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
The scourge of LGBTQ criminalisation moving across African countries – and its impact on HIV“The evidence is overwhelming: criminalisation does not prevent HIV – it fuels it,” Immaculate Owomugisha Bazare, Director of the Centre for Women Justice, Uganda, said in a plenary presentation at the 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) held in Rio de Janeiro recently.
>> Read more
Lean people with HIV can still develop fatty liver disease
Lean people who are classified as having normal weight according to body mass index (BMI) may still develop fatty liver disease and its complications, and those living with HIV may be at higher risk, according to study findings presented last week at the 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) in Rio de Janeiro. “Normal BMI does not exclude clinically relevant liver disease in HIV,” said Florence Bascombe, a senior research nurse at University College London.
>> Read more
A new class of drugs could sharpen the body’s immune response to HIV
A new class of drugs called CD4 mimetics could be used to sensitise the immune system to HIV, the 26th International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2026) in Rio de Janeiro heard last week. It is becoming clear that broadly neutralising antibodies, whether infused as a drug or generated by a vaccine, may not be sufficient to cure HIV, or even to lead to long-term remission off antiretroviral therapy.
>> Read more
Contact emma@positiveboltonpeople.org.uk for further information.
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