Sunday 23 February 2014

16 Signs Your Sexual Partner May Be HIV Positive

Within a month or two of HIV entering the body, 40% to 90% of people experience flulike symptoms known as acute retroviral syndrome (ARS).

But sometimes HIV symptoms don’t appear for years—sometimes even a decade—after infection.

“In the early stages of HIV infection, the most common symptoms are none,” says Michael Horberg, MD, director of HIV/AIDS for Kaiser Permanente, in Oakland, Calif. One in five people in the United States with HIV doesn’t know they have it, which is why it’s so important to get tested, especially if you have unprotected sex with more than one partner or use intravenous drugs.

Here are some signs that you may be HIV-positive.

Fever

One of the first signs of ARS can be a mild fever, up to about 102 degrees F.

The fever, if it occurs at all, is often accompanied by other usually mild symptoms, such as fatigue, swollen lymph glands, and a sore throat.

“At this point the virus is moving into the blood stream and starting to replicate in large numbers,” says Carlos Malvestutto, MD, instructor of infectious diseases and immunology in the department of medicine at NYU School of Medicine in New York City. “As that happens, there is an inflammatory reaction by the immune system.”

Fatigue

The inflammatory response generated by your besieged immune system also can cause you to feel tired and lethargic. Fatigue can be both an early and later sign of HIV.

Ron, 54, a public relations executive in the Midwest, started to worry about his health when he suddenly got winded just walking. “Everything I did, I got out of breath,” he says. “Before that I had been walking three miles a day.”

Ron had tested HIV positive 25 years before feeling so tired; fatigue during acute, or newly contracted, HIV might not be so obvious.

Achy muscles, joint pain, swollen lymph nodes

ARS is often mistaken for the flu, mononucleosis, or another viral infection, even syphilis or hepatitis.

That’s not surprising: Many of the symptoms are the same, including pain in the joints and muscles and swollen lymph glands.

Lymph nodes are part of your body’s immune system and tend to get inflamed when there’s an infection. Many of them are located in your armpit, groin, and neck.

Sore throat and headache

As with other symptoms, sore throat and headache can often be recognized as ARS only in context, Dr. Horberg says.

If you’ve engaged recently in high-risk behavior, an HIV test is a good idea. Get tested for your own sake and for others: HIV is most infectious in the earliest stage.

Keep in mind that the body hasn’t produced antibodies to HIV yet so an antibody test may not pick it up. (It can take a few weeks to a few months for HIV antibodies to show in a blood test). Investigate other test options such as one that detects viral RNA, typically within nine days of infection.

Skin rash

Skin rashes can occur early or late in the course of HIV/AIDS.

For Ron, this was another sign that he might not have run-of-the-mill allergies or a cold.

“They were like boils, with some itchy pink areas on my arms,” Ron says. The rashes can also appear on the trunk of the body. “If [the rashes] aren’t easily explained or easily treated, you should think about having an HIV test,” Dr. Horberg says.

Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea

Anywhere from 30% to 60% of people have short-term nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea in the early stages of HIV, Dr. Malvestutto says.

These symptoms can also appear as a result of antiretroviral therapy and later in the infection, usually as the result of an opportunistic infection.

“Diarrhea that is unremitting and not responding at all to usual therapy might be an indication,” Dr. Horberg says. Or symptoms may be caused by an organism not usually seen in people with healthy immune systems, he adds.

Weight loss

Once called “AIDS wasting,” weight loss is a sign of more advanced illness and could be due in part to severe diarrhea.

“If you’re already losing weight, that means the immune system is usually fairly depleted,” Dr. Malvestutto says. “This is the patient who has lost a lot of weight even if they continue to eat as much as possible. This is late presentation. We still see a lot of these.” It has become less common, however, thanks to antiretroviral therapy.

A person is considered to have wasting syndrome if they lose 10% or more of their body weight and have had diarrhea or weakness and fever for more than 30 days, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Dry cough

A dry cough was the first sign Ron had that something was wrong. He at first dismissed it as bad allergies.

But it went on for a year and a half—and kept getting worse. Benadryl, antibiotics, and inhalers didn’t fix the problem. Neither did allergists.

This symptom—an “insidious cough that could be going on for weeks that doesn’t seem to resolve,” Dr. Malvestutto says—is typical in very ill HIV patients.

Pneumonia

The cough and the weight loss may also presage a serious infection caused by a germ that wouldn’t bother you if your immune system was working properly.

“There are many different opportunistic infections and each one can present differently,” Dr. Malvestutto says. In Ron’s case, it was Pneumocystis pneumonia (PCP), aka “AIDS pneumonia,” which eventually landed him in the hospital.

Other opportunistic infections include toxoplasmosis, a parasitic infection that affects the brain; a type of herpes virus called cytomegalovirus; and yeast infections such as thrush.

Night sweats

About half of people get night sweats during the early stages of HIV infection, Dr. Malvestutto says.

These can be even more common later in infection and aren’t related to exercise or the temperature of the room.

Similar to the hot flashes that menopausal women suffer, they’re also hard to dismiss, given that they soak your bedclothes and sheets.

Read the 6 remaining signs at Health.com

Thursday 20 February 2014

MEN: Six Types Of Sex Women Enjoy

You seem to be noticing a pattern with your last couple of girlfriends: during the first few months, you can barely keep your hands off each other, and slowly but surely, the sexual frequency drops so much below the freezing point that you end up right back where you started: out with the guys, desperate to score.
but you want one

The thing is, you kinda like having a girlfriend. So how can you keep the dreaded bedroom boredom from setting in with your current lady? You must never let the sex become routine. It’s easier than you think; you just have to add different styles of lovemaking to your repertoire, and have a woman who’s willing to go the distance.

So what are these different styles and when are they appropriate? From romantic to animalistic, read on and find out how to keep the flame burning for good.

Type 1 – Seductive Sex

Chances are that your first few sexual encounters with your woman will revolve around seduction. In other words, you’re going to do your damndest to charm her right into your bed.

Look deep into her eyes and “sensualize” the conversation in order to seduce her mind and get the sexual energy between you flowing.

Once you have her eating out of the palm of your hand, take her in your arms and kiss her. Lead her into the bedroom and slowly undress her. Lay her down and make love to her while keeping eye contact. Maintain a constant, steady pace and refrain from using too many sound effects. After all, you’re the strong, silent type tonight.

This type of set-up is also good for when you’ve been together for a while and want to feel like the stud that you are, and want to remind her of that too.

Type 2 – Romantic Sex

This type of sex is good for when you’re both relaxed and not pressed for time, such as during a weekend getaway. It’s time to enjoy the fact that neither of you has anything to do but enjoy each other’s bodies.

Here’s your chance to give her what she wants: a romantic setting and seemingly endless foreplay. Light candles, put on some sexy music (it’s subjective), open up a bottle of Merlot, and caress all of her erogenous zones, including her thighs, butt, back, neck, soles of her feet, and breasts.

The ensuing sex should be slow and rhythmic, and allow both parties to enjoy every sensation to its fullest. Basically, it should feel like it’s going in slow motion.

Don’t forget, she also wants to get wild with you…

Type 3 – Animalistic Sex

Other times, you are just so hot for each other that prolonging foreplay just seems like agony, like when you’re at a club and get incredibly turned on, but have to wait until you get home. Once you unlock that front door, it’s time for animalistic sex.

Grab her and kiss her hard, and rip each other’s clothes off; it doesn’t even matter if some of them stay on. Go ahead and do it doggy style on the living room floor, or prop her up on the kitchen counter if you so desire. Do it fast and hard. Grab her hair by the roots, yell if you feel like it; just be sure to check your inhibitions at the door.

Type 4 – Passionate Sex
Perhaps you were away on business and haven’t seen her for a week, or maybe you had a huge fight and need to make up; the point is you’re burning with desire and you want to devour each other.

The resulting sex should be intense and deeply felt. Hold on to her body and make love to her like she’s all the woman you could ever want or need.

Type 5 – Quickie Sex
This one’s great if you’re pressed for time, stressed out, or in an unusual location that you really shouldn’t be having sex in, such as in your office, or on a somewhat secluded beach.

This one’s quick and to the point; you want an orgasm and you want it now.

Type 6 – Kinky Sex
If you and your woman have been together for a while and trust each other, and are looking to spice things up, it may just be time to get kinky.

Get out the scarves and tie her hands behind her head or to the bedpost, and make her your slave. Or blindfold her and keep her guessing what you’ll do next. Get your hands on some edible body paints and make her body your canvas. Tease her with a feather. Or shock her system with ice cubes or candle wax. Spank her.

You can also get her to wear some sexy lingerie and do a little strip tease for you. She can be your naughty school girl, cowgirl, French maid; whatever turns you on.

keep it coming

As long as you and your woman have compatible sex drives and a sense of adventure when it comes to your sexual escapades, you should be able to lead a mutually fulfilling sex life and prevent the flame from dying. Just remember to switch it up and spice it up.

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