The symptoms of becoming positive today are very different than the 80s and early 90s. Back then you could definitely tell if someone has hiv aids.
Also the symptoms vary from person to person. If I had to guess some of the common symptoms. Are high fevers, night sweats, weight loss. Catching colds easily.

If she's taking her meds daily she should have NO symptoms. Medication these days kind of puts the virus on pause on our bodies. When we go off the meds symptoms should creep up but it might take a while.

The Good News (The "Aunt" Perspective)
In the 1980s and 90s, these symptoms were often the beginning of a very difficult path. Today, if someone tests positive and starts medication:

All these symptoms usually disappear.

The virus becomes Undetectable, meaning it can't be passed to others and it can't hurt the person's body.

They can live a life just as long as someone without HIV—just like your aunt is doing!

3. What are the "External" symptoms (The physical signs)?
Besides the flu-like feeling, HIV can show up on the outside of the body in several ways, especially if it remains untreated for a long time:

The Skin: Persistent, itchy rashes or flaky, red skin (Seborrheic dermatitis) that doesn't go away with standard lotions.

The Mouth (Thrush): A thick, white coating on the tongue or the roof of the mouth caused by a yeast infection.

Night Sweats: Not just "feeling warm," but waking up with your pajamas and sheets completely soaked through.

Shingles: A painful, blistering rash that usually appears in a "stripe" on one side of the body. While anyone can get shingles, it is much more common in people whose immune systems are struggling.

Rapid Weight Loss: Sometimes called "wasting," where a person loses weight very quickly without trying.

2. How long does it take to be identified?
HIV cannot be detected the very next day after exposure. There is a "window period" while the virus replicates or the body builds an immune response.

The Earliest (1–4 weeks): A Nucleic Acid Test (NAT) can find the virus itself in the blood as early as 10 days after exposure, but this test is expensive and usually only used if someone knows they had a high-risk event.

The Standard (3–6 weeks): Most clinics use a 4th Generation Antigen/Antibody test. This can usually give a reliable result within 18 to 45 days.

The "Final" Answer (3 months): While modern tests are very fast, doctors still consider 90 days (3 months) the point where a negative result is 100% conclusive for almost everyone.