Hey guys, stressing out so much so please help me!
Does the rash associated with Anti-Retroviral Syndrome just appear at the beginning of HIV infection or does/can it also appear later on...?

I went to the doc today and he said my type of rash (including palms and soles) in conjunction with the mild symptoms of mononucleosis was pretty much only seen in HIV/AIDS patients...I havent had a risky encounter in a long time so unless i was infected a while ago I maybe have a chance.

Thankyou so much for answering,
Worried Aussie.

Palms and soles could be a sign of syphillis which shows up months later. It is also treatable by antibiotics. Is it red or brown spots?

Thanks for answering....they are flat red spots all over my body, especially my arms but excluding my face. It initially started with thousands of pin ***** like spots in the same locations (looked like sunburn) and about a day after i developed headaches, fatigue and sore throat, and I also have geographic tongue. The spots then became larger and more diffuse with some dissapearing and are now juts itchy & not going away after 5 days. I have no other symptoms but slight malaise.

it sounds exactly like Pruritic papular eruption (PPE) which is an early AIDS infection. However if PPE is a follicular centred disease then why would it be on palms? I had one risky encounter in Septmeber 2001 (3 years ago) and was tested a year after and it came back clear, and no risks since. Can late HIV symptoms crop up after only 3 years? I have had no symptoms and have been well for a long time, got monoucleosis type disease a few months back but apart from that I have been in good health for the last 3 years...can PPE just spring up out of the blue?

I have had a very stressful time recently with a few deaths in my family, parents divorce, breakups etc. and havent been eating a very good diet or getting enough sleep. Could that compromise my immunity and cause this, or are there any other viruses that are responsible for this? Im so worried!

Thankyou so much for helping!

I just got the tests back and I am HIV negative!!

I was 120% convinced I had it, every sypmtom (Ive become quite the doctor as I am now well acquatinted with terms like maculopapular, purpurtic, morbilliform, edema etc etc.) I looked at on the net pointed to me having early symptomatic HIV and no descriptions for it being anything else. I even had what I was going to say to my family & friends planned.

Im well aware of how many people get a sore throat and think they have HIV, but I had these very strange symptoms which even the doc said was suggestive of HIV...
....and I still dont have it!

So anyone worrying about having HIV, dont worry you will most likely be fine!!

I'm very happy for you!! I bet you feel a lot better.