Positive Bolton People

Dealing With Your Diagnosis

If you have just found out you're HIV positive, you're probably experiencing a range of different emotions and our experience tells us that they're not likely to be positive: at least in the first instance.

However, thanks to new treatments, many people living with HIV lead a relatively normal life.

Don't Go It Alone

Don't try to deal with things on your own. Finding the right support is essential. Professional and confidential advice is always available from your clinic or doctor and they are there to help you.

Do think carefully about how, when or if to tell your friends, family and colleagues. Their reactions can be unpredictable. See telling others for more advice.

It will take time for you to learn to cope, but the difficult times you experience now are just one part of what will be a lifelong journey. And it will get better. HIV will not always be the first thing on your mind.

Things To Consider

Get clued-up with the latest information from a reliable source; especially if you’re using the internet. Your Doctor, or the Sexual Health Clinic is an excellent source of up to date and accurate information.

For treatments information try www.aidsmap.com
For HIV facts and people’s stories try www.namlife.org
To get in touch with the online community try www.myhiv.org.uk

Don't go it alone. A trusted friend, family member or partner can provide you with the support you need.

Keep records of the information that your doctor gives you, whether it's practical information, or just the date of your next appointment. Change causes anxiety, not the best circumstances for taking in important information. Being organised will help you to cope better with all the information that's being thrown at you. Remember that you can always contact your doctor and ask for further details if you need to.

Remember that you’re not a different person just because you have found out that you have HIV, respect yourself and respect others.

Bad Ideas...

Immediately telling everyone. Not everyone needs to know. There is a time and a place which will be best for you and, most importantly, them.
Becoming a recluse. Maintain your usual social and work contacts is an important way of keeping your life as normal as possible. Cutting yourself off from the people who are best placed to help isn't recommended.
Taking sole responsibility for someone else's care. Ask for help. Share the responsibility and enjoy maintaining your relationships. Maintain your day-to-day routine.
Hiding behind alcohol and drugs. These are very temporary helps at best. If you come to depend upon them, it could make coping more difficult in the longer term.
Panic. Many other people are HIV positive. You're not alone and you aren't the first person to receive a diagnosis. There's plenty of help available.

HIV news from aidsmap.com

Turning HIV’s power against itself may help target hidden virus – another step towards a cure
Researchers used selected molecules to make human cells less tolerant of damage, so that reactivating hidden HIV becomes a clear trigger for cell death. While making cells more vulnerable to dying may sound counterintuitive, the strategy ensures that cells harbouring HIV are eliminated, removing the hidden virus they contain. This in turn means there potentially will be no viable virus left to re-do the spreading all over again in the absence of treatment.
>> Read more

Low-level but detectable HIV raises the risk of treatment failure, but not long-term harm
Persistent low-level detectable HIV appeared to significantly increase the risk of treatment failure but had no long-term impact on the occurrence of serious health problems in a recent study. Having integrase inhibitors as part of the therapy seemed to be protective against treatment failure in those with low-level detectable virus, Professor Enrique Bernal and colleagues report in the journal AIDS.
>> Read more

Despite U=U, concerns about sharing HIV status persist among older people
Despite a decade of widespread ‘Undetectable equals Untransmissible’ (U=U) messaging and advances in HIV prevention, stigma has barely shifted for older people living with HIV in Amsterdam. ‘Disclosure concerns’ fell only marginally over ten years, while negative self-image did not change, report Dr Kevin Moody and colleagues in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.
>> Read more

Contact emma@positiveboltonpeople.org.uk for further information.

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