Can you live a comfortable lifestyle if you're HIV positive? Will the meds make you nauseous everyday?!


Question: Can you live a comfortable lifestyle if you're HIV positive.? Will the meds make you nauseous everyday.?
Answers:
Well speaking as a HIV+person,I would have to speak only from personal experiences. First of all you do'nt have to disclose your status, (HIV+, or-) unless you are putting others at risk of contracting the disease themselves.If you were to do this knowingly and or malisiouslly it is illegal in alot of states and you could be charged with attempted murder,it has happened more then once.So from that standpointyou can have a fairly normal life. When I found out I was HIV+ I let my sexual partners know and to get them tested. Telling my family and a few good friends about my status was the hardest thing that I've ever had to do. I was'nt in a exclusive relationship when I found out so for me my decision to become as carefull as possiable not to infect others has led me to be celibate. As far as HIV meds are concearned, there are numerous side effects from the meds, some of which can be horriable. My meds make me very nausious but for some it is'nt too bad.The stigma of hiv can be devastating,so it is very important to have some type of support system.Health Question & Answer

Like most other medications, just about all HIV meds (antiretrovirals, or ARVs) have side effects, some severe.

However, side effects can generally be managed, and sometimes decrease after a while. Not all people on ARVs have the same side effects or to the same degree.

The risks and considerations of side effects are weighed against those of not taking the medications when they are needed, i.e. progression to full-blown AIDS, and increasing risk of transmission to others (higher viral load).

With proper management, HIV+ people can have a near-normal life span (whatever that is) and live quite comfortably.

Health Question & Answer

Of course you can! My Dr. sees me living another 30 or 40 years. Of course, that doesn't mean something won't go wrong in the next few years, but my outlook is good. People can have side effects to the meds. I was pregnant when I found out I was HIV+ and I was put on meds. There is an adjustment period (usually about 3 weeks but I took 5) where your body gets used to the meds. I was so sick (on top of that I had morning sickness my entire pregnancy). I threw up, was nauseous had diarrhea, a headache and I was always soooooo tired. I could only stay active for maybe an hour at a time before I would crash. So going out to dinner was hard for me, even the long car ride to my parents wore me out. After I had my baby I stayed on the meds for another 2 months and I noticed that if I ate within 3 hours of taking my meds I either got nauseous or diarrhea. Occasionally they tired me out. But, I knew that those were small side effects compared to what they were doing for me, and I could live with it.

As this point I am off the meds. I am having my CD4 and viral load checked again in another month or two to see where they are at. If all looks good (I show a high resistance to the virus) then I may be able to stay off meds for 10 years or more!Health Question & Answer



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