There is some evidence that drinking alcohol is more harmful for people with HIV than people who don’t have HIV. It is recommended that people should not regularly drink more than 14 units of alcohol a week. This applies to both men and women. It is particularly important for people with HIVto stick to these recommendations.

A unit of alcohol is around:

• a third of a pint of beer, lager or cider (at 5 to 6% alcohol)
• half a standard glass of wine (a standard glass is 175ml)
• a single measure of spirits (25ml)
• a small glass of sherry or port (50ml).

Heavy drinking is linked to hepatitis (inflammation of the liver) and liver damage. It is particularly important that people with HIV take care of their liver, not least because the liver plays an important part in how the body processes anti-HIV drugs. People who have hepatitis B or C co-infection should be aware that drinking even a small amount of alcohol is not advisable.

Increases in blood fats (such as cholesterol and triglycerides) can also be made worse by heavy drinking.

Drinking too much can make it harder for you to take your drugs in the right way, at the right time (this is often called ‘adherence’).

Drinking too much can also sometimes lead to vomiting. If you vomit within an hour of taking your HIV treatment, you should retake the dose.

Binge drinking can also be harmful to general health, so don’t drink all your weekly units in one day. Also remember that alcohol can contain a lot of calories, so you need to take how much you drink into account if you are trying to lose weight.

The NHS Choices website has a lot of information about alcohol, and a tool to help you keep track of how many units you’re drinking. You can find this at www.nhs.uk/livewell/alcohol.