Overview

If your doctor is anything like mine, she’s pretty busy with a large caseload. Her primary focus is on helping you maintain a low viral load and high CD4 count, mostly through the use of antiretroviral drugs. She has a good knowledge base where those drugs are concerned, and that’s a good resource for you.

There are three things you can do, whether you use antiretrovirals or not, to aid in that effort.

First, and easiest: Eliminate Deficiencies.

Most folks with HIV (and even many without!) are deficient in certain vitamins and minerals.  HIV itself can induce mineral deficiencies.

What happens when you have deficiencies?  Things don’t work the way they should.  Importantly, anybody’s immune system — poz or not — can be suppressed due to even a modest deficiency.

Most vitamin, mineral, and nutritional deficiencies can be remedied at low cost by adjusting your diet and supplementing where needed.

Second: Stop the things you do that encourage HIV.

Yes, the normal American lifestyle actually encourages HIV to replicate.   Mostly, we’re looking at what you put into your body — foods, drugs, alcohol.

Third: Start things you can do to actively discourage HIV.

Once you’ve eliminated your deficiencies and cut out things you do which may encourage HIV to replicate more, there are also things you can do that either boost your immune system or go after HIV itself.

Taken together, all three of these approaches are still not a cure.  They are what I have found to be, for me, an effective management strategy. I hope they will help you, too.

You can find benefits in this three-pronged approach whether you are using meds or not.  Some side effects of certain meds can even be mitigated through the use of supplements and diet.

See the individual pages for each prong of the strategy for more information (in Pages listing in the left sidebar).