Coping With Your AIDS Diagnosis

If you have been diagnosed with HIV or AIDS it could be the most devastating time in your life. Many decisions will need to be made including finding a doctor, taking care of the financial parts of your life, and deciding who you should tell about your illness.  This can be a confusing and depressing time in your life and you should have ways of coping with everything that is happening. 

One of the ways to cope with this devastating illness is to find a good support group or private counselor.  Your family and friends may be trying to cope with their own emotions and are not able to help with your needs.  A support group of others in your situation will help you to understand each stage of your disease. 

Choose carefully whom you will tell about your diagnosis.  You, of course, will need to tell your current and former sexual partners and anyone else who may be at risk of getting the disease from you.  Your personal medical doctor and staff will need to know so they can take safety precautions while treating you.  There are no legal obligations to tell anyone else of your diagnosis.  Your employer will not be told and the law guarantees your privacy.

The second way to cope with your diagnosis is to come to terms with it.  It will probably be the hardest thing you have had to do in your life.  For some people, a strong faith will help them get through this difficult time.  A higher power or something greater than yourself can give you strength and courage to fight the disease and stay positive. 

Others will find support with a professional support group or private counselor.  There are many resources available for people diagnosed with HIV.  Some HIV or AIDS patients may decide to live their life to the fullest.  They may want to experience feelings and emotions they have wanted to try but had not done so yet.

Did You Know? 

Homeopathic treatments for patients with the early stages of HIV and for patients with early stages of AIDS have been proven effective. Some homeopaths have been able to help patients in advanced stages of AIDS but these are not considered a normal result. There are exceptions to this rule and some patients were given a better quality of life after receiving homeopathic treatment. The use of conventional drugs takes a toll on the body because of the many side effects. Conventional drugs can stop working if the virus becomes resistant to those drugs. An advantage to using homeopathic treatment is they can begin immediately when a patient starts displaying symptoms of opportunistic infections. Homeopathy has a history for success in treating infectious diseases. Many of the most fatal infections have successfully been treated with homeopathic treatment. History shows patients treated with this natural therapy had lower death rates from diseases like scarlet fever, pneumonia, typhoid, and cholera. Hospitals, prisons, and insane asylums experienced high success rates in treating patients with these diseases with homeopathic treatments. Homeopathic medicine is now being used to treat viral infections in the world today.

The song “Live Like You Were Dying” speaks to this issue in an eloquent way.  Many HIV and AIDS patients do things they had been putting off or neglected to do while healthy.  Maybe they wanted to see the world, take a sky dive, or write a novel.  Some patients will want to live every second like it was their last one and get every enjoyment out of life they can.

If you have a companion pet, you can still keep that pet.  Your dog or cat can help you with the emotional ups and downs involved in fighting this disease.  There are some safety concerns because of the possibility of touching parasites your pet may carry on them.  If you take the right precautions and keep your hands clean, you can still keep your pet with you.  If you are emptying the kitty litter you will want to take precautions or have someone else do it for you.  If you pick up after your dog there is a similar danger. 

AIDS Facts You can’t get the virus by breathing the same air as an AIDS patient. It is not an airborne virus. You can only get the infection by coming into direct contact with body fluids of a person who has the HIV virus.

If you are going to take care of your pet yourself, wear latex gloves and be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after performing these chores.  Always wash your hands with soap and hot water after playing or petting your pets.  Cleanliness is extra important for those patients who have HIV or AIDS.

Important Information in AIDS and HIV Issues

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