Question
Will being HIV-positive change my sex drive?
4 April 2008. Related: All topics, Living with HIV long-term, Newly diagnosed.
Hi, I am newly diagonosed with HIV. How will it change my sex life? Will it lower my libido?
Answer
Hi
In itself, there is nothing medically that should change your sex drive, just because you have been diagnosed with HIV.
However, HIV-positive people report higher rates of sexual problems than similar people without HIV. More information about sexual problems is included here. This may be a long-term complication of HIV or a side effects of medication, but it is more likely to be related to the complex social situation that HIV-positive people experience.
For example, you are likely to get a wide range of responses from potential partners many of which will show ignorance, fear and prejudice. Depending on where you live, you may also legally be responsbile for telling any future partners your HIV status before having sex.
Against this background, most people find HIV affects their sex life, if not their libido.
Having said this, everyones experiences are different, and you may be lucky to either already have a supportive partner, or meet enlightened, educated partners.
A lot of people benefit from talking to other HIV-positive people when they have just been diagnosed, so perhaps try to find a support group in your area.
Hi Will, please see this link for more information about HIV and sexual function. It includes a recent study from Uganda reporting changes in sexual health after switching treatment, but most other studies don’t find this link.
https://i-base.info/guides/side/sexual-health
The concerns with mitochondrial problems were definitely linked to early HIV meds but much less so now. This is also the same for insulin resistance when early NRTIs (stavudine, didanosine and zidovudine) and protease inhibitors (indinavir, ritonavir, lopinavir) etc had direct links to these side effects.
HIV meds might indirectly cauae similar problems though if your weight increases significantly on ART but this gets more complicated becasue weight gains can also be linked to many other complications including heart disease.
Please send links to any studies you have seen though that support what you say and we can discuss these here.
On their own, HIV drugs
This is not true in 2025 about hiv drugs not affecting libido. It destroys mitochondria function and causing insulin resistance.