Tonight I’ve been at a v special performance about #menopause by women with #HIV talking about sex, pleasure, vaginas, desire, leakage, blood, hot flushes, soft bodies - seeing at first hand the power of women sharing together. Thank you for tonight ❤️ 17/17

If you want to know more about #hiv and #menopause then download this brilliant leaflet by @SophiaForum (nothing to do with me!) sophiaforum.net/index.php/gu… #WorldAidsDay 16/x

Findings from @Prime_UCL have helped inform a new project to develop holistic support for women ageing with HIV led by @SophiaForum @Positively_UK @aidsmap @UCLGlobalHealth sophiaforum.net/index.php/wo… #WorldAidsDay 15/x

Thanks to everyone who makes @Prime_UCL what it is @HajraOkhai @crageshri @fionamburns @janesheps @Positively_UK @df_solomon @carolinesabin @A_M_Rolland Janine, Fiona, Abby Severn, Rob Miller, Richard Gilson, Tuhina, Saliha & ALL our clinics and participants #WorldAidsDay 14/x

In the pipeline: papers on women’s lived experience, hot flushes, psychological symptoms, clusters of symptoms, obesity, and quality of life. Watch this space and follow @Prime_UCL #WorldAidsDay 13/x

But our interviews also show huge strength, humour, joy, and resilience - it’s not all bad news #worldaidsday 12/x

Our interviews (not published yet, my bad) really show how #HIV and #menopause impact women’s lives (watch out for the paper in 2022) #worldaidsday 11/x

Women with #HIV aged 45-60 have high levels of poverty, social isolation and poor mental health - particularly among racially minoritised women sti.bmj.com/content/sextrans… #WorldAidsDay 10/x

Women with #HIV with severe #menopausal symptoms are more likely to miss HIV medication and miss HIV clinic appointments tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.… #WorldAIDSDay 9/x

Women with #HIV aged 45-60 were more likely to have sexual problems than women without HIV the same age. Sexual problems were more likely in #menopause tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.… #WorldAIDSDay 8/x

Over half of women with #hiv aged 45-60 had moderate/severe pain. This was more likely if women weren’t working, had money issues, smoked, or had other medical conditions. Pain was associated with depression & poor sleep tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.… #WorldAIDSDay 7/x

Recently we showed that women with #hiv >45 who are undetectable on treatment don’t need a blood test to confirm menopause. We can diagnose menopause if they’ve not had a period for 12 months, just like in women without HIV onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/… #WorldAIDSDay 6/x

So what have we found: menopausal symptoms (like hot flushes, mood changes, tiredness) are really common, but use of hormone treatment (that could help relieve these symptoms) is low in women with #hiv onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/… #WorldAIDSDay 5/x

Thanks to the generosity of women with #HIV we recruited 869 women to take part in surveys, interviews + group discussions. This has made @Prime_UCL one of the largest studies of HIV and ageing in women in the world 💪🏽 more here bmjopen.bmj.com/content/bmjo… #WorldAIDSDay 4/x

Back in 2015, there was very little known about #menopause and #HIV so we set up @Prime_UCL - a study looking at HIV & menopause in England #WorldAIDSDay 3/x

The increasing availability of effective HIV medication means that people are living longer. For the first time we’re seeing large numbers of menopausal women with HIV. In 2018, over 11000 women with HIV in UK were of menopausal age #WorldAIDSDay 2/x