How can I stay healthy with HIV?

How can I stay healthy with HIV?

First and foremost, get a good doctor. Try to find a doctor who has experience with treating HIV positive people. You also want someone you can talk to openly and honestly.

Your doctor will likely suggest a complete medical checkup. Other medical conditions (like hepatitis, sexually transmitted infections or heart conditions) can affect your care, so you’ll want to make sure you’ve got the whole picture.

Look after your mental and emotional health. Stress, depression and anxiety often go hand-in-hand with HIV, and sometimes drugs and alcohol do too. There’s no shame in any of this; it’s common to need some help coping with an HIV diagnosis. If you need someone to talk to, get hooked up with a counsellor, a therapist or a buddy. Many people also use mind-body practices such as yoga or Tai Chi to help relieve the stress.

There are many other things you can do to keep yourself healthy. Eat well (include a good-quality daily multivitamin and mineral supplement if you can), exercise and get enough rest. A lot of people with HIV also use complementary therapies (like herbal treatments, naturopathy and massage) along with their “standard” medical treatments.

Sooner or later, you’ll need to talk to your doctor about medications. The main weapons against HIV are drugs called antiretrovirals. The big question is when to start antiretrovirals.