Starting HIV treatment: what the first weeks are like

Most people are offered treatment within days of diagnosis, which can feel fast when you have not caught up with the news yet. Here is what usually happens.

What you will be taking

For most people, one tablet a day that contains several medicines together. Some people take more than one tablet, usually for a specific reason their clinic will explain.

There are many combinations available. If the first one does not suit you, you are not stuck with it, and changing is routine rather than a setback.

Side effects, honestly

Some people get none at all. Others get something in the first few weeks: feeling sick, headaches, odd dreams, tiredness, loose stools. For most people those settle as the body adjusts.

If they do not settle, that is a reason to ring the clinic rather than to put up with it. Nobody expects you to tolerate feeling awful when another combination would suit you better.

i-Base publish a guide written for patients that goes through individual side effects in detail, which is a better place for specifics than a search engine.

The one rule

Take it every day, and do not stop without talking to your clinic first. Stopping and starting can let the virus become resistant to that combination, which narrows your options later.

Pick a time you will actually remember, attached to something you already do. Most people who struggle with this are not careless; they just picked a time that does not fit their life.

What happens next

Blood tests over the following months to watch the viral load fall and the CD4 count recover. The first repeat test is usually the moment the whole thing starts to feel real in a better way, because the numbers move fast.

After that, most people settle into check-ups a few times a year. It becomes an appointment in the diary rather than an event.

Where this comes from

Talkpositive is peer support, not a medical service. Anything about your own treatment belongs with your clinic, and they will not mind you asking.

If you would rather ask someone who has been through it

Talkpositive is a free, private community for people living with HIV. No real name needed, nothing public, nothing in search engines. Small rooms by what you are going through, and quiet one-to-one conversations that open only when both people have said hello.

Have a look at Talkpositive