Subject: Stress and ARS (1/15/02)
Q. can you talk a little about what you've found regarding the
effects of stress on someone who is waiting out a window or testing period?
i've heard & read a lot about how
the effects of stress can cause more or less the same sumptoms as ARS....
A. You are correct, the effects of anxiety and stress can very
much mimic the symptoms of ARS. Stress
can have a large physiological effect on you causing a ton of different
symptoms. It can make you tired, wired,
elevate your temperature, cause various aches and pains (including sore throats
and headaches), difficulties with bowel movements, difficulties with breathing,
burning mouth syndrome (which people frequently mistake for thrush…thrush would
be indicated by a white, cottage cheese-like layer on your mouth, not just your
tongue, which is easily scraped away leaving a red area underneath, and is also
very rare during ARS), insomnia and the list just goes on. Even swollen glands can be a symptom of
stress, although kind of indirectly. If
you are nervous about ARS and keep rubbing your glands to see if they are
swollen, you can irritate them and cause them to swell. Another common symptom I have seen among “worried
well” is painful armpits…people read that swollen glands in the armpits are
possibly indicative of ARS, and suddenly, their armpits hurt, without anything
actually swollen there. Generally, what
you want to look out for if you are concerned if your symptoms are being caused
by stress is think about when you experience symptoms. Are they worse when you’re thinking about
what is stressing you out? Do they
pretty much disappear when you’re not thinking about it? This is one of the many reason I frequently
will state that you cannot diagnose HIV based on symptoms alone, only by
testing. If you are experiencing symptoms,
particularly if they go on for a long period of time or worsen, you should seek
medical care, regardless of the cause; however, if you are especially stressed
out, make sure you mention that to the physician.
Waiting out the window period or
waiting for test results will stress out pretty much anyone who gives a damn
about their health. If the stress is so
bad that you are experiencing physical symptoms related to it, that is an
indication that you may need to seek some help. If you don’t want to see a professional, turn to a close friend
or family member. From what I have seen
among those who were very stressed out over the possibility of HIV (including
myself), most of them have had very low to no risk exposures and were probably
worrying over nothing, and another person may help you to see that. Remember, being very stressed out about HIV
is a normal thing, and is to be expected, but if it is controlling one’s life
and causing them to be constantly miserable, that’s not normal and needs to be
corrected. Sometimes a simple negative
HIV test will do the trick, but sometimes not, and getting testing repeatedly
during the window period will probably not alleviate the stress. Hope that answers your question, and feel
free to write back if you have any more.