Many people remain symptom-free for years while the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV, grows and slowly destroys the body's immunity, eventually morphing into AIDS. Identifying HIV or AIDS based on symptoms alone is challenging, because many of the early symptoms can be easily mistaken for other common conditions. Those who have engaged in high-risk behaviors, such as intravenous drug use or unprotected sex, and who experience symptoms should get an HIV blood test for an accurate diagnosis.
Flu-like Illness
Many experience flu-like symptoms that last anywhere from two to four weeks after first becoming infected, according to MayoClinic.com. Signs and symptoms can include fever, headache, sore throat and body aches.
Swollen Lymph Nodes
Many HIV-carriers skip the flu-like illness stage and remain asymptomatic for years while hosting the HIV virus. Eventually, most will develop swollen lymph nodes, which MayoClinic.com points out is the first real sign of HIV for many.
Diarrhea and Weight Loss
Many people become aware of their HIV status when they begin to experience diarrhea coupled with weight loss. Doctors label diarrhea as chronic when it lasts longer than a month. Diarrhea and weight loss usually continue throughout the course of the HIV virus.
Doctors diagnose AIDS when an HIV-infected person's CD4 count drops below 200. At this point, diarrhea and weight loss lead to AIDS wasting syndrome, where the person loses at least 10 percent of her body weight from diarrhea. Treatments for AIDS wasting syndrome focus on stemming diarrhea and improving appetite.
Cough
Dry cough accompanied by a chronic sore throat is also an early sign of HIV, according to the McKesson website PrivateMDLabs.com. It is also common for patients to experience shortness of breath along with the sore throat and cough. Once a person develops AIDS, this cough appears as part of an AIDS-related pneumonia known as pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, a common opportunistic infection seen with AIDS.
Skin and Mouth Infections
Skin and mouth conditions will begin to pop up as the virus further compromises the immune system. The body's inability to fight yeast growth will cause patients to develop genital yeast infections or oral thrush on their tongues and inside their mouths. Gingivitis and oral hairy leukoplakia can also occur when viral infections arise.
Skin infections like herpes sores, plantar warts and molluscum, a viral skin infection that causes raised skin nodules, are also likely with HIV. As HIV progresses to AIDS, these sorts of infections become more serious, frequent and life-threatening.
