Just Diagnosed
Get in touch with Positive Life to find other people living with HIV, to answer your questions, and share up-to-date information to navigate your HIV journey. We also offer a number of social support groups (online and face-to-face), for women, for gay men, for heterosexual men and women, while other groups welcome partners, family or friends in a safe, comfortable space. Call (02) 8357 8386 or 1800 245 677 (freecall outside metro areas) or email contact@positivelife.org.au
If you’ve been diagnosed with HIV, this means that you were exposed to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and a blood test has shown the presence of HIV antibodies in your blood.
While your body won’t be able to get rid of HIV completely, the good news is that today the treatment for HIV is extremely effective, and you can expect to live a long, full and healthy life like anyone else without HIV.
People living with HIV who are on medication, called antiretroviral treatment (ART), can reduce HIV to the point of being ‘undetectable’ in your blood. This reduces the risk that HIV can pose to your immune system and also means HIV transmission (or passing HIV to someone else) is zero.
Today, with ART medication, people living with HIV can live long healthy lives with a normal life expectancy of other people without HIV. For some people, ART medication is one small tablet taken at roughly the same time once a day. Side effects of today’s ART medications are usually mild. Some people might take a few days or weeks for their body to adjust. If there are any ongoing side effects, these can be discussed with your HIV specialist doctor.
When you’re newly diagnosed, normally you’ll see your HIV specialist doctor (also called a ‘s100 provider’ or ‘s100 prescriber’) once every month. This includes regular blood tests to find out how much the HIV virus is replicating (reproducing) in your blood (HIV viral load). Find an s100 HIV prescriber in NSW – regularly updated online searchable database.
Once the HIV virus is undetectable, this means your HIV viral load is down below 200 copies per millilitre of blood for at least six months and you continue to take your medications as prescribed by your doctor (also called ‘adherence’), there is no risk of passing on HIV to your sexual partner/s. Around this time normally you will see your HIV specialist doctor once every 3-4 months.
One of the main things to remember, is even though you’re living with HIV, you’re not alone. Besides your doctors or healthcare team, get in touch with others who are living with HIV (also called ‘peers’).
Other people living with HIV can understand what you’re feeling, and can support you to live a full, active and healthy life. Most of the staff at Positive Life are living with HIV themselves and you’ll be able to talk, share and find out how other people live with HIV.
- Call (02) 8357 8386 or 1800 245 677 (freecall outside metro areas) or
- Email contact@positivelife.org.au
- HIV 101 Factsheet
We also run a number of social support groups, some for women, others for gay men, groups for heterosexual men and women, while other groups welcome partners, family or friends in a safe, comfortable space.
