Just found out you have HIV?

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A positive HIV antibody test is scary news. It's an important medical message that may help you save and extend your life. As better therapies are developed, it’s entirely possible to live out a normal lifespan after testing positive. The key to living a long life with HIV is availing yourself of health care and appropriate therapy.

Day one: After you’ve tested positive covers the basics of HIV, how to monitor your health, and points to consider when managing HIV disease. One of the most important tools that you have is your relationship with your doctor. Our publication, Building a Doctor / Patient Relationship, presents things to think about when working with a doctor to treat your HIV.

It’s important to know that fighting HIV is more complicated than treating a cold. Making Decisions about Therapies focuses on issues to consider when developing your plans about when and how to treat your HIV.

HIV disease is not the same in all people. Strategies for HIV Therapy and Strategies for First Line HIV Therapy discuss many of the goals, challenges and options available when developing a long-term approach to wisely using anti-HIV drugs. These publications offer food for thought in defining a strategy that you feel good about.

After starting therapy for the first time, a serious condition called IRIS can occur in some people. To find out more about this and whether you may be at risk for it, read IRIS: A concern for people starting therapy.

Over time in HIV disease, people are likely to get other infections. These OIs take advantage of the body’s weakened defenses. Our Opportunistic Infections Chart covers many of these common illnesses and the things that can be done to prevent and treat them. PCP is a leading cause of death in people with AIDS. The ways to prevent this infection are discussed in PCP Prevention.

Getting blood tests done regularly can help you closely monitor your health and any possible damage from HIV or the drugs you take. Our publication, Blood work: Two common tests to use, gives an in-depth look at CD4 counts and viral load tests. Our more comprehensive Blood work: A useful tool for monitoring HIV, discusses the full range of tests your doctor will use. We have also developed Personal Tracking Charts (PDF only) as a tool for you to help you keep track of your own health, medicine history or questions you might want to discuss with your doctor.

When HIV causes a woman’s immune system to weaken, she can become susceptible to certain infections, notably gynecological conditions. Publications such as GYN Conditions and Positive? How are you feeling? can help shed light on issues of concern to women living with HIV. More information can be found in our women’s information section.

Our Resources for HIV/AIDS Related Services can be used as a starting point for finding information that might not be available through Project Inform or serves to supplement what we offer.

Some of this information may be difficult or confusing to get through. Our toll-free National HIV/AIDS Treatment Hotline is available to help you sort through these issues. Feel free to call our knowledgeable operators at 1-800-822-7422 (Monday–Friday 10am–4pm, Pacific Time) or email a treatment question.