Question
I am newly diagnosed at 21 – what should I ask my doctor?
21 August 2009. Related: All topics, Newly diagnosed, Starting treatment.
Hi I’m a newly infected 21 yr old and I’m going to my first doctor visit this week, since finding out I was infected.
For some reason, I’m always tired and for the past couple of months I don’t want to do anything sexual. What should I ask my doctor that may help and about how long does it take the average person to get sick?
My neck feels stiff and my glands are tender. I’m only 21 so I realllllly wanna live =(
Answer
Hi
The answer to your first question, is to ask your doctor about anything that you are worried about, and especially about any symptoms. You will want to find a doctor that you feel you can get on with as this will be a relationship that you may build on for many years.
You might want to ask how recently your doctor thinks you were infected though in case these are symptoms of very early infection related to a high viral load and your bodies first immune response (called seroconversion).
This is all very new to you though, but it will get easier.
Because you were only recently diagnosed, you are likely to be stressed and worried and this can cause symptoms, especially if you are not sleeping well. This could be why you are tired. Or you could have a high viral load because you are in seroconversion, and most people see this drop again without treatment. This is a time when your glands can also be swollen.
It is very rare for people to not think differently about sex after learning they are HIV-positive. It will take a while for you to get your head around this and speaking to a health adviser or counsellor helps some people. You will get back to a normal life though, including a normal sex life, but this is going to be strange for a while.
HIV can affect people very differently. About 25% need treatment within 1-2 years of infection and 2-3% can go for 15-20 years without treatment. The rest of us are somewhere in between, probably needing treatment after about 5 years.
Lots of ongoing research may show that earlier treatment is better though.
For a good general overview see the i-Base Introduction to Combination Therapy.
Or look at some of the other Q&A’s from people who are also recently diagnosed.
Good luck today and let us know if you have other questions.
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