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Experiences of health care :
Getting a diagnosis
Getting health and social care
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Challenges of anti-HIV drugs
Looking after yourself :
Coping with mental health problems
Dealing with your thoughts
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Gaining power and strength
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Disclosure, discrimination and other challenges :
Secrecy and telling people
Support groups
Dealing with difficulties, finances and benefits
Work and routine
Prejudice, stigma and discrimination
Telling children and parents
Negotiating Sex :
How people became infected
Casual sexual encounters
Sex in relationships
Telling sexual partners
Looking ahead :
Living now & in the future
Illness and death
Finally, what people with HIV want you to know
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HIV
Subject index
Clip
Chronic health issues
>>
HIV
>>
Aged 41-45
>>
Interview 02
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Because the medication works he can get on with life and not think so much about HIV.
Now on efavirenz and Combivir, his viral load is undetectable. He has suffered few side-effects. He had counseling to help him cope, and looks forward to getting back to work.
Chronic health issues
>>
HIV
>>
Aged 36-40
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Interview 03
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Living with a life threatening illness helped him to focus 'on the present' and what he needed to have a better quality of life.
Has slowly built up his strength since his illness, becoming highly expert in HIV. He did extensive self-development work on himself. He has 870 CD4 cells and currently takes nevirapine, abacavir, and lamivudine with minimal side effects.
Chronic health issues
>>
HIV
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Aged 56-65
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Interview 29
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Talks about how people can focus on - and enjoy - the present moment.
He currently takes Kaletra, tenofovir, 3TC and has an undetectable viral load. He has suffered from painful peripheral neuropathy and uses visualisation and meditation to control the pain.
Chronic health issues
>>
HIV
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Aged 20-30
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Interview 49
>>
He has tried to live like people without HIV and explains why he can't.
Clint progressed to Aids defining illnesses relatively quickly. Fortunately, combination therapy had come in by then, and his original combination (Combivir, efavirenz and nelfinavir) is still effective today.
Chronic health issues
>>
HIV
>>
Aged 36-40
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Interview 11
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Explains why it is that people must accept their HIV.
He has never needed medication for HIV. Even though he did not think he would live past his 20s, he is now facing middle age.
Chronic health issues
>>
HIV
>>
Aged 36-40
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Interview 03
>>
Living with a life threatening illness helped him to focus 'on the present' and what he needed to have a better quality of life.
Has slowly built up his strength since his illness, becoming highly expert in HIV. He did extensive self-development work on himself. He has 870 CD4 cells and currently takes nevirapine, abacavir, and lamivudine with minimal side effects.
Chronic health issues
>>
HIV
>>
Aged 56-65
>>
Interview 29
>>
Talks about how people can focus on - and enjoy - the present moment.
He currently takes Kaletra, tenofovir, 3TC and has an undetectable viral load. He has suffered from painful peripheral neuropathy and uses visualisation and meditation to control the pain.
Chronic health issues
>>
HIV
>>
Aged 46-55
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Interview 04
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He wants quality of life, not illness and dependency.
He was taking saquinavir, ritonavir, tenofovir, and ddI with few side effects. He was also taking Prozac for depression. He had an undetectable viral load. Counselling has helped him to cope.
Chronic health issues
>>
HIV
>>
Aged 20-30
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Interview 49
>>
Facing illness and death helped to motivate him to do what he wanted to do in life.
Clint progressed to Aids defining illnesses relatively quickly. Fortunately, combination therapy had come in by then, and his original combination (Combivir, efavirenz and nelfinavir) is still effective today.
Chronic health issues
>>
HIV
>>
Aged 36-40
>>
Interview 20
>>
He has found a way to relate to the virus that makes sense of his experience. (Read by an actor.)
He started treatment soon after diagnosis (efavirenz and Combavir) and his viral load quickly became undetectable and he had few side effects. He resists blaming his life problems on HIV. (Video and audio clips read by an actor.)
Chronic health issues
>>
HIV
>>
Aged 31-35
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Interview 18
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Knowing people who are dying from HIV has changed her outlook on life. (Read by an actor.)
Her current combination of abacavir, AZT and 3TC has few side-effects. She feels much better having started exercising and improving her diet. (Video and audio clips read by an actor.)
Chronic health issues
>>
HIV
>>
Aged 46-55
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Interview 16
>>
With 8 years of experiences, he talks about how to reduce the impact of health problems.
He was taking a combination of anti-virals (zidovudine, nevirapine and abacavir) with no side effects. He has less energy than he once did, but is not sure if this is due to HIV or getting older.
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