General Q and A Forum - Symtpoms of HIV or anxiety ? blurry vision & trouble breathing o

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Q: Symtpoms of HIV or anxiety ? blurry vision & trouble breathing o

asked by: DoctorQuestion on September 1st, 2007

I have had a few symptoms over the last few months that have had me sweeping the internet looking for answers, and what i have seen looks like i might have HIV or AIDS, im hoping im being a hypocondriac but the symptoms include my eyesight getting gradually worse where my left eye looks completly blurry at all time sof the day, i have also had these breathing problems from the minute i wake up to the time i fall asleep at night where it feels like I cant get enough air into my system (It looks to me closely resembles PCP, an illness that acompanies HIV patients a lot of the times), at first i thought it to be anxiety but it happens to me all day everyday, extreme fatigue for months. As I'm typing all this out i know it seems my symptoms could be from anything but i picked the one of the worst ones out there, anyways is there something that could be causing all this, especailly the breathing problem. Thank You

Replies(1)

Dr. Nikola Gjuzelov , MD

replied on December 3rd, 2007

General Q and A Answer A3366

An HIV-infection and AIDS can not be diagnosed according to symptoms alone because symptoms of HIV/AIDS can also be present during many other diseases and conditions. The only way we can diagnose HIV/AIDS is by performing serological blood tests (ELISA and Western blot) for the HIV-infection.

In your case, it seem that there are 3 dominant symptoms: blurry vision, fatigue and breathing problems. You can check the blurry vision at an ophthalmologist's office to exclude or confirm an eye disorder. Additionally, fatigue and breathing problems could be checked by a GP first. A physical examination (auscultation) and some standard blood analyses (blood count, sedimentation rate, hemoglobin …) can be done to help diagnose the symptoms. Then, an X-ray image of the chest can be done later if necessary. Anxiety is one of the possible options but organic disorders should be excluded first. And of course, you can get a blood test to confirm or exclude the possibility of an HIV infection.

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