Everyone has a totally unique personality that has a huge impact on how you live your life. The individual characteristics, desires and needs are all an important part of this personality. Externally, these are usually not visible to others at first glance and remain hidden if they are not actively shared.
Our own needs in particular determine how we lead our lives. But often we are not really aware of them ourselves. We can only consciously shape our lives in such a way that we are happy and feel a high quality of life if we really know our needs.
The art of accepting yourself
For HIV-positive people, accepting the diagnosis also plays a key role in maintaining their own quality of life: Because HIV can only become a smaller part of life if you don’t let it dominate you in everyday life.
You can do this in different ways: First of all, it is important to look inwards. If you get good information about HIV and the positive life and find a relaxed way of dealing with it, then this leads to self-acceptance. But it is also helpful to create an external environment in which, as an HIV-positive person, you are accepted for who you are – with all the colorful facets of your own personality – and where others do not just define you through the virus will.
Consciously shape your life with HIV yourself
If you can accept yourself the way you are, then you have a good basis for consciously re-establishing yourself in life with HIV. Because even if the diagnosis may have been a long time ago, in addition to regular visits to the doctor, there are other routines and life situations that an HIV-positive person has to cope with.
For example, it is important to integrate the therapy well into everyday life so that it restricts or burdens you as little as possible – such as unwanted effects or psychological stress, such as hiding the HIV medication for fear that it will be discovered.
You also need HIV therapy that is geared towards you and your unique personality, according to the motto “My therapy is based on me, not me on the therapy”.
How do I find therapy that works for me?
In order to find the best therapy for you, it helps to think about the current situation first: Do you travel a lot and feel stressed out by worrying about forgetting your pills? Or maybe taking the tablets every day is a burden because it is a regular reminder of your own HIV status, which otherwise plays no role in life?
Basically, it is helpful to see HIV therapy as a friend and not as an enemy. Therapy is a companion that protects you without being intrusive. You don’t just have to accept mental stress or unwanted effects. There are now diverse and innovative therapy options that are also better tolerated than many of the old therapies.
In addition to the daily tablet, there are also the options of an injection or infusion. Knowledge of these different therapy options is of great importance, because in this way you can actively search for solutions yourself and, together with the doctor, select the one from the different therapy options that best suits your own life and thus HIV to a lesser extent in the everyday makes.
Discussing with other HIV-positive people about their respective therapy, for example with friends or as part of self-help, can also be helpful. In such conversations, one learns other perspectives and quickly realizes that there is no “one size fits all” HIV drug, but that every person deserves an individual therapy that suits their own life.
Individual HIV therapy – what is that actually?
When selecting a suitable, individual therapy, the doctor first checks whether all available options are available or whether there are possible resistances to certain active substances.
Personal preferences also play an important role in the choice: For example, do you prefer daily pills or do you prefer injections or infusions because you feel tired of taking pills, have trouble swallowing or simply don’t want to be reminded of your HIV status every day?
If the current therapy is not in line with your own needs and wishes, you should check with your doctor what options there are for changing or simplifying the therapy.
Find the optimal therapy together with the doctor
An open discussion with the doctor about the various therapy options has the advantage that you not only look at the current situation, but are also informed about future developments.
Just as there is huge diversity among HIV-positive people, there is already a wide variety of options for treating HIV: there are now different substances, different modes of action of medication and several forms of administration – in addition to tablets, there are also injections or infusions There will be further and new options in the future.
Just as you can decide for yourself with most tablets today whether you take them in the morning, at noon or in the evening, you can also choose between the different forms of therapy – injection, tablet or infusion – together with the doctor, which one you personally prefer.
When choosing from the various therapy options, you are now in the fortunate situation that you can choose them according to your own needs and to suit your own life and no longer have to worry about the effectiveness of modern therapies. Choosing a suitable HIV therapy is no longer a matter of necessity. So it is this free choice from a multitude of possibilities that contributes to making HIV a smaller part of life.
For more information on living with HIV, as well as personal stories from HIV-positive people, visit www.livlife.de
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