Symptomatic Acute Hiv newly diagnosed

[Canadaguy]

abot a week and a half ago I went to the doctor for a bump on the inside of my lip ..... he was not worried abut the bump but thought I had thrush ...... long story short it was the early manifestation of what is now Oral Hairy Luekoplakia .... shortly thereafter ..... I started to get joint ahes back pain and muscle aches .... followed by a sore throat and limb weakness/aches. My western blot tests showed negative but my p24 antigen is positive for hiv and we are awaiting another western blot ..... it seems that the Infectious disease dr. wants to wait for the it to show up on a regular blood test with antibodies before we talk of treatment. Here is what worries me ..... I have been reading that Oral Hairy Lukoplakia and mono related symptoms and symptomatic acute hiv infections are related to poor long term outcome and that early Haart treatment is strongly advised. I have also read that these symptoms are early indications of a very weakened immune system and that more dangerous opportunistic infections could follow..... I have had no fever or diareah / vomiting ... and my exposure was 24 days ago. Should I anticipate a poor outcome .... are my fears justified? I am very worried and could really use some answers. .... also headaches and the inside of my nose is very inflamed, dry and red.
Any answers appreciated.

[mecch]

Well I think you'll need to wait for the final diagnosis.  Sorry to hear.
You must be very worried and shocked!
It seems you have good closely watched health care.
Please don't read too too much into your symptoms and diagnose your prospects.
I think it is quite good to education oneself. Just don't assume you can understand all the technical information, not for quite some time.
If you have a wonderful immune response or not, time will tell. Keep your optimism and faith.
If it turns out you do need HAART early, it will be successful. When I sero converted my viral loads stayed astronomical for a few months. Drs waited with the rationale to really see the immune response. That was nerve racking. I can tell you serocoversion was nasty but lasted just a week or two, and then even with extremely high viral loads, I felt ok.  After a few months, I went on HAART.  So - from negative to positive to treated in a few months. All specialists have agreed that HAART is very effective and that long term prospects are good.
You say:  "symptomatic acute hiv infections are related to poor long term outcome and that early Haart treatment is strongly advised"
This is hardly cut and dry. And you don't even have a diagnosis yet!!!  Maybe in a few weeks you will be controlling the virus quite well! I had a friend who was so very very sick at seroconversion, and then turned out to be borderline elite controller!  So, wait and see.
You simply cannot read old literature and relate it to your situation. You must discuss all your fears with your doctor and ask him/her to help you find the optimism to understand what medical science can do for you today, 2009. All the best!

[Ann]

My western blot tests showed negative but my p24 antigen is positive for hiv and we are awaiting another western blot ..... it seems that the Infectious disease dr. wants to wait for the it to show up on a regular blood test with antibodies before we talk of treatment.

CG,

Your doctor is doing exactly the right thing. You cannot be conclusively diagnosed with hiv until you have both a positive ELISA antibody and WB. There's no point in talking about treatment for something you might not even have.

Fingers crossed your WB continues to be negative. Keep us posted.

Ann

[Canadaguy]

Hi, newly diagnosed and waiting for a second result to confirm. My first symptom was OHL, almost 2 weeks ago. The lymphs dont seem as sore for the past 2 days but .... I am not sure if the worst of the acute infection is over. My question is ...... Has anyone else had OHL as a presenting sign during or before seroconversion. Is this a bad sign ..... could it mean I am progressing quickly? Does OHL eventually go away or is it permanent. Can it be treated now? Anyone with a similar experience?
Thanks

[Ann]

CG,

Technically, you shouldn't even be posting in this forum until you receive confirmation of your hiv diagnosis. That is why I merged your threads. Please at least keep all your posts in one thread until you have a definite diagnosis.

As for your OHL, OHL is notoriously difficult to diagnose and cannot be conclusively diagnosed without biopsy. It cannot be diagnosed by simply looking at it. Unless you've been diagnosed via biopsy, there's a good chance you don't have OHL as it's fairly rare.

There's not much point in discussing either hiv or OHL with you until you actually know what you're dealing with.

Ann