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It's no secret that addiction to alcohol and drugs is a problem among people living with HIV and AIDS.

In fact, drug use is one of the leading causes of HIV in the United States. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, injection drug use is responsible for 36% of the AIDS cases in the United States. No one knows how many more cases of HIV are the result of drug or alcohol users trading sex for drugs, alcohol or money-or simply having unprotected sex while they are high. For many people with HIV, both straight and gay, participating in the "party culture"-and the drug and alcohol use that go with it-has at least contributed to their infection. Use of Crystal Meth, in particular, is thought to be responsible for much of the recent increase in infections among gay men.

But drug and alcohol use is not only a problem because it leads to HIV infection. It is also an enormous problem for those already infected, because it can interfere with your treatment. In fact, the Department of Health and Human Services suggests that a person dealing with chemical dependency might be better off getting treatment for their substance abuse first-before beginning their HIV treatment. Why? Because active drug and alcohol use is a "major predictor" of poor adherence to HIV medications. Common sense, isn't it? It's hard enough to remember to take your HIV medications faithfully when you're sober. You're not likely to do it when you're high.

If you are dependent on drugs or alcohol, it may seem like getting clean and sober is impossible. But it's not! You are not the first person to face this problem. Millions of drug users and alcoholics before you have found a way to overcome addiction-and so can you!

The first step is to ask for help. It's true that some people quit on their own. But many more succeed with a little help. Ask your doctor, your clinic, or your local AIDS Service Organization. They can almost certainly direct you to a local treatment program. If you can't afford to pay, don't worry-there are free or sliding-scale treatment programs available in virtually every community in the United States. If you've tried to quit before and failed, try again. There are new medications available that help some alcoholics who could not quit drinking without them.

Even if no formal in-patient treatment program is available to you, you can still get help from Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) or Narcotics Anonymous (NA). Their principles are the basis for the vast majority of treatment programs anyway. AA and NA believe in the principle of attraction rather than promotion, so they don't advertise and they are rarely even mentioned in the media. But they are everywhere, and if you ask around you will find them. Alcoholics Anonymous has a number listed in the white pages of almost every phone book in America. Or you can find a meeting near you at www.alcoholics-anonymous.org. on the Internet. The web address for Narcotics Anonymous is www.na.org.

You can do this!

Overcoming addiction is not easy-but it can be done! In the end, it doesn't matter how you get clean and sober, as long as you do it. Being sober makes it much easier to stick to your HIV treatment program-and much more likely that you will live a long, happy, productive life!

Copyright 2008, Positive Health Publications, Inc.

This magazine is intended to enhance your relationship with your doctor - not replace it! Medical treatments and products should always be discussed with a licensed physician who has experience treating HIV and AIDS!