If you test positive for HIV it means you are carrying the HIV virus.
Each individual reacts differently to this news. Some are shocked, while others aren’t that surprised. Most feel a need to talk about what it means to live with HIV, from several perspectives. The doctor or welfare officer who gives the results is often highly experienced and skilled. Sometimes it feels better to talk to someone in the same situation. One way is to contact Posithiva Gruppen (website in Swedish only but address and phone number on start page) or Noaks Ark (some English on the website).
Having HIV is not a death sentence like it was in the 1980s. Today there are all kinds of antiretroviral drugs that are extremely effective and reduce HIV’s status to a chronic infection. Medication cannot completely rid the body of the HIV virus, but it can keep it at very low levels.
Living with HIV does entail some restrictions and rules that people who are HIV negative don’t have to worry about. We have summarized some of them below.
People living with HIV have a duty to inform their sex partners that they have HIV if they have anal, oral or vaginal sex. This also applies if you use a condom. This is something many people living with HIV find extremely problematic. After all, when do you tell someone something like that? When you’re chatting or making small talk in the pub? When you start making out? When your clothes come off? Many people who live with HIV and pick up partners and date online choose to write that they are HIV positive clearly in their introduction text, or to mention it early on in a conversation. This way you can immediately filter out anyone who can’t handle fucking a person living with HIV and focus your energy on all the other wonderful prospects out there.
You must also inform any doctors and medical personnel who may come into contact with your blood, for example in connection with an operation.
- You must not have anal, vaginal or oral sex without a condom. But with a condom is fine! There’s loads of good sex you can have without passing on HIV.
- You may not give blood or plasma, or donate organs or sperm.
- Moreover you may not share or lend syringes or needles used to inject, say, heroin.
- You must not have sex for money.
- You must go for repeat check-ups with your doctor so you can check your virus levels and your health in general. It is also an opportunity to start leading a healthier life in general.
Living with HIV is no bed of roses, and many people take it hard and need support to sort out their life, relationships, sex lives and other areas. For others it’s easier, and life returns to normal pretty quickly. As this is a website about sex, we won’t go into further detail about living with HIV. But what we can say is that for many people, their sex life is affected by becoming positive. You may have to change how you have sex, but we can’t repeat it enough: You can have sex if you’re HIV positive. That may sound obvious, but it’s worth emphasizing. Condoms are also a great way for people to have sex when not everyone is HIV positive or HIV negative. This website has plenty of tips about how you can enjoy sex, whether or not you have HIV. Enjoy the moment, enjoy having a good fuck – or indeed lots of them!
