Drugs, Alcohol and HIV

If you have just found out you are HIV positive, you might be wondering how alcohol and other drugs you take for pleasure that have no medical purpose can affect you and whether they are good or bad for your immune system. 

You may also be wondering whether it will affect the effectiveness of you HIV medication. 

The truth of the matter is large amounts of drug and alcohol use are bad for your immune system and your overall health. 

Remember, when you have HIV, your immune system is already weakened. Drinking too much alcohol or taking other drugs can weaken your immune system. 

A weaker immune system will have a harder time fighting off common infections and other HIV-related infections. 

A weaker immune system also increases the chance that you will experience more side effects from your HIV medications.

Smoking bhang or any other drug such as heroin can irritate the lungs and you may be more likely to get serious lung infections, such as pneumonia.

Alcohol and other drugs can also affect your liver. A weaker liver means HIV treatment become less effective. 

Using drugs may also affect your ability to make decisions during sex. You may end up having unprotected sex and in the process you could catch an STI or even get reinfected with HIV. This is not good for your already struggling immune system and might affect your overall health. 

If you are injecting drugs and sharing needles, it is dangerous for you and for your sharing partner(s). They could get HIV from you, and you could get reinfected or other disease, such as hepatitis, from them.

Key point to remember is before you take alcohol or any other drug, it is important to think about the risks involved and the consequences of those risks.