Just started Stribild, and quit METH 3 Months Ago...

[exfighterpilot]

I was diagnosed as HIV+ in December of 2012, yet opted to delay meds(I will explain why down below), and started Stribild on 1/9/2014. I also stopped meth in late October 2013.

I live in the Los Angeles area, and started smoking meth in 2009, and started slamming meth in 2012. i started barebacking when I started smoking, mostly topping, but when I started slamming, i started bottoming alot, and became much more careless and slutty.

You can see my blog at www.crystalmethtales.com. It will describe my slide into meth addiction.

In early October 2012, my lymph nodes near my groin started to swell, and kept swelling. This worried the hell out of me, so, I finally went to the doctor. They ran some tests, sampled my blood, and told me they would call me. Four days later, I receive a call from the doctor's office, and they told me I tested positive for Syphilis, and told me to come in for treatment.

I arrive at the doctors office bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, ready for treatment. But first, they inform me that they suggest they draw blood and test me for HIV, as it is common that when one tests positive for Syphilis, they also test positive for HIV. This shocked and scared the hell out of me.  I agreed, my blood was drawn, and they informed me that I would need to receive an injection of penicillin for the Syphilis. Now, understand this, I am extremely afraid of needles, so much so, that I have been known to stay sick(which is rare) for weeks rather than go to my doctor, as I am afraid of needles. Anyways, I ask the nurse if i can take it orally, she laughed, and said no. She then informed me that it is just a little shot in the arm, and I would not feel a thing. Yea, and cows fly!

Anyways, I waited for 1.5 hours, when finally the nurse comes in, and tells me she thinks, since I am afraid of needles, that it a better idea if she poked the needle in my ass cheeks. Understand, I am shaking, but agree. So, I hop on the examining table, pull my pants down, and grip the table about as tight as I possibly could grip anything. She stabs me with this horse needle, and I replied "Jesus Christ, that hurts!" She replies "Just relax, we'll be done in a second." the pai was intense, and I could feel the burn as the penicillin was being injected into  my muscle! 15 seconds later, she pulls the sword out of my ass cheeks and says "Don, look." I look at the horse needle,and was shocked, it was huge! She then said "That is why I did not want you to see this."

Ok, so, I go home, and the swelling in my lymph nodes go down. Friday evening at 5:00 PM, I get a call from my doctor. She says "Don, I am sorry, your HIV tests came back ad you tested positive. I am so sorry Don, if you want to come down tonight, I will wait for you and we can talk." My heart dropped, i paused and replied "No, that's fine. It is now time to be a man and deal with this." She replied, "With the current meds, you can live a normal life. The new meds are amazing."  She made an appointment with the HIV specialist,and we hung-up.

I grab a beer, and start my research, and for the next 5 days I learned all i could about HIV, AIDS and the new treatments.

Fast-forward to  my appointment with the HIV specialist. An intern is taking my vitals, and I am firing questions at him that he cannot answer. It was clear I was armed with questions that he could not answer. I now realize i was dangerous,as I had enough information to ask some questions, but not sufficient knowledge to fully grasp the subject matter.

In walks the doctor, a very assuring older gentleman. He informs me that my viral load was 15,300 and my CD4 counts were 770. I informed him that I was not ready for meds, and that I had major concerns about their side effects. he informed me that the side effects associated with the new meds were much, much less than the old meds. He has been around since day one of the HIV/AIDS days, and told me with the old meds, the average lifespan was 8-12 months, and now I could expect a long and near-normal life. This relieved the hell out of me, however, I still insisted on no meds., he said, fine, you are healthy, come back every 3 months for bloodwork, and I left.

I did not see my HIV specialist for 12 months!

Over the next 9 months, I continued to slam meth and have unprotected sex. i was a binge addict, I would party perhaps 2 weekends per months for 1-2 days, then go back to my normal life of eating right, juicing, and exercising. I know, I know, i was foolish, but i was also still hooked on meth.

FAST FORWARD TO OCTOBER 2013
In mid-October 2013, I go to Los Angeles, slammed and fucked for 3 days, had a horrible experience. I went home,and told myself that was it, no more bareback sex and no more meth. I have been sober for 3 months! YEA!

Early December 2013, my lymph nodes start swelling again, I am sicker than I have ever been with fever, sweats, pains all over and all I could do was sleep. Then, some sort of rash starts to appear on various parts of my body! I am horrified, and call my HIV specialist. They take a blood sample, and tell me my Syphilis is re-activated, and that my viral load is now 33,000 and CD4 is 414. I refuse the Penicillin shot(Yes, I am an idiot, but that shot hurts), I take oral antibiotics for the rash. I come back 1 week later, the rash is worse, I still feel like crap, a biopsy is taken of my rash, they suggest the Penicillin, i refuse, they tell me to come back in 1 week. I come back in one week, I feel horrible, I look like crap, the rash is worse,and I beg for the Penicillin shot. This time, it was not bad, this nurse was good!

The doctor then hands me a prescription for Stribild, and I have been on Stribild for 10 days, with ZERO SIDE EFFECTS!

I take my Stribild at about 5:00 every evening, after my dinner. I feel great, as the Penicillin is doing it's thing killing the Syphilis, and I am exercising, eating right and juicing like a madman!

It's amazing......I guess I witnessed my own "perfect Storm", here is what I mean. 1)I was tired of going to Los Angeles, and slamming meth into my veins,expecting to have earth-shattering sex. it almost always ended in chaos or at the very least, was not very good. Slammers get so tweaked and high, that the sex is secondary to the slam. 2) Getting so very sick from Syphilis with this nasty rash and being sick in bed made allowed me time to think, and 3) My viral load was spiking up, and my CD4's were going down.

It was time for a change. Time to become a man again. Time to stop having worthless, dangerous sex. Time to get on meds and live a full and healthy life.

I am sorry if this post was "off-topic", or tool long. I am surprised, and happy, that writing this, and my blog, enpower me to share my story with others who may be in a similar situation as myself.  Many thanks to the HIV+ warriors who braved this terrible disease before these new, wonderful meds, and may all those fallen warriors RIP 

I will share my new viral load and CD4 counts when I get them.

Lastly, and real quick...meth is a tough drug to stop. I KNOW that it removed all my sexual inhibitions and I know I  probably not be HIV+ if it were not for my meth-induced sexual encounters. i started my blog, www.crystalmethtales.com, to share my stupidity with others in hopes that my stories might resonate those still addicted to meth.

Ok, OK, I am serious this time, this is my last comment! I do not know if this is why I am not experiencing ANY side effects from Stribild, but I juice a few times every day. My feeling is that my body needs all the help it can get eliminating and toxins from the meds. I have a Vita Mix and A Nutri Bullet, they are both great.

JUICE RECIPES-Purifies blood and helps Mr, Happy, like natural Viagra!
Beet root
Celery
Ginger root
Carrots


Juice 2
Kale
Chard
Celery
Cucumber
Blueberries
Oatmeal
Flax seed


 

[Ann]

Hi Ex, welcome to the forums.

I'm sorry to hear that you tested hiv positive, but it's good that you're finally starting to pay more attention to your health.

One thing I don't understand though - you happily slam meth but you don't want a shot for syphilis? You do know that syphilis kills, don't you? You need to get your priorities straight on that score.

You might want to know that you may be in for some backlash when people read your blog that you linked to. Beating people up isn't very nice and bragging about it doesn't paint a very good picture of you. Do you really want that link in your introductory post?

Ann

[darryaz]

I didn't get that he was bragging so much as showing how meth can make a person do things they wouldn't normally do (unless I missed something - I only saw one story about him beating someone up).  The blog is gritty but it seems honest and real.

I'm sure many people don't realize that some people live like that.  I have an ex-boyfriend who is now involved in drugs and lives in a house similar to the one described.  He's no longer the person I knew a few years ago.

I also didn't see anything on the blog that would give away ExFighterPilot's identity.  Maybe he should let the link stay (obviously not my decision though).

[Ann]

I also didn't see anything on the blog that would give away ExFighterPilot's identity.  Maybe he should let the link stay (obviously not my decision though).

I wasn't worried about the blog giving his identity away, I was only concerned about what sort of reception he may have from members here after reading about him beating someone up. Not really putting his best foot forward, so to speak. First impressions count for a lot.

[darryaz]

Not from me.

Welcome, EX!!!!!

[exfighterpilot]

I started the blog, to give a full account of what meth does to people, including myself. I am not proud of most of the things I did when on meth. if you knew me pre-drugs, and today, you would find a kind, sensitive communicative person. It is not my modus operandi to beat people up. In this case, it happened., Again, my blog is raw, and real. I would venture to guess, most of us here have done things of which we are ashamed,  and was perhaps out of character at the time. In my case, I am sharing my "meth life" as therapy, and to let those who may be starting or thinking of meth, the bad side.

I still find it saddening to think of all the people I whom met, while partying, whose lives were in total chaos. I truly feel blessed, and fortunate that I was able to see the big picture, finally, and stop, alteast for these few months, it is a huge victory for me.

If my blog can help even one person quit,or not start meth, i will gladly take all the criticism and heat delivered towards me.

Regarding slamming, there is no pain in the injection, and yes, I agree, it was foolish of me to postpone the Penicillin injection for three weeks. It's done now, my TTIRS are normal.

Thanks, I appreciate all the input.

[2tcells]

Ya meth sucks big time makes normal people insane, I have had many friends die from meth but not from overdose from going crazy and killing themself getting in shoot outs with police or ending up in prison for life. Meth will make you a different person while you are on it. I been off for almost four years after doing it all day everyday for 5 years I would not sleep for weeks at a time. But after you get use to not being high its no problem staying off it. It probably took me a year to feel normal not being high. Good job the first 4 months were the hardest for me then it gets easier everyday

[exfighterpilot]

good job, glad you are happily sober

i am giving it my best

thanks

[minatl]

I am certainly glad you are here to tell your story!  Congrats for cleaning up your act and getting on your meds.  I can imagine it wasn't easy..but you made the right choice!