The first thing to do is find someone to talk to – HIV is a big deal and you probably have lots of feelings around it. There is still stigma involved with having HIV so you may feel that you can’t tell anyone. If that’s true for you, a professional counselor can help or you can go to an HIV/AIDS Service Organization or ASO. They have people who are trained to deal with all the issues you have with your HIV, including the emotional ones.

Learn what you can about HIV and AIDS. This site is a good place to begin. There are several others that have very good information. For example, at TheBody.com, there is a guide for the newly diagnosed. There are suggestions for things you should do, lots of useful information (such as an area on choosing a doctor) and resources for more information. For someone new to HIV, the “Inspiring Stories” section has stories of all kinds of people with HIV – men, women, young people, older people and stories about families. These stories are truly inspiring, so take a look.

At the ASO you contact, you may be assigned a case manager. The case manager’s services are usually free. Depending on the organization, your case manager can help you with finding a doctor, getting medication if you’re under-insured or not insured and myriad other things. Their goal is to remove any barriers you might have to getting treatment because the earlier your treatment begins, the better.

Once you’ve had some time to come to terms with having HIV, you’ll want to begin to plan your treatment. The ASO and your doctor can outline the options. There are new medications and treatment protocols available, so you will have some decisions to make. Go prepared to ask your doctor whatever questions you have and be sure that you fully understand everything. If your doctor doesn’t have time in the initial appointment to answer your questions, ask her if you can schedule another appointment specifically to address your questions or if there is someone else who can answer them. HIV doctors are like any other and very busy but don’t be afraid to be assertive.

You have a lot to learn about HIV and managing your disease. Be careful about where you get your information. There are books and websites that are misleading. Some mean well but do not use good scientifically-based researched data so the results are questionable. Others give blatantly incorrect information. To help you choose reliable sources of information, you can begin with the Centers for Disease Control’s. Any links you find here, you can trust to give accurate information.

HIV is serious. It is also manageable. You can live well with HIV.