Video collection.

HIV: Treat to prevent

If you’re living with HIV, you may wonder: What does HIV treatment actually do for me?

Actually?

A lot.

And it all starts with less virus in your body.

Left untreated, the amount of HIV in your body—your viral load—goes up.

Taking HIV treatment helps bring it down. And sticking with treatment helps keep it down. It can get so low, it can’t be measured by a test.

That’s undetectable.

You still have HIV, but there’s a lot less of it causing damage in your body.

And that’s a good thing, for you, your health, and your partners.

See, taking HIV treatment every day helps you get to and stay undetectable. And according to current research, that prevents the spread of HIV through sex.

It’s called treatment as prevention.

But think of it as treat to prevent. It’s a big deal.

But being undetectable doesn’t prevent other sexually transmitted infections.

So be safe. And use condoms.

Questions? Talk to a healthcare provider.

There’s no cure for HIV. But starting treatment as soon as possible, and sticking with it, is something good you can do for your health and the health of others.

And that helps ... stop the virus.

HIV: 5 reasons to stick with treatment

If you’re living with HIV, you may wonder: What does HIV treatment actually do for me?

Actually?

A lot.

Many treatment options are available.

And most are made up of three different medicines, which can even be in a single pill. Together they can fight HIV in more than one way.

Plus, taking HIV treatment every day, helps make sure there’s always enough medicine in your body to fight the virus.

And that helps make it possible to live a longer and healthier life.

Now, here are 5 reasons to stick with treatment.

It all starts here, with the most important reason of all. Less virus in your body.

Left untreated the amount of HIV in your body—your viral load—goes up.

Taking HIV treatment helps bring it down.

And sticking with treatment helps keep it down.

It can get so low, it can’t be measured by a test.

That’s undetectable.

You still have HIV, but there’s a lot less of it causing damage in your body.

And a lower viral load means a lower chance of developing certain infections, some cancers, and AIDS. And when you’re undetectable that brings us to number 2.

Protect your partners.

Taking HIV treatment every day means you can get to and stay undetectable. And that prevents the spread of HIV through sex, according to current research.

It’s called “Treatment as Prevention.”

But think of it as “treat to prevent.” It’s a big deal.

But, HIV is still in your body, and being undetectable doesn’t prevent other sexually transmitted infections.

So be safe and use condoms.

Now, on to number 3.

More CD4 cells.

Taking HIV treatment as prescribed, helps restore your body’s defense network—your immune system.

Inside your body are CD4 cells, the cells that defend against germs.

But HIV invades CD4 cells.

It takes over, and uses them to make more HIV.

Pretty soon, there’s lots of HIV, and not enough CD4 cells.

HIV treatment helps keep this from happening.

It raises the number of CD4 cells, so you have more of them to defend against things that can make you sick.

Sound good so far? Well, here’s number 4.

Less virus can mean less inflammation

Now, inflammation is something you can’t always see.

But it’s part of your body’s normal healing process. It’s usually short-term. And typically, it’s a good thing.

But, here’s what it means when you’re living with HIV. Because the virus is always in your body, it can cause long-term inflammation, if left untreated. And that’s a bad thing.

It puts constant stress on your immune system. And it can lead to serious diseases and cancers.

But taking treatment can help lower your viral load. And that helps ... reduce inflammation.

Which brings us to number 5.

Avoid resistance.

Because a durable HIV treatment helps keep the virus from getting ... sneaky. See, if you’re not taking a treatment that’s right for you, or if you don’t take your treatment every day, the level of medicine in your body may not be enough to keep HIV from changing.

It can become resistant to your treatment. Which means your treatment may not work as well to fight HIV. And resistance can make HIV harder to treat. Now and in the future. Buuuuuut ... if your treatment is ready to fight back and you take it exactly the way your healthcare provider says, it helps keep your treatment working ... the way it should.

So, there you have it.

Five really important things that taking an effective treatment does for you.

Remember, there is no cure for HIV. But sticking with treatment means you’re protecting your health. And, it helps make it possible to live a longer and healthier life.

Questions? Talk to a healthcare provider.

Plus, you can get more information, and watch more videos, at HelpStopTheVirus.com and on YouTube. So, stick with treatment. And help ... stop the virus.

Avoiding drug resistance

If you take HIV treatment now or plan to start soon, it’s important to understand HIV resistance.

What it is. How to avoid it. And how the HIV treatment you take may help fight against it.

Sometimes, HIV can mutate, or change.

Resistance is when HIV changes so much that your treatment may no longer work. In other words, the HIV in your body becomes resistant to the treatment you’re taking. And that is not good.

What you need is an effective HIV treatment by your side. One that can protect your health and help you live a longer life.

How does resistance happen?

Well, let’s take a look at HIV. It’s a virus with one goal.

All it wants to do is multiply. And it even uses your body’s own disease-fighting cells to make more HIV.

The amount of virus in your body—your viral load—goes up. And that’s something you don’t want. That’s why you want an HIV treatment that can stand up to the virus. There are many treatment options available. And most are made up of three different medicines. Which can even be in a single pill.

The medicines back each other up and help fight the virus in different ways. But it takes a steady level of medicine in your bloodstream for it to work.

Because HIV is still in your body. And it’s just waiting for a chance to get going again.

So, if your HIV treatment isn’t right for you, or you don’t take it the right way or if you stop taking HIV treatment, the level of medicines in your bloodstream can go down.

And that’s the chance HIV is waiting for.

When medicine levels are too low in your body, HIV can begin multiplying again. It can also get sneaky.

It can mutate.

Which means the virus can create whole new versions of itself.

Your HIV treatment is no longer effective against these new versions. That’s another way to say resistance. When HIV resists your treatment. It makes HIV harder to treat over time and limits your treatment options

That’s why it’s so important to start and stick with your HIV treatment, just as your healthcare provider prescribed.

So that the medicines in your treatment are always ready to fight back. And help keep the virus from getting sneaky.

How will you know? Your regular viral load test helps tell your healthcare provider if your HIV treatment is working. If your viral load doesn’t go down, or, if it goes back up suddenly, HIV resistance could be the cause.

So, stick with treatment and talk to your healthcare provider about anything that keeps you from taking your HIV treatment every day.

You can also ask about treatment options that can help protect you from resistance.

There is no cure for HIV, but you can take action to avoid resistance.

When your treatment works the right way, you’re fighting HIV and protecting your health.

And there’s one more thing.

You can help ... stop the virus.

Living with HIV: Matthew | Think about what you can do

MATTHEW: If somebody came to me and told me that they can’t deal with HIV right now, I would just simply tell them, you’ll be surprised on what you can do.”

One thing I’ve learned ... is not use the word “can’t”.

Think about what you can do.

And move forward from there.

And you’re allowed to write people into your circle. Those are gonna be the ones that are gonna help you make you feel like you are a person, you do matter. And you are important.

So, your perspective of whatever you’re facing is pretty much the first step.

And you start moving forward, and then your day gets brighter.

Because the moment you actually understand the power that you have inside, you’ll be amazed at how far you can go in life.

You’re still you.

Focus on what you want to do.

And just smile.

Adrena | I was concerned, too

ADRENA: I understand that, you know, you would be afraid of side effects. I was, too.

I just, I didn’t know.

If you have any questions, concerns, talk to your doctor.

Educate yourself about the medication. And then maybe you’ll feel better about it.

You take care of yourself, your body will take care of you. That’s just how I feel about it.

Because you have a longer ... a longer life to live.

Living with HIV: Greg | Me and my doctor

GREG: My first doctor was this quirky, older guy who called me when I was in the midst of not speaking to anyone. And he asked, you know, “are you ready for treatment?” And that was a question that I hadn’t dealt with because I didn’t know that treatment was a thing.

And that was weird for me to deal with because it was like, well, now I get to live? And ... um ... he kind of chuckled under his breath, and that was something that, in hindsight, I can see exactly why he did that.

HIV is a disease that you can live a long life with.

He started telling me from, you know, the start, let’s talk about different medications and how those will affect you. And here’s how to have a healthy life.

I walked into the doctor’s office very scared and sad. And I left ... like I was in charge of myself again.

Gina | Things have changed

GINA: People who believe that you can look at someone and tell that they have HIV, they’re living in the past.

Well, when I was diagnosed, I thought that, you know, just getting a diagnosis, people could look at me and tell.

And then I started taking the medication not long after my diagnosis.

It didn’t really change my appearance. Once I made forty, it was like, it wasn’t an issue anymore.

Mother Nature is.

A lot of times, we go on what was said in our communities years ago.

But I’m here to tell you that things have changed.

Twenty-three years of living with HIV, and this is what it looks like.

People will not be able to tell that you have HIV, just from being on treatment.

Just look at me.

Living with HIV: Aalia | Handling my business

AALIA: Before HIV, I was living for everyone else. Trying to be a people pleaser. And honestly, I feel like this made me walk my truth.

I stopped pointing the blame.

And I looked at myself.

And I told myself, right now, I really have to live because it made me stand up. And handle my business.

Take care of myself. So that I can live. So that I can get to, you know, achieve those goals.

HIV was just one ... it seemed like a big problem at the time. But now I look at it as just ... one part of me.

The main thing that I’ve learned or experienced is that treatment equals prevention.

You must manage. You must commit.

And ... think about it as a new life.