Thank you for your site. It's incredible and gives me hope for the future. I have been on HAART medication for about 18 months and doing great. I am taking Truvada and Sustiva and also take a half of an Ambien at night for the side effects of Sustiva. I have noticed that I have dry mouth constantly and chewing gum helps but it does not stop it. Does HAART medication or the Ambien cause dry mouth? If you have any information can you let me know. Thank you for always being honest and upfront.

Thank you for your kind comments about the site. Dry mouth is a common problem in HIV infection, although not clearly linked to the treatment of it. It relates to an under-production of saliva or to some medical conditions, such as thrush. The first thing to do is to make sure there is nothing medically wrong with you (such as thrush or some other lesions or sores). If this is not the case, a number of simple measures may help the problem. The following recommendations come from hivdent.org:

Sip water or sugarless drinks often

Chew sugarless gum or suck on sugarless hard candy

Avoid tobacco

Avoid alcohol

Avoid salty foods

Use a humidifier at night