Life Changes After HIV/AIDS
There’s no question that having HIV changes a person’s life, habits and relationships. With the antiretroviral therapy available today, however, a person who is HIV positive can live well for many years. Research is ongoing for new and better therapies and potentially a cure for HIV/AIDS in the meantime.
Knowing that you are HIV positive, gives you power that not knowing doesn’t. It gives you the power to seek treatment, to manage the health issues you can control and to protect the people you love.
Here are some suggestions for taking care of yourself if you are HIV positive:
Protect Your Health
Because HIV damages the immune system, it is harder for your body to fight off infections. This makes it that much more important to safeguard your health and keep your body strong. Some ways you can do this are to:
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Eat properly, even when you may not have an appetite or it seems like too much trouble to prepare food. |
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Get enough rest |
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Get regular exercise |
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Avoid alcohol |
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Avoid smoking |
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Don’t use illicit drugs |
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Reduce stress. This can include yoga, meditation, spiritual activities or hobbies you enjoy. |
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Get regular exercise |
Get informed.
The more you know about HIV/AIDS and the drugs that are used to treat it, the better able you will be to make decisions. You’ll be able to spot potential problems with side effects, drug interactions or opportunistic infections before they cause trouble.
Take an active role in your own health care.
Having HIV gives you a new relationship with your doctor. You will need to come in for tests and visits more often than a healthy person does. HIV disease and treatment is complex. You need to work in partnership with your doctors and other health care providers to make sure that treatment is as effective as possible. Find a doctor experienced in treating HIV whom you can trust.
As a patient, it’s up to you to keep all your medical appoints, take medicines as your doctor prescribes them and report any effects from your medicines.
If You Are a Woman With HIV
Women with HIV tend to follow the same progression as men do. Treatment for HIV is virtually the same for men and women.
However, women with HIV have some special issues they should be aware of:
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Some anti-retrovirals make birth control pills less effective. This means that a woman with HIV could be at greater risk of becoming pregnant – even if she is taking birth control pills. |
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There hasn’t lot of studies on the effect of anti-retrovirals on pregnant women and their unborn babies. If you are on anti-retroviral therapy and are pregnant or plan to become pregnant, you should talk to your doctor. |
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You are at greater risk of getting the human papilloma virus (HPV), which in turn can put you at greater risk of developing cervical cancer. You should have regular Pap tests. Your doctor may recommend a test for HPV as well. |
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The chance of a pregnant woman with untreated HIV passing the virus to her baby is about one in four – 25%. If that woman is getting treatment, the risk of passing the virus to the baby drops to 2%. |
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When a baby whose mother is HIV positive is born, he or she will need to be tested for HIV and given medicine to prevent HIV infection and other diseases such as PCP. |
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An HIV-positive mother should not breast feed her baby. HIV infection can be passed to the baby in the milk. |
Living with a Partner who is HIV-Positive
If you have a partner who has HIV, you should take care to avoid contact with that person’s blood, semen, vaginal fluid or breast milk. If blood is visible in any body fluid, wear latex, vinyl or nitrile deposable gloves when cleaning up. Hands should be washed with soap and water after taking off gloves when a spill has been cleaned up.
Because other germs can be passed through urine or feces, you should also avoid contact with the urine or feces of a person with HIV.
A freshly mixed solution of chlorine bleach and water (a quarter cup of bleach for every gallon of water) can be used to clean up areas or items contaminated with blood or bodily fluids.
Household items like sports equipment, phones, dishes, food, clothes, bathrooms or swimming pools can be shared with people who have HIV without risk of infection.
You should avoid:
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Sharing sex toys |
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Sharing drug needles or the works used to prepare for an injection. |
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Sharing razors or toothbrushes |
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Having unsafe sex. Even if both partners have HIV, safe sex should be practiced. Not doing this makes treating HIV harder. It also increases the risk of other infections, including other STDs and opportunistic infections. |
