How to Look After Your Health When You Have HIV

When you are HIV positive, it is very important to take care of your health and minimise the risk of infection. Boosting your health will also help your body to tackle any infections that do arise and deal with them more efficiently. HIV compromises your immune system, so give it some support.

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Prevention Is Good Medicine

Reduce the risk of infection by staying away from sick people where possible. Make sure any vaccinations are kept up to date, and get into the habit of washing your hands, as many diseases are transmitted by lack of hygiene in this area.

If given a prescription, then follow it. It is important to take any medication – including HIV medication – as your doctor intended. Forgetting to take it can make it easier for viruses to develop resistance and make them harder to treat. If you go on holiday, make sure you take your medications with you. To know more about the importance of HIV medication, see this report from The Guardian.

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Sensible Sex

Safe sex is critical for many reasons. Firstly, it protects your partner from HIV, but they may be unknowingly infected with another sexually transmitted disease (STD) or sexually transmitted infection (STI) that they could give to you. An STD or STI could make the HIV symptoms a lot worse.

Get a full panel of tests to make sure you don’t have any other STDs. Some of them have few symptoms which can be easily overlooked, so get tested, and if you have any, then have the appropriate treatment. If you are in the capital and don’t want to get tested at a clinic, then there are home STI kits in London. If you want to find out more about home STI kits in London, then it would be a good idea to contact experts in this area, such as those at https://www.greenwichsexualhealth.org/home_sti_kits/.

Good Habits

Giving up smoking, abusing drugs or drinking heavily is also recommended. Eat well, exercise and take care of your well-being. This may also mean finding a mental health professional to assist with stress or depression. Emotional symptoms are important too, as they can make the physical symptoms worse. Stress takes its toll on the body and health as well, so don’t be shy about asking for help.