CHECK Magazin - Gesundheitsmagazin für Männer No.11

HIV
You and your HIV therapy:
ARE YOU STILL A MATCH?
Foto: Unsplash, ©Barkhayot Juraev
A lot can change over time – your life,
love and your body. Not everything that
has been good for a long time still has to
be the best for you and your needs. This
also applies to your HIV therapy.
EVERYTHING IS IN FLUX
The circumstances of your life can change
over time: what used to be the most important
thing becomes secondary. New needs replace
old preferences. Maybe you want to go out
more again and even spend the night dancing.
Or you have finally sorted out your sleeping
rhythm and are enjoying the strength that
you draw from it. Your therapy should fit your
current situation as much as possible.
LIFE AND BODY IN TRANSITION
Not only can your living conditions change
over time, but also your body itself. It is therefore
always worth taking the time to listen
to your own body. You haven’t been feeling
well lately? Are you missing something? Do
you lack energy to initiate new things or are
you sleeping badly? Then get professional
advice on this – for example at an HIV advice
centre in your area. Such changes can have
a variety of reasons. One of them can be, for
example, that your therapy no longer fits. So it
might be time to talk to your primary therapist
about whether there might be a more suitable
therapy that has less impact on your psychological
well-being and thus contri butes to the
long-term success of the treatment.
FIND MORE ABOUT THIS HERE:
You may be taking other medications
due to health changes.
Your HIV therapy should be robust
enough not only to suppress the
virus, but also to have as few
drug interactions as possible. It is best to keep
in touch with your doctor regularly, especially
if something has changed in your life, you are
taking new medication or you notice changes
affecting your health.
GETTING INFORMED IS WORTHWHILE
Listen to your body, write down your questions
about your health and address them at the
next appointment with your specialist. Ask
them what you can do for yourself and your
health. You can also listen to lots of tips on
how to deal with your own health in the episode
“Selfcare – an eye on your own health” from the
Zwei+ podcast, in which the two podcasters
André and Fabian talk about their experiences
with self-care and health awareness.
Let your doctor bring you up to date. Maybe
there is already a therapy option that suits you
and your current situation better than your
current treatment, so it may make sense to
think about a change.
You can find out more interesting facts
about the topic of “change of therapy” at
www.nochvielvor.de.
Brought to you by Gilead Sciences
44 CHECK BERLIN #11