Question
I feel dizzy, weak and nauseous – are my symptoms related to my HIV infection?
13 May 2010. Related: All topics, HIV transmission.
Thanks for the great advice you offering.
I was recently diagnosed to be positive March 2010. Prior to this HIV diagnosis I was having headaches for a week, vomiting for a whole day and experienced dizziness for several weeks after. All the medical tests revealed no infection despite the vomiting and the headache.
Most of March 2010 I felt weak and dizzy and the vomiting continued until March 17th. Still medical tests (blood plus full x-ray of the body) were done and reveled no infection. Later that week the HIV diagnosis turned positive. I had a CD4 count of 700 and viral load of 390, which doctors say is good. They did not relate my symptoms of vomiting, headache and dizziness to the HIV infection.
During the last week of April 2010 and still on this day of May 1st as I write, I have had a constant headache, dizziness and nausea and severe weakness that is now affecting my work. I am really confused and need to understand what is causing this. My good Doctors are not relating this to HIV yet the other tests are not revealing what is causing these symptoms. I will still have other tests next week that have been recommended by my GP Dr.
Do you think it is HIV related?
Why do you think I am having these tests reveling no infection yet I continue to get headache, dizziness and vomiting for March, April and now May?
I am 27 and I think have not been positive for more than 2 years
Thanks for your advice.
Answer
Thank you for your question.
I am sorry to hear you are unwell.
To give you a more accurate answer it would be useful to know roughly the dates when you tested negative prior to testing positive in March 2010.
If you are newly infected with HIV it could be that these symptoms are related to seroconversion. Seroconversion is the time when your body starts to build an immune response to HIV. This immune response is what is measured on most HIV tests. If you tested negative whilst you had these symptoms and then within the next 6-12 weeks you tested positive for HIV then it could be the seroconversion that is responsible for the headaches, vomiting and weakness.
For more information on symptoms of seroconversion please follow this link
However, if you are not feeling any better now that you have a very low viral load the symptoms could be due to an underlying condition and not related to HIV. Do you see a HIV specialist as well as your GP? At i-Base we are not doctors but treatment advocates and it might be worth getting a second opinion from a specialist in HIV.
Hi Neza,
I’m glad you have some support to deal with this. I hope that your boyfriend gets better soon, please do let me know if you have any questions I can help with.
His family knw dat his positive but my doesn’t knw of dat bt they knw his sick. For nw he can’t even breath for him self they using the machine to help him bt they say his in stable condition . His in ICU since the 13 july until nw
Hi Neza,
I’m very sorry to hear that your boyfriend is so unwell. It’s very good that he is in hospital though,this is the best place for him to be. Although pneumonia is a very serious condition there are good rates of survival when people are hospitalised- more than 3/4 of HIV positive people recover after being admitted to ICU with pneumonia. When did your boyfriend go into hospital?
Do you have any support just now? It’s important to have support to help you cope while your boyfriend is in hospital. Do any of your friends or family know that he is sick?
My boyfriend is very sick his in icu his got pneumonia he tested positive in 2008 nw his cd4 went down to 48 n they say his got water on his lungs what’s gonna happen is he going to make it?
Hello,
Now that treatments are available, having HIV no longer means you are going to die. Modern treatments can give a near normal life expectancy and a good quality of life. For more information on treatments please follow this link. If you are having liver problems then you can follow this link to find out more.
Good luck and best wishes
I was tested HIV positive in April 2010. Is this test 100 percent? I am realy sick am I going to die? The first thing the doctor said to me is that I am having a problem wth my liver.
I am sorry to hear about your recent diagnosis. You’re girlfriend has been very lucky. If she is pregnant then you should make sure you only have protected sex during her pregnancy to protect both her and your baby. If she is newly infected during the pregnancy your baby could be at high risk of infection. For more information about HIV, women’s health and pregnancy please follow this link. Many couples lead very happy and fulfilled lives when one person is positive and one person is negative. If you decide to have more children in the future then there are ways in which you can protect your partner from infection. For more information please follow this link.
I’ve just tested HIV positive and my partner tested negative. She’s pregnant with my baby. We have been having unprotected sex for the past year now. How is that possible? Please help
Hi MJ,
Thanks for getting back to me. I am sorry to hear you are still not feeling well but you are doing the right thing by letting the doctors investigate and rule out underlying infections.
I am not a doctor but a treatment advocate. I will try and answer your question about seroconversion but please remember that it is impossible to know for definite when you were infected. From the data you have given me it could be that you had already seroconverted by March because your CD4 count is high and your viral load is low. At what point before March 2010 is harder to say. During a new infection and seroconversion the viral load usually gets very high. In your case in March it had gone down again. If you had not exposed yourself to HIV between September 2008 and the time you were diagnosed then it is possible that you were infected somewhere between your last HIV negative test in July 2008 and September 2008.
Hello Charlotte,
Thanks once again for the service.
I tested negative in July 2008 and I tested positive in March 2010 with a CD4 count of 700 and a viral load of 390. Between September 2008 to present day May 2010 I have not had any sexual contact. Would you still think it is seroconversion during that time?
I see an HIV specialist and GP and both have done extensive tests and see no problem! Even last week I had several tests done which indicated no infection yet my problem (dizzy, weak and nauseous) continues. Actually during the last 3months I have had about 6 major blood tests and an x-ray but all have not identified the problem! I hope is it not something killing me softly hehe. Many thanks for the advice.