Hi there

[teknopath]

Well I am definitely new to all this so I'm not really sure where to start.  I went to the doctor about 6 months ago because of a case of what I found out was thrush.  At that time my doctor didn't really even raise an eyebrow about but that changed when it came back 5 months later.  At that time he took a whole lot of blood work, and 7 days later he called stating I had to come to the office which is very strange because I had blood work done several times before and they just told me over the phone.  Then he told me that I was HIV positive, so ok thats a smash in the face but I kept a good attitude about it for that time and my support system got me through it all.  A week ago I had my first appointment with my Infectious Disease doctor, since it was 3 weeks from my diagnoses they could get me my first appointment my previous physician had me go do my CD4 and viral load.  Upon meeting my doctor and the compulsory symptoms, how you feeling, etc.... she went into explaining what exactly the CD4 count is as well as viral load and their normal levels.  Short story of it is  my CD4 is 14 with a viral load of 100,000, they can't tell exactly why my immune system depleted so quickly as I had an HIV test just 2 years prior probably bad living.  But in the end of this torrid little tale I have AIDS, for some reason it was much easier to swallow when I was just positive.  I have been symptomatic without any serious infections about the last 6 months, I just thought I was getting too drunk or not enough sleep but then I noticed something was really wrong. 

I'm going to end my rambling now, all in all just wanted to say hi.....

[AustinWesley]

Hey Tekno,

You sound like you have held it together pretty well thus far.   I imagine they will want to start you on meds immediately unless they choose to run one more set although I probably don't imagine they'd want to risk it w/ the CD4 where it is.

Did they happen to mention what your CD4% is?

The good news is the meds work.   My #'s started off great and went to Hell out of the blue.   Anyways, I'm sorry to hear this news, but you will find many good resources here and people who are in the same boat.

Things can really only improve from here so hang in there!   If you've discussed meds already there are plenty of folks here with experience and they might want to give you something like Bactrim to prevent any additional issues until your counts improve.

I'm sure you probably have a lot of questions and concerns and feeling overwhelmed right about now, but ask away and you'll probably get more advice than you ever wanted ; )

Wesley

[teknopath]

Yeah on my first visit we went over my numbers and she gave me Bactrim, Difulcan, and nystatin, I have a nasty case of thrush that has been off and on for about 6 months now.  I have to go back the 30th to get my ARV's, she took about 10 viles of blood and said we may have to change whatever they put me on when my resistance test comes back but said I shouldn't wait that long to start meds. 

Its all a bit depressing though

[AustinWesley]

Hey Tekno,

Yeah, it's not a lot of fun for certain.  I'm glad to hear that your doctor is running the genotype to check for resistance issues.   I've heard a lot of cases where doctors aren't doing it and just prescribing whatever w/out knowing the situation.  Sounds like you've got a good doc who's being very thorough.  That's good news!

Depressing for sure.   I know I've taken Bactrim before and that was no fun either.

In all likelyhood your resistance tests will come back clear and give you the green light to start HAART.   There are a LOT of people here who got their HIV diag. with low CD4s and lots of them have way higher counts than I do ; )  Mine aren't fantastic, but I won't complain.

Right now you need to keep as good of an attitude as possible and try to limit any negative stuff.   I wouldn't overdue any drinking or any of that.  You'll have plenty of time for that later.

The Living with HIV section gets more attn. than this forumn so if you need anything answered just ask away.  I don't have all the answers and there are some people that have been exactly where you are who'll be happy to share their experiences and give you advice.

Once you settle on the med option best suited be religious about taking it and I imagine you will do just fine.   As your numbers start improving you're gona feel a lot better and that depression will start fading.

Well, I don't want to inundate you with my ramblings.   Just know there are plenty of people here to talk to.

Wesley