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Living with HIV

Life continues after becoming HIV positive. Thanks to new treatments, many people with HIV are living long, healthy lives. It is very important to make sure you have a doctor who knows how to treat HIV. A health care professional or trained HIV counselor can provide counseling and help you find an appropriate doctor who will advise you regarding treatment regimens. Peer support and other support groups can also be very helpful for management of HIV.

How is HIV treated?

HIV is treated with anti-retroviral therapy or ART. This may involve taking a once-daily pill, a few pills a day, or getting shots every few months. These medications stop the virus from reproducing in your body. If it can’t reproduce, it can’t attack your immune system.  It’s important to start ART as soon as possible to keep your immune system healthy.

Blood tests can measure how much virus is in your blood. This is called the viral load. The goal of ART is to reduce your viral load as much as possible. Many people on ART have viral loads so low that tests can’t find any virus in the blood. This is called undetectable.

People living with HIV who have undetectable viral loads cannot transmit HIV to their sexual partners.

FAQs about ART

HIV treatment has come a long way since the virus was discovered. Today there are over 8 types of drugs and over 20 brand name or generic medications that help people living with HIV stay healthy. People on antiretroviral therapy (ART) usually take a combination of two or three HIV medications but sometimes this can be done with one daily pill. Your health care provider can talk in more detail about the types of drugs and names of medication or you can read more on the National Institutes of Health’s website.

A lot of people do take one or more pills as part of their ART regimen each day. There are now some medications that can be given as a long-term shot, but they’re not right for everyone. Talk to your HIV care provider about the best medication for you. It can be a drag to take medication every day, but it’s worth it to stay healthy and keep your partners healthy.

Sometimes. Like all drugs, HIV medications may have side effects. Some people get tired or dizzy. Others have nausea or diarrhea. Many people can manage these with over-the-counter remedies. Side effects often go away after you’re on the medication for a little while. If they don’t get better, you can talk to the provider who prescribed your medication. They might be able to help you manage the symptoms or pick a different medication that works better for you.

There are a lot of ways you can get ART. The most important thing is that you start it as soon as possible.
Ask your health care provider (if you have one) if they can treat you for HIV. If not, they can hopefully refer you to someone nearby. There are other ways to find an HIV care provider.

  • Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program. This program provides care and support to low-income people living with HIV. You can find a Ryan White site near you.
  • Your state may also have an HIV/AIDS hotline that can help you find services.
  • You could find a health center near you. You can search this list by zip code.
  • You could also look at this list of health care providers across the country who specialize in HIV care created by the American Academy of HIV Medicine.
  • There are also online telehealth providers that can prescribe and manage ART.

Probably. As of right now, ART is the only treatment available for HIV, and people living with HIV have to be on it for their whole lives. If you stop taking your medication, the virus can start reproducing and attacking your immune system, and you could start getting sick.

That said, the science around HIV has been remarkable. When the epidemic first started there was no treatment, and no one could imagine the kinds of medications we have today. There’s a lot of research still happening which means that even better treatments might be available soon.

HIV treatment stops the virus from reproducing. The goal of treatment is to have as little virus in your blood as possible. Blood tests can check how much virus is in your blood. This is called your viral load. If your viral load is so low that regular blood tests can’t find any virus, it’s called undetectable.

Being undetectable helps keep you healthy. And, if you’re undetectable you can’t give HIV to a partner during sex. Experts sometimes say U=U or undetectable=untransmittable

How effective is treatment?

The introduction of powerful anti-retroviral therapies has made a dramatic impact. With antiretroviral therapy (called ART), people with HIV can live long and healthy lives. The goal of HIV treatment is to reduce the amount of virus in the blood, called viral load. Treatment can reduce the viral load to undetectable levels, and the virus cannot be passed on to HIV-negative partners through sex. This called U=U: undetectable. equals untransmitable.

#AsktheHIVDoc

#AskTheHIVDoc is a series of short explainer videos from Greater Than HIV featuring top HIV doctors covering all aspects of HIV from prevention (including PrEP) to diagnosis, care and treatment, as well as the basics.