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Author Topic: Undetectable -> missed dose -> increased VL  (Read 4397 times)

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Offline scared2b

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Undetectable -> missed dose -> increased VL
« on: December 05, 2013, 06:43:47 pm »
hi everyone,

i need ur support and any information you may have to tell me...

I was diagnosed in August 2011 and went on meds a couple of months after. I've been undetectable since then.

This past month I wasn't feeling well, has sore throat and i missed 1-2 couple of doses a week because I couldn't really swallow it. I was taking three pills. but now i just started Stribild since two days ago, which is so much easier to swallow and i like it.

today i got my lab results, my VL went up to 480 :(

my doctor said, we'll do another lab in a couple of weeks or a month. I'm worried... I'm worried if it will be suppressed again or has it developed resistance...

I don't know if anyone has similar experience that can share. I really hope that it goes back to be undetectable again...   

Offline intaglio

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Re: Undetectable -> missed dose -> increased VL
« Reply #1 on: December 05, 2013, 07:05:10 pm »
Your viral load varies with the day and the hour. Blood work takes a snapshot at that moment. VLs have also been known to elevate slightly for no apparent reason.

IMHO, you're not at risk of developing resistance for missing so few doses. A VL of 480 is still a very small load. Compare your VL with untreated VLs which can range in the millions and overall, you've experienced a very low level of elevation.

Likely your VL is elevated due to your other infections demanding your immune system's attention (sore throat, etc.) Missing doses contributed to the bump, but still don't put you at great risk of developing resistance. Dropping your med regimen completely will.

Take a deep breath and relax. Take your Stribild regularly. Your next blood work should show it working -and your VL once again dropping back to undetectable levels.

Post back when you get your results. Until then, let the Stribild do its job.
Reality is frequently inaccurate.

Offline scared2b

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  • Posts: 79
Re: Undetectable -> missed dose -> increased VL
« Reply #2 on: December 05, 2013, 07:11:09 pm »
you know something I should tell you... I'm a young doctor myself and no matter how much I know about any disease, it's the human nature in us that just likes to hear it from someone else...

Reading your reply made me tearful and glad that kind people are still out there... When I was first diagnosed, the people here really helped me... I still have not told anyone (only my doc) about this and it's tough still after two years... 

this blip in my VL just made me feel so helpless and vulnerable...  I feel much better after reading your post...


Offline mecch

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  • red pill? or blue pill?
Re: Undetectable -> missed dose -> increased VL
« Reply #3 on: December 05, 2013, 07:34:28 pm »
This past month I wasn't feeling well, has sore throat and i missed 1-2 couple of doses a week because I couldn't really swallow it.
"1-2 couple doses a week" and this continued for a month? Because of a sore throat and not being able to swallow?

You are a doctor you should know enough to have numbed that throat with a numbing wash and swallowed your daily dose. This is a rather suspect excuse and behaviour, IMO, and I think you think about it a bit more and make sure of your motivations....

“From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need” 1875 K Marx

Offline scared2b

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  • Posts: 79
Re: Undetectable -> missed dose -> increased VL
« Reply #4 on: December 05, 2013, 07:44:30 pm »
You're right. I should know better... and that's the part that gives me more guilt for even being positive to begin with. I beat myself daily on these things because of the notion that I should know better... But i wish you knew that it is not exactly easy becoming a doctor with odd hours and the demands it has in addition to all the behind the scene talks of HIV that I have to take part in and write exams about while being poz myself. you know...

the medication made me feel like shit because it was three big pills and hard to swallow to begin with, and the sore throat didn't make it any easier... stupid excuse, i know.

I guess what im trying to say is that it wasn't just sore throat but all that f-ed up emotional aspects on the sides...

I started my meds right after i found out about my status and Ive been undetectable about less than a month after that. Now there is no way that I would miss a dose... I know it will go back down again, but i'm never gonna go through this again... '


Offline mecch

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  • red pill? or blue pill?
Re: Undetectable -> missed dose -> increased VL
« Reply #5 on: December 05, 2013, 09:09:32 pm »
well I scratched a bit and now you tell the whole story so that's good.

As for flimsy excuses, there is still one left -- the pills are big? what pills are you on that are so big? Mine are the size of a medium multi-vitamin)

I think this post you have hit some of the nails on the head... 

Don't let yourself be lulled into sabotage, due to emotional baggage.  Stick with the daily dosing from now on, come hell or high water.  Flip that mind set and see the daily dosing as a 1 minute act of self preservation and self-worth. All of us live stressful lives filled with moments of self-doubt and low self-worth.  Don't turn it into sabotage.  Lots of times I don't do what I'm suppose to do, on time.  Job. Cooking. Cleaning. Paying my taxes. Calling mom.  But I take my pills everyday because you know its too easy to do it.  A lot easier to take that pill than to figure out the way to deal with a situation at work. Or go shopping and cook a healthy meal. 

Go ahead and continue not to forgive yourself for getting HIV, if you must. Just take your medicine anyway, because this is apples and oranges..
“From each, according to his ability; to each, according to his need” 1875 K Marx

Offline scared2b

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Re: Undetectable -> missed dose -> increased VL
« Reply #6 on: December 05, 2013, 09:23:13 pm »

You're right. That's what I'm going to do. I had a weak month, but not gonna happen again...

As for the pills, I was on a good regimen but my doctor (whom i love and trust) told me that Atripla aint good and I agree because of my hours and random night shifts, I couldn't think properly. So he started me on Intelence and Kivexa (Epzicom) and that intelence was nasty, huge and made me nauseous and jittery. So I emailed him and he told me that he doesn't think its the pills, so I continued on it. Last week, I asked him if there are any alternatives and he started me on Stribild which I actually really like. So I'm doing that now.

I just hope that I become undetectable again... we're repeating my VL in 2-4 weeks.

Offline xinyuan

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  • Posts: 202
Re: Undetectable -> missed dose -> increased VL
« Reply #7 on: December 06, 2013, 01:40:34 am »
Recently started meds (truvada, prezista/norvir) myself. Going back next week for testing.

Hope to talk to you, scared2b, for multiple reasons. Again, similar situations and backgrounds.

Offline scared2b

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  • Posts: 79
Re: Undetectable -> missed dose -> increased VL
« Reply #8 on: December 06, 2013, 01:48:57 am »
Recently started meds (truvada, prezista/norvir) myself. Going back next week for testing.

Hope to talk to you, scared2b, for multiple reasons. Again, similar situations and backgrounds.

hey xinyuan. i'd love to talk. we're in this together!

 


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