Side Effects - a Better Quality of Life

posted: 22/12/2010

i-Base, the HIV treatment information organisation, have produced a new issue of their guide to HIV treatment, side effects and complications.

The guide should help you get better medical care and improved health. It should help you feel more in control of your treatment, and, most importantly, to get a better quality of life.
It has been written by people who are HIV-positive, who have used many of these treatments and had many of the side effects.
 

“Everyone worries about side effects before they start a new treatment.
I have changed treatment four times since 1996. This has always been related to side effects or because new research has shown I can change the dose.
Every time, my quality of life improved more than I expected, even switching from twice-daily to once-daily.
It always takes me a while to change, even when I know that other drugs could be better.
As the benefits from treatment are hopefully going to keep me alive for many years, I want to make sure I am on a combination that is effective, easy to take and tolerable–and that gives me the best quality-of-life.”

Read the guide online

Order a free printed copy

Download the pdf version 1.2 Mb
 

The guide has information on how to talk to your doctor about side effects. There are sections on each of the major side effects and medical and alternative treatments are included.
 

What's new?

This is the fifth edition of the guide HIV and your quality of life:  a guide to side effects and other complications, issued this December.
 

• It has been updated to include side effects of the latest drugs.
• There is less information on side effects of drugs that are now rarely used in the printed book, but all the details are still online. T-20, lactic acidosis, indinavir, d4T and abacavir hypersensitivity reactions are online, not in print.
• More information on long-term complications. These make a big difference to the best quality of life. For example, there are sections on bone and heart problems.
• There’s a new section on HIV and ageing, because this an essential part of living well with HIV.
• The guide includes comprehensive references in the online version. There are hyperlinks to over 250 documents. These include: the product information for each drug; UK, European and US treatment and management guidelines; and related studies that focus on safety and tolerability of drugs. Whenever possible we selected references that provide free full text access online.

Feedback and comments

i-Base welcome feedback and comments and you can tell them what you think in their online survey.
 

Treatments Update Session

posted: 15/09/2009

The latest news on HIV treatment will be given in a talk on Thursday 1 October at George House Trust. Simon Collins, one of the editors of i-Base, who produce many different HIV treatment information booklets, is giving an evening talk and questions and answers session. This Treatments Update session starts at 5pm and will finish at 7pm.

He will talk about the latest treatment news and choices, and answer any questions you may have about HIV treatment.

i-Base answer lots of questions about HIV all the time - they have section of people's questions and their answers on their website. You can ask your own questions online there.

i-Base also have a telephone Treatment Phoneline 0808 800 6013 from Monday - Wednesday  12-4pm. Calls to 0808 numbers are free from a BT landline. Other networks and mobiles may charge.

All their treatment booklets are listed here.

This talk is open to people living with HIV who are known to George House Trust.

Any questions about this event, please email Lynda or call her on 0161 274 4499.

Treatment Diary

posted: 22/06/2009

i-Base, as they promised in a recent HIV Treatment Bulletin, have now produced the Treatment Passport which you can now download and print, or request a paper copy by post.

Treatment Passport is a booklet for you to keep key details and treatment notes, developed with the HIV pharmacists group and Royal Free Hospital in London, to help people keep track of treatment history.

Keeping a short record of your treatment history is useful:

• it can help you understand your health and treatment
• it can help if you change doctors, or clinic
• it can help if you speak to other healthcare workers, or to a treatment phoneline for advice
• it can help if you ever change hospitals or clinics, or if you want a second opinion, or if you move to another country.

download Treatment Passport

request a copy by post

i-Base, 3rd Floor East,
Thrale House,
44-46 Southwark Street,
London,
SE1 1UN
0207 407 8488.

Beginners Combination Therapy

posted: 01/05/2009

i-Base have a beginner's guide to HIV combination therapy, the drug treatments for HIV. It starts from your first questions, gives advice about you and your doctor, tells you the key facts about how important it is to take treatments properly, and how to do this, about side effects, drug resistance and the different treatment combinations.

It has useful pages for you to keep a diary to help with taking your treatments properly (adherence) and a place to note the treatment drugs you use, and any changes to these.

This is a useful guide we recommend. Starting treatments is a big decision and you need to be ready. This can really help you prepare. If you come away from the clinic in a fog, this can help you make sense of things. It can help you ask the doctor the questions you need answers to.

If you are in treatments confusion you can always ring our services team in Manchester 0161 274 4499 or email

i-Base also runs a free treatment information phoneline for information and support on all aspects of HIV treatment                0808 800 6013
                              Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, 12 - 4 pm
Calls are free from UK landlines and Orange network

The i-Base website also has a question and answer service where questions can be answered online and by email

i-Base Introduction to Combination Therapy June 2008, pdf 500KB

Other i-Base guides are here where you can also read them online

HIV Treatment Training

posted: 30/04/2009

If you want to understand the details of HIV treatments, or if you are interested in supporting people with treatment concerns, new training packs are available.

Online, free from i-Base, there is Treatment Training for Advocates.

And available from NAM is their printed authoritative 2009 issue of HIV Treatments Training Pack.

Here's what you will find in I-Base's online training manual

1 Immune system and CD4 count
2 Virology, HIV and viral load
3 Introduction to anti-retrovirals (ARVs)
4 Side effects of ARVs
5 Opportunistic infections and coinfections
6 HIV and pregnancy
7 Drug users and HIV
8 Clinical trials and research

• Full section index
• Glossary
• PDFs and PowerPoints

Learning resources included: WHO classification system for HIV infection, AIDS-defining infections for CDC clinical categories, Opportunistic infections by disease type, ARV drugs and doses,TB drugs, PowerPoint slide sets, Worksheets, Related websites, Glossary, PDF versions.

Questions

The i-Base online Training Manual is here

NAM's HIV Treatments Training Pack

NAM's HIV Treatments Training Pack is not for the everyday person - it's designed for professionals and is only printed, and it is priced at £150 - although you can use a discount code.

£150.00

NAM's Manual