found in HIV infected men, which are listed as follows:

Ulcers on the person’s genitals
Any joint pain
Ulcers forming inside the mouth
Vomiting or nausea
Sweating at night time
Muscles feeling sore
The lymph nodes become swollen

Furthermore, the HIV pathogen also leads to the formation of hypogonadism – a state of illness where sex hormones are poorly produced in men (and women as well). Still, it should be kept in mind that the symptoms of hypogonadism are more easily observed in men than women. Hypogonadism leads to low testosterone levels in men, which can ultimately lead to Erectile Dysfunction.

The Period of Asymptomatic Phase

The asymptomatic period can also be termed as the gestation period where the HIV pathogen will not demonstrate any further symptoms in the body, even after months or years.

During this time, the pathogen will continue to replicate inside the man’s body and will wreck apart the immune system. Even though the person will not look or feel sick, the virus can still spread to others via different sexual activities.

The Period of Advanced Infection

Also known as Phase III HIV where ultimately the person carrying the pathogen will be termed as experiencing AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome). This is the last stage of the disease, where the person will have a totally damaged immune system and therefore cannot be able to protect the body from other opportunistic infections. Opportunistic infections can be termed as those infections that the human body’s immune system can generally fight back, like flu, cold and fungal infections.

Some symptoms include: