If you are “HIV positive” this means that you have a virus called HIV in your body.

It doesn’t necessarily mean that you are ill, or that you have AIDS, or that you are dying.

HIV slowly attacks the immune system, which is the body’s natural defence system against infections. If the immune system is weak, there is a risk of getting ill from different infections.

At some stage you may need drug treatments to stay in good health. They can stop HIV reproducing, and so limit the damage to the immune system.

The initials in HIV stand for Human Immunodeficiency Virus. AIDS stands for Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome.

“AIDS” is different from HIV. AIDS is an advanced stage of infection when the immune system is very weak. Thanks to medicines, few people now get AIDS, and they can often recover from it.

From someone’s physical appearance, you can’t tell if they have HIV or not. And you can’t always know how good their health is.

But blood tests can show how HIV is affecting your health. Even if you’re not taking treatments, it’s important to have two blood tests done regularly.

The first is called the CD4 count and is a measure of the strength of your immune system. When the immune system is strong, the CD4 count is higher.

The second is the viral load test. It’s a measure of the number of copies of HIV in a sample of blood. The lower it is, the better.

You’ll probably be asked to have these tests done every few months. They will help you and your doctor make decisions about your health.

Aim for a HIGH CD4 count. Aim for a LOW viral load.

The drugs used to treat HIV are often called ‘combination therapy’. That’s because people usually take a combination of three drugs at the same time.

Not everybody with HIV needs to take combination therapy straightaway.

It’s different for different people:

• If your CD4 count is above 350 and HIV is not making you ill, then treatment may not be recommended.
• If your CD4 count is below 350 or HIV is making you ill, your doctor may recommend that you start treatment.

If HIV is making you ill, doctors call this ‘symptomatic’. If it’s not making you ill, it’s ‘asymptomatic’.

Deciding to start treatment also depends on your feelings. Give yourself enough time to find out about your options and make your own mind up.

After being infected with HIV, we don’t usually get ill straightaway. There may be a short illness, a bit like a flu, in the first few weeks, but after that, our health is usually pretty good for anything between two and ten years. The average is around seven years.

But we don’t usually get diagnosed with HIV immediately after getting infected. There’s often a gap of months or years.

If you were infected quite recently, you’ll probably have good health for several years, without needing to take treatments.

On the other hand, it may be that you have only just found out, but have already had HIV for many years. This could be the case if you had an HIV test after getting ill and going to hospital. In this situation, your doctor may recommend that you start combination therapy straightaway.

Being ill, finding out you have HIV and being asked to make decisions about treatment can be a lot to deal with all at the same time.

Combination therapy usually involves taking tablets once or twice a day. They work by slowing down the spread of HIV inside your body, so that you have a lot less HIV.

If there is less HIV, there is less damage to your immune system, and you are less likely to get ill.

But combination therapy isn’t a cure. At the moment, no drug can totally wipe out HIV from your body. It only works well if they are taken exactly as prescribed.

This is often called ‘adherence’, and it means taking the drugs:

• at the right times
• at the right dose
• strictly following any advice about food and drink.

You should only start taking the drugs when you feel ready to take them in this way, every single day. Taking combination therapy may mean that you have to alter how you live, when you wake up and go to sleep, what you eat and when you eat it.

Taking care of your health involves more than popping pills.

It will also help if you can:

• Get rest and sleep so that you can wind down and recuperate.
• Eat a balanced diet to maintain a healthy weight, give you energy and get the nutrients your body needs.
• Get some exercise, which is good for the heart, lungs, circulation and mobility. It’s also good for you mentally, and can help relieve stress and depression.

Taking care of yourself in this way will mean that you are putting your body and your immune system under less strain.

During difficult times, you may find that you use more alcohol or drugs. They may help you to forget, or to stop thinking about things. This might work in the short-term, but problems don’t just go away when they are ignored for a while. Also too much drink or drugs will probably bring their own problems.