The Importance of Routine HIV Testing - A.J.

I was maintaining regular routine HIV tests my entire adult life and always used barrier methods. Then, one day, I had a “slip” in my sexual practices. Never did I imagine the worst could happen during that single incident.

A few weeks later, I began experiencing severe flu-like symptoms, a common sign of an early HIV infection, which I ignored and with time I was okay. The flu was gone. Five months after that, I decided to go for my routine HIV test as usual. Unfortunately, I turned out to be HIV positive. Shock on me!

At the time of the diagnosis, I was working in the fashion industry. I was traumatized. I went into depression and I had to stop working because I had lost hope and I felt life was not worth living.

Not knowing your HIV status is  a common problem when it comes to HIV transmission, most people describe themselves as drug- and disease-free, but so many people who have HIV don’t know they have it.

That’s why I encourage regular testing. It happens that most people know about their HIV status when they’re already sick.

I take daily medication (ART); one pill, once a day. And it’s working well. Within 2 months of beginning this medicine, my viral load became undetectable.

I eat well and exercise often, and besides an issue with  common side effects of HIV medication, I am in great health.