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Message: <blockquote data-quote="TrubbulTheTroll" data-source="post: 988899" data-attributes="member: 12343">That is tough news indeed. I know you are probably not looking for advice but when you have decided to take action, keep this in mind:a) Find a doctor that specializes in HIV+ or has a lot of poz patients. A general practitioner will very likely not be up to date on all the latest and thus can't really meet your medical needs.b) Subscribe to POZ magazine - monthly info, life inspiration and other good things.c) Change your diet and lifestyle immediately. Eat right. Eat healthy. Exercise daily. Reduce stress. No party drugs. No smoking. Maintain a healthy weight.d) Schedule semi-annual trips to your doctor. Monitor your T-cell count and viral load. Think of your RX visits as tune-ups. Good results will encourage you to return again as well as reinforce the message above about living healthier.e) Always, Always, ALWAYS practice safe sex and avoid re-infection with a more virulent strain of someone else's HIV. Some think that just because they have HIV, they no longer need to worry about safe sex. Besides the risk of getting other immune-system damaging STDs, adding another strain of HIV is just going to tax your immune system that much more. Your immune system can only do so much. It is really up to you to safeguard it so that it can safeguard you.f) Keeping healthy now puts off having to take the meds later on. I know of two guys who have been infected over 10 years. They live right and are in no need of meds. They could die old men by the time they start meds. Another friend has been on meds for 10 years, looks great but severe partying on meth forced him onto meds long before he should have (besides making his entire life hell, too). He doesn't think he'll go another 10 years even though he has been living right for 8.g) Consider joining a poz group like Body Positive for support from a community that has been there and is living a poz life. There you will meet people who are re-examining critical life issues with a completely different outlook (where to live? Is medical insurance an option anymore? Having children? Do I ever enter into a sero-discordant relationship where one is poz but the other isn't?). h) Educate yourself on all matters poz. Legal, health, medical, social. The more you know, the more you will want to do for yourself.</blockquote>

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