Danny Pintauro Opens Up About the Day He Discovered He Was HIV-Positive

— -- When former "Who's the Boss?" star Danny Pintauro scheduled a routine physical three years ago, not realizing that he was sick.

So, when he got a call from his doctor on his lunch break shortly thereafter, he wasn't prepared for the news that he had tested positively for HIV.

"I had no idea," Pintauro recalled on "The View." "[I] went to the doctor’s office and got the news, walked back to work, spent another six hours doing talent agent stuff and went home and cried."

Pintauro, now 39, explained that in the years prior, he had been abusing crystal meth and having unprotected sex.

"The problem with meth is that it’s completely intertwined with sex, so soon as I wanted to explore some rougher sides of my sexuality I encountered meth," said Pintauro.

"The reason I kept doing [meth] over the years was probably because I had some stuff going on in my life that I was not ready to deal with, or that I was having a hard time dealing with," the former child star explained.

Now, Pintauro wants others to learn from his story. He quit his job and wants to work with HIV/AIDS organizations, speaking to the gay community about why it's important to live "a responsible lifestyle."

"I don't want to be a hero, or I don't want to be the role model," he said. "I want to be the example of what can happen if you get into drugs, if you're being promiscuous, if you're not taking care of yourself."

And he is. Pintauro, who's taking medication, also gave intimate details about his relationship with his husband, Wil Tabares.

"You try not to have limits in your marriage but there have to be limits for us," he said. "I'm taking care of myself and he's taking care of himself."