Encourage Them To Do Research
I disclosed my HIV status to my current partner during our first face-to-face meeting. Once I told him and he saw how knowledgeable I was about my own health, he took the information and talked to his healthcare provider. Johnnys physician told him that weve made huge advancements in treatments for HIV, but he must ask himself if hes willing to be a caretaker should the need arise.
Id encourage others to have the same type of confidence in the person they want to enter a meaningful long-term relationship with. Encourage them to do some research on their own and seek out information from reputable sources.
Of course, we want to assume the best for the future. But your partner must be prepared to be there for you should things take unexpected turns due to complications or side effects of new medications. Other times, you might just need their emotional support.
Johnnys reaction was very different from my sisters reaction, which consisted of her hyperventilating over the phone when I told her. While we laugh about it now almost 10 years later her reaction was rooted in fear and misinformation.
But If We Do Take Risks Following Our Seroconversion Were Aware Of Them
Many HIV-positive guys decide to play bare after getting HIV many, but certainly not all. Why? Because the process of getting treatment and taking care of yourself after learning your status is a crash course in current healthcare. We learn the data of risk, were getting frequent tests, and all this new info gives us the ability to make informed choices on what sexual risks were willing to take.
The Experience Of Illness
A chronic illness disrupts an individuals everyday life . The diagnosis of a chronic illness interferes with everyday life, requiring lifestyle changes to live with a disease long-term . Depending on the severity and nature of the condition, the disruption manifests with a well-defined before and after period . A growing area of research studying people diagnosed with chronic illness has focused on how people learn to live with illness, particularly taking the viewpoint of the affected . The research community has posited important questions about how people manage life after a diagnosis: how is everyday life informed by the disease, how are individuals shaped by the social and cultural context of the illness, and how do people assign new meaning to their lives? Implied by these questions, the scope of research focuses on studying and interpreting how people move forward after receiving the diagnosis of an chronic illness, an orientation not only concerned with an individuals life with illness, but one that recognizes the diversity of experiences as well .
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Advice For Those Considering Dating Someone With Hiv
So you met someone great, but found out they have HIV? A persons HIV status doesnt need to get in the way of building a relationship. If youre considering going steady with someone who has HIV, dont let that fact ruin what could be an incredible experience. Its hard to find anyone whos perfect, and if youre compatible in every other aspect dont be discouraged. Obviously, however, youll want to take the necessary precautions when having sex: use male or female condoms correctly. This drastically decreases the risk of transmission. Also, if a person is taking medication for HIV, the risk of the healthy partner contracting the virus is greatly reduced. You dont need to worry about kissing, as HIV cant be transmitted through saliva.
Advice for HIV Positive People Looking for HIV Negative Partners
If you have HIV, on the other hand, there is the option of looking only for partners who are HIV positive. However, its not necessary to limit yourself to that. There are, of course, benefits, which well get to below, but you can still meet people the old-fashioned way: going to bars, clubs, and the like.
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The Reaction To Disclosure
People may have a variety of reactions when learning that someone they care about and are interested in sexually has HIV. They may be worried about your health or their own. They may be scared or angry. They may not know what they think.
Having reputable information about HIV available can help. A lot of people dont know what they dont know about the virus. They may be more concerned than they need to be, or less.
Although it can be difficult, sometimes a potential partner will need time to process the information about your HIV status. It may help to remember how long it took you to come to terms with your diagnosis and understand it when it is difficult to give them that space.
If you have any concerns about your safety when disclosing your HIV status to a potential partner, think carefully about whether that is someone with whom you really want to be sexually intimate.
If you dont know how they might respond, consider disclosing via phone or email, or in a public place, like a park, where the presence of onlookers may help people restrain a violent response.
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Living Together As A Serodiscordant Couple
The first week was very bad for us, Godfrey recalls. The counsellor came to visit us the very next day. The counsellor kept coming, and the couple decided to stay together. They continued to have a sexual relationship, using condoms from a nearby clinic. Godfrey started taking antiretroviral treatment in 2002. Pauline has remained HIV-negative.
Godfrey Mtongas advice to everyone is to get tested. If you are positive, love each other and take your medicine at the right time. We have lived with our status as a discordant couple for the past 18 years because we support each other.
Some countriessuch as Kenya, Rwanda, Thailand, Zambia and othershave already introduced HIV testing and counselling for couples with a view to helping them support one another. Couples testing can be provided as part of pregnancy care or other health services, in peoples homes and as part of outreach testing in communities, as well as in voluntary testing and counselling sites.
What Role Do Condoms Play In Hiv Prevention
Condoms are very effective at preventing HIV transmission when used properly, but they generally arent necessary in a monogamous relationship if your partners HIV treatment is effective and youve both been screened for other STDs, such as syphilis, gonorrhea, and chlamydia.
If your relationship isnt monogamous, I would recommend condoms to protect your partner, especially if they dont know youre nonmonogamous, because of the STD risk , says Gandhi. Yeah, theyre treatable, but they can have harmful effects, including significant discomfort, she notes. And, of course, using condoms helps protect you from getting HIV from other sexual partners.
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Sharing Responsibility For Safer Sex
Talk to your partner before you have sex so that you can share the responsibility for having safer sex. If your partner knows about HIV, it can make it easier to talk about using condoms.
Having HIV shouldnt stop you from having great sex you have as much right to a fulfilling and healthy sex life as anyone else but dont feel that you have to have sex just because your partner wants to. You can decide when youre ready for sex its your choice and no one elses.
Is It Ok To Date Someone Hiv Positive
If you are HIV negative and have a long-term relationship and a fulfilling sex life with your partner, it may be reassuring to know that you can stay HIV negative and have a long-term relationship. It is completely safe to kiss and hug your partner. In the case of an HIV-positive partner who is taking HIV treatment and has an undetectable viral load, there is no risk of HIV transmission.
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Meeting At Online Dating Sites
Sometimes the fear of disclosure is so great that people will access online dating sites, like pozmingle.com, to meet their match or turn to anonymous hookup sites where they can freely post their HIV status.
Dating in real life, of course, doesn’t afford such shortcuts. Disclosing your HIV status to a love interest can be a challenging, even frightening process. But with a little time and preparation, as well as a degree of self-reflection, there are ways to significantly reduce these anxieties.
Take Hiv Medications To Prevent Hiv
People living without HIV may want to consider preventive HIV medications to avoid the risk of acquiring HIV. Currently, there are two strategies for preventing HIV with antiretroviral therapy. One of the medications is taken daily, as a preventive measure. The other is taken after potential exposure to HIV.
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If One Partner Is Positive And One Is Negative
If one of you is HIV positive and one of you is HIV negative, you need to be careful to reduce the risk of transmission.
This involves learning about which activities have a risk and which are most safe.
If the HIV positive person has an undetectable viral load on ART then the risk is zero. It is zero even without condoms.
If the HIV negative person is taking PrEP then the risk of transmission is also zero. This is also zero without condoms.
PrEP is when HIV drugs are taken by an HIV negative person before and after sex to prevent HIV.
Condoms, if used correctly, protect against HIV.
Lots of couples where HIV status is different have full and active sex lives without the negative partner ever catching HIV.
See the sections in this guide on viral load, on condoms and on PrEP.
How Should You Tell
Are you unsure when to have the conversation or what to say? Ask a counselor who works with HIV-positive people, or get advice from someone you know who has HIV. You might also ask the counselor or friend to come with you when you reveal your HIV status.
If you don’t know how the person will react, share the news in a public place. Bring lots of information about HIV to share. Knowledge can take some of the fear out of HIV.
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Hiv Positive Dating Site
Trying to find a compatible partner is difficult. People have all sorts of criteria for selecting a significant other. Personal background plays a major role in choosing a partner. Adding HIV to the scenario is a complication that many have.
HIV dating sites are a new method of uniting people. The thought of a social life is scary with a disease such as this. However, advances in medical technology have changed. HIV dating has become a new option. A positive diagnosis isnt the death sentence that it used to be. HIV positive people live longer than ever.
HIV dating continues to grow. The community knows of the available options. HIV positive dating is an idea that has evolved over the years. Those inflicted with the disease want information. HIV dating online helps community members reach one another.
These social networks build strong friendships. Free HIV dating sites assist with quality of life and managing health concerns. Many singles have reached out to dating sites for people with HIV. They have a yearning for access to others with similar issues.
Having someone with experience to talk to is a comforting feeling. An HIV dating service is more than a place finds a date. It creates a fellowship. People realize that they are not alone. It is great to have friends who understand you.
How Can I Protect Myself
The only foolproof way of not getting an STD is not having sex in the first place. Since thatâs not how most adults operate, the good news is that there are an increasing number of ways you can protect yourself against becoming infected with HIV, while still being able to connect sexually with your HIV positive partner.
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Is It Safe To Share Food Toilets Or Toothbrushes
In most realistic scenarios, HIV cannot be spread by food, skin-on-skin contact, toilets, or sharing a toothbrush. There are nearly nonexistent exceptions to each of these cases, such as a theoretical risk from eating food that someone with HIV has already chewed if they have a mouth sore, or skin-on-skin contact when semen is present and you have an open sore on your skin. This minuscule risk vanishes if your partners treatment for HIV is effectively suppressing the virus.
Were Usually More Sexually Adventurous Thanks To A Virus That We Got Through Sex
If youre poz, youve been given one major opportunity to rethink your sex the day you learn you have HIV. HIV forces you to do this, and in the process we often find kinks we never knew we had, fantasies we never knew we wanted fulfilled.
For a period, I was transmittable. For the months before I started my medication, I could infect my partners. The doctors demanded I do many things: take a sex break, or at least inform all potential sex partners of my infectious HIV status. They told me to use condoms no matter what. The responsibility came upon me to make these choices. I had to have the talk before sex. It was hard, but I got better at it.
Those early months without meds were filled with refusal, cruelty, and hurt. Its a hard stretch for anyone, but it teaches you to rethink sex. Sex becomes something you can play with. The end result: there are many happy, healthy, well adjusted HIV-positive guys out there who are kinky and open-minded. We automatically bring something to the sheets that our partners have to reckon with, so if you have a bizarre fetish or fantasy you want to try, bring it on.
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Connecting Positive Men And Women Since The 1990s
Joining this community is one of the best ways to handle any form of depression. There are millions of people that are living usa HIV and AIDS, and they have realized that sites positive should not stop them from enjoying life, just like the other people in the world. For most people, there is nothing traumatizing than being confirmed as a positive. This is a channel that was developed to help such people find love from people who are in the same situation.
Things You Need To Know To Date An Hiv
Dating is hard, but dating someone with HIV doesn’t have to be.
There are plenty of good reasons to utter the words lets just be friends after a first date. Perhaps there was no chemistry or a lack of shared interests, or maybe he was just a little bit of a dick. Regardless of what your reasoning to either call or not call him again, his HIV status shouldnt be a factor.
HIV isnt one of the variables that determine whether you and your partner are an emotional and physical match. It is merely a measure of logistics and science. If all of the other elements of a relationship seem to be clicking sexual attraction, similar tastes, and a mutual like for each others weirdness both of you would be a fool to let mismatched statuses get in the way.
However, there are a few things you should be know when starting a relationship with an HIV-positive guy. Pay attention, and you two may live happily ever after or at least not break up over HIV.
1. If you have a question, dont be afraid to ask.
2. Dont assume that you are the only one who is afraid.
Just because he was upfront and honest with you about his status, doesnt mean he is a pro at dating while HIV-positive. He may have just as many fears or concerns as you do. Dont just assume that if you are comfortable with something, whether is a sexual or social situation or somewhere in between, that he is too.
3. Respect his privacy.
4. Dont worry about what other people think.
5. Dont hold back.
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Ensure A Partner Is Managing Their Hiv
HIV is a chronic condition treated with antiretroviral therapy. Antiretroviral medications control the virus by lowering the amount of HIV found in the blood, which is also known as the viral load. These medications also lower the amount of the virus in other bodily fluids such as semen, anal or rectal secretions, and vaginal fluids.
Managing HIV requires close attention. Medications must be taken as directed by a healthcare provider. Additionally, managing HIV means going to a healthcare provider as often as recommended.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , someone living with HIV with an undetectable viral load wont transmit HIV to others. They define an undetectable viral load as fewer than 200 copies per milliliter of blood.
The support that someone without HIV can offer a partner living with HIV can positively affect how the HIV-positive partner manages their health. A study in the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes that if same-sex couples were working together to reach a goal, the person living with HIV was more likely to stay on track with HIV care in all aspects.
This support can also strengthen other relationship dynamics.
Can You Prevent Infection If You Get Exposed To Hiv
It is possible to stop the HI Virus from taking hold in your body as long as you act as soon as you have been exposed. It is of extreme importance that you seek medical treatment as soon as possible. Post-exposure prophylaxis treatment consists of 2-3 antiretroviral medications that are most effective when taken within 72 hours after exposure before the virus has had time to replicate in the body. Post-exposure prophylaxis treatment should be taken for 28 days. This treatment is also provided to rape survivors and medical professionals exposed to HIV. Post-exposure prophylaxis is, however, not 100% guaranteed to prevent HIV infection, especially with a large number of sexual partners.
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