Testimonial of Charlie Johnson, HIV Positive Person Living With HIV

Charlie Johnson, a recovering heroin addict who has been living with HIV for fourteen years, describes his personal experience, including: what it was like to learn he was HIV positive; how this led to a long, deep depression; how this led to more drug use; how meeting the right doctor helped him to face his drug addiction, go through drug detox, and comply with his antiretroviral drug medications; how he is now working to help others who are HIV positive, and set up a program in South Africa to provide antiretroviral drugs to people there. Charlie is a co-founder of Global Lifeworks. Visit http://www.GlobalLifeworks.org and http://AIDSvideos.org to learn more. This video is freely downloadable from http://www.archive.org/details/aidsvideos_charlie . [Do you want to help prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS? Are you fluent in a language other than English? Then volunteer to translate our videos into other languages! Click http://AIDSvideos.org/translate.shtml to to learn how you can help!!! © Copyright 2006-2011 Global Lifeworks. All rights reserved. This work is licensed to be used for non-commercial purposes under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/.]

Category:

Howto & Style

Tags:

• HIV
• AIDS
• prevention
• Christian
• antiretroviral
• abstinence
• faithful
• condom
• virus
• education
• care
• orphan
• charity

[Nkereal]

I think I have hiv and a few others.. went to the clinic and got tested but never went back cuz i don't wanna see results.

[AIDSvideos]

@Nkereal: Go get your results. They could save your life and that of others if you're positive. Go to AIDSvideos site and click "Symptoms." Watch our vids: "Top Ten Reasons to Get Tested for HIV" and "Is HIV a Death Sentence?" Get your results. Knowledge is power. If you're HIV+ you can find out if you need treatment now that could save your life and can take steps to protect others. If you're HIV- you'll be motivated to avoid contracting HIV. Please get your results!

[souljaboy0071]

hey when you said flu like symptoms what were you experiencing would be a great help! to get a reply thanks

[AIDSvideos]

@souljaboy0071: This is Eric; I'm not a doctor. Knowing what symptoms Charlie happened to experience during his own primary HIV infection would not help you at all because you could have different symptoms or no symptoms at all. Watch our video "Did I Just Contract HIV? Symptoms of HIV Infection" for more details. Get tested for HIV and follow your doctor's instructions.

[orlandobabe]

Charlie take care of yourself and stay strong, God bless you. Consider yourself watched by angels.

[Othellolover]

i bet, the worst thing about being an HIV+ is not the desease alone, but its when you have to tell someone, the you are an HIV+. to you, Mr. Charlie Johnson, I admire you for doing this. thank you. a sincere thanx from a teanager. ALLAH bless you!

[AIDSvideos]

@VictoriaChase: (1) I agree with you that people are getting complacent about HIV because they (wrongly) believe that with ARVs, HIV is "no problem." As anyone who's HIV+ will tell you, they'd prefer not to have HIV and would prefer not to have to take the pills and deal with the side effects. (2) Life is underrated and death is overrated. Suicide is always the worst option. Among other things, it eliminates all other options. Look, just avoid contracting HIV and keep the question moot!

[VictoriaChase]

@AIDSvideos In addition to what i also said, i watched a video about the Documentary The Gift, and the act "Bug chasing" is also in existent because of the "it is not the end of the world, if you catch HIV". How so? People are starting to believe HIV is like diabetes, you take a few pills and it is okay. Then they continue risky behavior and take all the pills and realize it isnt that simple. I've read articles on this. So i'm with true. if i get hiv id rather die asap.

[VictoriaChase]

@AIDSvideos Hi, although this is two years ago I just have to say...I think Suicide is best for some. Some people can't handle it. You can say watch this video and do this because of that. I've been watching alot of videos on HIV. I'm Knowledgeable on it. There is a doccumentary on youtube called "The Gift" where actual gay men just showed that eve if you follow all the instructions and took every pill your life can be miserable.

[truth867]

Hopefully thoes that were negligent regarding their Most merciful lord Allah will think about the after life, search for the truth, dont worry every soul has a given date, if u have it please dont be evil and spread it may Allah open your hearts ameen

[im0new0here]

It's crazy how man can spend all this money on wars, but won't on studies to find cures for a disease that has been known about for decades. But they can develope drugs that will help you to live longer, but at a major cost. God is the way, and he is the cure. Search for a answer in him and trust me he will show you. HIV is not a death sentence, the only thing it does is keep you from having sex, but it opens your eyes to people who really care and love you. God is here, just let him in..

[kmarshstpete]

Glad I am not the only person who was told year after year . Oh there is a viral infection going around. It took an hospital stay to eventually find the true cause.