| Help & Advice | - The only way to prevent sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, is to use a condom or femidom
- If you are aged under 25 years, you can get free condoms at The Lowdown, 3 Kingswell Street, Northampton. Telephone: 01604 634385. If you require Counselling Information & Advice on any issue, including HIV/AIDS, call the Lowdown's Helpline: 01604 622223
- The Northamptonshire Lesbian, Gay & Bisexual Alliance organise social events and offer counselling and support. They also have free condoms, lube and safer sex information. Call 01604 628986, or drop in on them at Charles House, Derngate, Northampton
- SNAP is a Northamptonshire-wide HIV/sexual health outreach project for men who have sex with men. Call 01604 628986
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Hands up if you've ever had sex without a condom. Jackie's story should make you think twice. This Northamptonshire woman has never taken drugs, she's not gay, but she caught HIV by having unprotected sex with her boyfriend. "It could happen to anybody" she says. "Now I'm always tired," explains Jackie (not her real name). "I've got joint problems. I take 18 tablets a day. There are side effects from the combination therapy: my weight suffers because the fat only goes to one place in my body, so I've got very thin legs and arms. You've really got to look after your diet because the tablets you're on have a lot of cholesterol in them so you're more at risk of having a heart attack." Stigma But what upsets Jackie more than anything is the way she is treated by ordinary people. "It's the stigma that goes with HIV and AIDS. They think it's dirty. But ordinary heterosexuals - anybody - can get it." Jackie is shocked at the way attitudes to her change when people discover she has HIV: "They treat me like a leper when they find out, unless they're educated enough to know, or they've read up the facts that you can't get it from kissing." Whilst some friends are OK about it, others are "stand-offish": "They talk about it behind your back. 'You'd better not got near her, you might catch something'". Jackie has become wary about telling people: "You can't just tell anybody. You have to really trust them first. But that's no guarantee because as soon as they hear they don't know how to handle it and they might just spread it around, and before you know it, it's common gossip. Only because they don't understand the facts." Relationships | "Wear a condom! But are you going to listen?" | | Jackie |
And new relationships are next to impossible. Men "either just leave and don't want to see you again, or they just want you as a friend and they wouldn't have sexual relations with you because they think they might catch it. But as long as you wear a condom and practice safe sex, there's no reason why you shouldn't have a healthy sexual relationship." Jackie blames ignorance and prejudice for ruining her life. "You've got to tell your family or tell your partner. But who do you tell? You've got to be choosy because that partner might just drop you like a ton of bricks and go out and tell the whole world. "You've got parents: they wouldn't want it known that you're their daughter. That's how bad the stigma is." Listen to an interview with Jackie by clicking on the link on the top right
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