Diarrhea

When you pass more that two loose or watery stools a day you have diarrhea.    Diarrhea is dangerous because it causes dehydration.  You can die from dehydration.  Go to the doctor or clinic if you have any signs of dehydration.

Signs of Dehydration

·         Loose and dry skin

·         Dry tongue and mouth

·         Feeling dizzy and weak

·         Little or no urine passed

How to treat Diarrhea

It is important to make sure the body does not lose to much water.  Drink something every time your stomach runs.  This will not stop the diarrhea, but it will stop your body from becoming dehydrated.

Drink the following:

·         Clear fluids such as water, apple juice or rooibos tea.

·         Thin soup made only from vegetables

·         The water that was used to boil samp or rice

·         Home – made sugar and salt mixture

How to make the home made sugar and salt mixture:

·         Measure one liter of water into a clean container

·         Add eight teaspoons of sugar

·         Add half a teaspoon of salt

·         Mix well

Drink a cup every time your stomach has run.  Through the mixture away after 24 hours

You many not want to eat because you are feeling sick.  But it is important to go on eating if you can. 

When you have diarrhea you should eat a small amount of food at least five times a day.

·         Try to prepare fresh food.  Do not keep cooked food for more than two days

·         Eat soft, mashed, liquid foods like soup and porridge

·         Eat food that is low in fat.  Do not add cooking oil to food.

·         Eat soft fruits like bananas and pawpaw

·         Do not use spices in food

·         Do not eat leafy vegetables like spinach and cabbage.

Loss of weight

Many HIV positive people lose weight.  This is often caused by illness such as diarrhea and TB.

·         Exercise regularly to keep your muscles strong

·         Eat a lot of energy foods such as porridge, rice and potatoes.

·         Eat a lot of protein food such as beans, eggs, mil and fish

·         Don’t stop eating, even if you are sick and you do not feel like eating.

Cough

Coughing is the body’s natural way to clean the airways.  The body is trying to get rid of mucus.  Do not drink medicine to stop the cough.

How to treat coughs

• Drink lots of water
• Keep active by walking
• Drink tea with lemon and honey
• Drink a home made remedy
• Use steam inhalation
• Have home-physio

How to make the home-made couch syrup

Mix the following Ingredients together in equal amounts.

• Honey
• Lemon juice
• Clean, boiled water

The amount could be teaspoons, tablespoons or a small cup.  You can add a pinch of ginger (ginger helps to fight infection and pain)

Drink one teaspoon every 2 or 3 hours.  You can drink this hot or cold.

How to use the steam inhalation

• Fill a big basin with boiling water.
• Cover your head and the basin with a big towel.
• Breathe the steam in deeply
• Do this for about 15 minutes until there is no more steam.

How to have home physio

• Lie on your front with a towel across your back.
• Your caregiver must make her hands like upside down cups.
• She must pat your upper back hard.  Do it like beating a drum.
• You can also lie with your head over the edge of the bed
• Now change position and lie on your back.  Your caregiver must pat your chest.
• She can also pat the sides of your chest
• You must cough up any mucus (do not swallow this spit it out into a bag or bucket)

Tuberculosis (TB)

Coughing can be a sign of TB or pheumonia.  If it is TB or pheumonia, you will need medicine from the clinic.  Make sure that you take all the medicine the doctor or health worker gives you.

It is very important to visit the clinic if you have any problems.

Signs of TB

• You cough up blood, or yellow or green mucus
• You have a fever.  This means you are hot and sweaty, or you are shivering.
• You sweat at night

Not everyone with TB has HIV or AIDS

Candida or Thrush

Candida or thrush is a sickness that causes white spots in the mount or inside of the vagina

Signs of thrush

• White spots on the tongue or gums, or inside the cheeks
• White spots on the skin inside or outside the vagina
• If there is thrush in the vagina, there can also be a discharge and itching.

How to treat thrush

Garlic can be used to help relieve thrush.

• To help thrush in the mouth.  Chew one glove of garlic.
• To make garlic tea: Chop two cloves of garlic, and boil them slowly with one cup of water.  Drink one cup of this tea three times a day.
• For thrush that is itching in the vagina:  Insert a crushed clove of garlic into the vagina
• To help with general health: Use garlic in cooking, it makes the food good too.

Be careful of what you eat when you have thrush

• Do not eat spice food or food that needs a lot of chewing
• Sticky food like peanut butter can make the thrush worse
• Do not eat very cold or very hot food
• You can eat soft, mashed food like potatoes, avocados, yoghurt, vegetable juices and soup.

Also more importantly

• Do not use soap to wash the vagina.  It can make the itching worse.
• Do not stop eating.  It is important to eat well, to keep healthy.
• Visit your doctor or clinic if the thrush gets worse.

Skin Problems and sores

Many people with HIV have problems with their skin.  There are different infections that cause different skin problems.  Visit a doctor or your local clinic.  They will know which problem you have, and which medicines you should take:

• Some skin problems can be caused by TB
• Others can be caused by a lack of Vitamin A and Vitamin B6

How to treat skin problem

• Keep the problem area clean and dry.  If possible, keep it uncovered.
• If clothes rub the sores, cover the sores with a loose bandage or a piece of loose, clean material
• Do not touch other parts of your body when you have been touching open sores.  You may spread the infection.  Wash your hands after you have touched any sores.
• Scratching the skin can cause more infection.
• Bath oil in the bath can be helpful for dry skin.  You can also carefully rub oil over your body, but do not rub it over the open sores.
• You can keep your skin healthy by eating foods that contain Vitamin A and Vitamin B6 e.g. garlic, bananas, liver, nuts, leafy vegetables, and vegetables that are yellow, green and orange.

Sick people in bed who have a skin problems

If you are sick in bed, these things are important:

• Change your body position at least every hour or two
•  Massage your body to improve blood flow.  This will help prevent bedsores

The rights of people with HIV in the workplace

People who are HIV positive have the right to work, just like other people.  If you are HIV positive and you tell your employer, your employer cannot tell anyone else unless he or she asks you first.

People who are HIV positive have the right to work for a long as they can.  If they get too sick to do their job, then their employer may ask them to leave.  But this can only happen when they get very sick with AIDS.

If you are asked to take a HIV test when you apply for a job, you have the right to say no.  The employer cannot refuse to give you the job just because you do not want to have a HIV test.

If you need it, you can get help at the CCMA.