syphilis be mistaken for HIV?

[HIV? poz about being neg]

Is it possible for Syphilis to be mistaken for HIV ? or vise versa?

[John2038]

It's a good question.

It seems that if the symptoms might look similar, the syphilis is not responsible of the creation of HIV-antibodies (I am making an assumption here).

What is sure is that:
Syphilis and HIV coinfected individuals taking ART can be misdiagnosed as doing an antiretroviral drug reaction.

NOTE
Syphilis infection was associated with significant increases in the HIV viral load and significant decreases in the CD4 cell count.
The findings underscore the importance of preventing and promptly treating syphilis in HIV-infected individuals.
Souce: http://hivinsite.ucsf.edu/InSite?page=kb-05-01-04

[pozguy75]

No it is not possible for Syphilis to be mistaken for HIV...one is a bacteria and the other is a virus...apples and oranges.

[NLEWLAD]

i caught syphilis with my hiv infection

[pozguy75]

Though you may indeed contract both at the same time, they are very different animals and can not be mistaken for one another.

[unknownsir]

i have no idea which i got first but i found out that i had HIV and Neurosyphilis at the same time.
Generally it is accepted that getting them both will beat ur cd4 down real fast and let ur viral load run rampant.

my doctors had me tested several times, several ways for both before they decided to accept the diagnosis as my cd4 was 1200 and vl undetectable.  i have remained lucky that after 2 years my cd ranges from 1200-1700 and vl remains undetectable

[steevm]

I have a question about hiv and syphilis.  I hope this is the right place to ask. 

I tested poz for HIV and Syphillis in Nov, although I'm massively confused with the doc's explanation about it.  I got the results as 1:4 ratio and he said it's been there, but possibly somewhat treated earlier by some other antibiotic I was taking by coincidence.  I had the 6 shots of penicillin (as well as flu, pneumonia and a hep b booster) to treat it and now 3 mos later, it's still 1:4.  He didn't really give me an idea of what to do at this point, tho he said we might have to do a lumbar puncture.  I'm pretty sure I don't want that...sounds ugly.

Now I'm just freaked and confused.  Any ideas? 

[BreakerOneNine]

I have a question about hiv and syphilis.  I hope this is the right place to ask. 

I tested poz for HIV and Syphillis in Nov, although I'm massively confused with the doc's explanation about it.  I got the results as 1:4 ratio and he said it's been there, but possibly somewhat treated earlier by some other antibiotic I was taking by coincidence.  I had the 6 shots of penicillin (as well as flu, pneumonia and a hep b booster) to treat it and now 3 mos later, it's still 1:4.  He didn't really give me an idea of what to do at this point, tho he said we might have to do a lumbar puncture.  I'm pretty sure I don't want that...sounds ugly.

Now I'm just freaked and confused.  Any ideas? 

I had a lumbar puncture not too long ago...it wasnt that bad...freaked me out at first...but once they started it..it wasnt nothing I couldnt handle.