She shoots, she scores

Women who use drugs may have different issues than men do. If you don’t know how to score or shoot drugs on your own, and you rely on someone else, you may be in a position where another person has power over you. They can choose when you get your fix, how much you get, or whether you get it all. If someone else controls your drug use, you could become dope sick if they withhold it; you could overdose if they give you too much; you could experience health problems if they don’t inject you carefully; or you could be forced to share needles. You may also be at risk of getting abused or raped. If you trade sex for drugs, this does not mean you should be abused by your partners or clients. Try to take control of your drug use — learn how to shoot and score safely. Women are often so busy taking care of others — kids, partners, family, friends. You need to take care of you, too.

Drugs, HIV and your body

Drugs, HIV, stress and not enough healthy food and sleep can affect your body. Try to pay attention to what your body is telling you. Your period might change: it may get shorter or longer or stop altogether (even then, you can still get pregnant). If you’re having problems with your period, find out what’s going on. Try to find a doctor or nurse with whom you feel comfortable speaking about these issues.

If you have HIV, it’s important to use condoms so you don’t get infected with another STI or a different type of the virus than the one you have. Condoms will also prevent the spread of HIV or any other STIs to your partner and can help you avoid pregnancy.

Sometimes, you may not be in a position to ask your partner to use a condom. The female condom, which goes inside your vagina, may give you more control (your local AIDS agency or community health clinic may give them out for free). The birth control pill only protects you from pregnancy, not from HIV or other STIs. If you’re on the Pill and taking antibiotics or certain HIV meds, the Pill might stop working, so ask your doctor or nurse about other birth control methods.

You might get yeast infections because of HIV, drugs or both. Symptoms are itching and burning around the outside of the vagina, and a thick white or yellow vaginal discharge. Over-the-counter medicines such as Monistat or Canesten can treat yeast infections. Yeast grows faster when you eat sugar, so try to cut down on sugar and alcohol.

Yeast infections can be very serious for women with HIV, so if your infection doesn’t go away or keeps coming back, see a doctor.

If you’re HIV+ or have human papilloma virus (HPV), you’re at risk for cervical cancer. The cervix is the lower part of your uterus, where it joins the back of your vagina. The symptoms for cervical cancer may include bleeding from your vagina after sex, between periods or after menopause. Sometimes there are no symptoms, which is why it’s important to get a Pap smear (the test for diagnosing cervical cancer) twice a year. Ask your doctor about HPV testing, too. Cervical cancer can be treated successfully if it’s caught early enough.

Baby love

Using drugs or alcohol while pregnant can permanently harm your baby, so you may want to think about reducing your drug or alcohol use, switching to less harmful drugs or methadone, or quitting drugs and alcohol. It might be dangerous for the baby if you quit drugs cold turkey, so talk with your doctor or a counsellor about being slowly weaned off drugs and getting medical, emotional and mental support. If you’re pregnant or have kids and are using drugs, be aware that your doctor might contact child welfare. During the first three months of pregnancy you can safely choose to have an abortion (abortions later on are more risky). No matter what you choose, it’s very important to see a doctor or nurse regularly during your pregnancy. Ask about free vitamins to make your baby healthy and use a condom during vaginal sex to protect your baby from infections.

Women with HIV can pass on the virus to their babies through pregnancy, childbirth and breast-feeding. If you’re HIV+, you do have choices, especially if you get a pregnancy test and see a doctor early on.

A woman with HIV has a 1 in 4 chance of passing on the virus to her baby. This risk may be lowered if you:

• take certain HIV medicines while you’re pregnant
• have a cesarean section
• give your baby certain HIV medicines right after he or she is born
• don’t breast-feed your baby — look into places where you can get cheap formula.