How would hiv affect the healing process?

i'm waiting for hiv test results, and if i HAVE been exposed, it would have been about a year ago.

how would hiv infection affect the body's healing process? i know you bruise more easily with a suppressed immune system, but i've always bruised easily. i don't take an unusually long time to heal, i don't think. would being infected hinder the healing process of tattoos or piercings? i've had both executed on my body with no issues with healing whatsoever. i have scars from injuries i've acquired over the past year, but nothing ever got infected or had difficulty healing.

also, as a woman, i presume my menstrual cycle would be affected by a suppressed immune system, but i haven't missed a beat in terms of consistency in my periods. they're not too long, not too short, and arrive almost the same day each month. i have bad cramps during my periods, but i always have from the time i was 12 years old and first bled. would it be foolish to perceive this as an optimistic indicator?

First of all.. try not to stress yourself out about it.

I was in your shoes just last week! I had been worrying that I was infected with HIV. I'd look up symptoms, and almost every symptom listed, I somehow decided that those symptoms were affecting me. In a mind over matter kind of way. I thought my freckles were lesions. I believed I was bruising easier. I thought I had extreme fatigue (even though I am an insomniac lol), I thought I got night sweats -- because I woke up one time a tiny bit sweaty. I even thought I gave my cats AIDS! Which is silly. I was too scared to get tested because of what the results might be, but I couldn't sit around and freak myself out all the time every time I thought of it. Especially with all the AIDS commercials. Those would spark my fear up again lol. So finally I got tested, and it came back negative. Now my stress is gone, and those 'symptoms' aren't as severe as I thought they were. In fact, in reality, I didn't have any of them. I was just being stressed out.

I don't believe HIV would prevent you from having a normal healing process. Having HIV, you can appear to be totally fine, and feel great. It's AIDS that makes you sick. And AIDS can sometimes take 20 or more years to develop.

So my thoughts is that you are, like I was, a worrier, because it is a scary thing! Take it easy until you get your results. You'll feel a lot better.

Good luck with your results! :)

Believe me you'll be fine. Just keep a positive attitude, and stay off antiretrovirals!
Its mainly the phychological effects that cause more damage!

But don't jump the cart before the horse. Your results hopefully will be HIV negative!