If your doctor does not suggest you start taking HIV treatment now, that is probably because you don’t need to yet. After becoming infected, lots of people stay healthy for years before needing to start treatment.
Gary
I couldn’t understand why the doctor wasn’t giving me HIV medication. My partner was diagnosed with HIV at the same time and he was told he needed to start straight away. But of course he must have had HIV for many years, and I had only had it for maybe a year at the most.
Prudence
The doctors said I must have had HIV for years before I was tested. This meant I had to decide about taking treatment almost there and then. That’s a lot to take in at once; finding out you have HIV, that you also have AIDS because you’re so ill, and that you need to start the treatment right now.
Starting HIV treatment can be a big step. It can’t work unless you take every dose, every time. Unless you have to start straight away, it is a good idea to take a little time to get used to the idea and think about your different treatment options. Usually it means taking several pills once, twice or even three times a day, depending on which ones you choose.
You may have to adjust the pattern of your day, but treatment that fits your lifestyle is usually more successful than trying to change your lifestyle to fit your HIV drugs.
Brian
The specialist nurses at my clinic were great in helping me sort out things that would help me to take my drugs more easily. They came up with a load of useful suggestions about practical things like setting alarms on my phone. I kept feeling sick after taking
my pills in the morning, and they helped me adjust when I took them so that didn’t happen any more.
Mary
The best advice I got was from my friend Anne. She’d been taking tablets for years and told me all kinds of tips that she’d used for remembering which ones to take and when.
Prudence
The pills I took made me feel poorly. It got better after the first few weeks but I confess it was a bit of a struggle. The encouragement of a few people around me meant a lot and helped me to keep going. I talked to the nurses at my clinic about help, and they were able to get me medication to stop me feeling sick, and cream for my skin because it had become so dry.
Some HIV treatment can make you unwell with
problems such as pain or numbness in your
feet or hands, weight loss, headaches or feeling
like you’re going to throw up. These are known
as side effects. People usually find these are
less of a problem after they have been taking
the treatment for a few weeks. But if they are
too much to handle then you should speak to a
nurse or your doctor at your clinic. They can
help you to cope with any side effects you might
experience. Some people have to change their
treatments if the side effects are too much of a
problem, and so it is always best to get advice.
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