Treatment guidelines for HIV

In today's world, it seems that almost any topic is open for debate. While I was gathering facts for this article, I was quite surprised to find some of the issues I thought were settled are actually still being openly discussed.

For many patients with HIV, the time has never been better for treatment. However, the promise HIV therapy holds can be more easily attained if you follow several important steps. This program is designed to give you the information you need to realize your goals.

One of the keys to doing well is developing a trusting relationship with your healthcare provider and medical team (nurses, nutritionists, social workers, mental health professionals). A quality provider and medical team, in addition to providing state-of-the-art medical care, should understand the difficulty you face living with HIV/AIDS each day. They should be dedicated to helping you with HIV treatments, education, and prevention of further transmission of this disease. They should be readily available, with minimal barriers to access them when needed. You, on the other hand, must be able to share with your team information of a very personal nature, including recreational drug use, sexual practices, mental health problems, and your social support situation. This is important as known barriers to adherence are depression and active substance abuse (especially alcohol).

Adherence to HIV therapy begins with cultivating this kind of relationship between you and your healthcare team. Be honest with your doctor. Let your provider know if you are experiencing significant personal distress. Often, your provider can refer you to the experts you need, and get you back on the adherence track. Like any good relationship, when you truly connect with your medical team, you will know it.
Most of this information comes straight from the early HIV symptom pros. Careful reading to the end virtually guarantees that you'll know what they know.

Treatment guidelines for HIV, developed by experts, recommend using a combination of antiretroviral medications. By combining medications, you decrease the chance that mutant HIV will arise, which can escape the ability of your medications to work. A key principle in HIV treatment is to never take only part of your HIV "cocktail" without the other medications. This could lead the HIV in your body to rapidly become resistant to medication. If you are not able to tolerate medication(s) in your regimen, or you are considering stopping any of your medications, talk to your healthcare provider first in order to avoid possible problems with resistance. Changing medication(s) in your regimen, if needed, is better than risking resistance because of incomplete adherence to all the medications in your regimen. By adhering to this principle, you will avoid compromising the power of your therapy and thus decrease the potential for developing mutant viruses.

As important as any other factor in thriving with HIV therapy is establishing and committing fully to the goals of treatment. Make a list for yourself of expectations for your medical care and your life. Motivations, like being there for your friends and family, seeing loved ones achieve milestones (i.e., children graduate from school, etc.) will require you being in tip-top shape. By believing in taking your medications and taking an active part in your health care, you are sure to succeed.

Knowing enough about early HIV symptom to make solid, informed choices cuts down on the fear factor. If you apply what you've just learned about early HIV symptom, you should have nothing to worry about.