Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 18, 2024, 11:17:44 pm

Login with username, password and session length


Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 772781
  • Total Topics: 66296
  • Online Today: 328
  • Online Ever: 5484
  • (June 18, 2021, 11:15:29 pm)
Users Online
Users: 1
Guests: 241
Total: 242

Welcome


Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and others concerned about HIV/AIDS.  Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning:  Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

  • The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own physician.

  • All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

  • Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators of these forums. Click here for “Do I Have HIV?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ community forums.

  • We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are true and correct to their knowledge.

  • Product advertisement—including links; banners; editorial content; and clinical trial, study or survey participation—is strictly prohibited by forums members unless permission has been secured from POZ.

To change forums navigation language settings, click here (members only), Register now

Para cambiar sus preferencias de los foros en español, haz clic aquí (sólo miembros), Regístrate ahora

Finished Reading This? You can collapse this or any other box on this page by clicking the symbol in each box.

Author Topic: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?  (Read 7984 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline moxieinme

  • Member
  • Posts: 91
Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« on: December 11, 2013, 02:25:49 pm »
Nearly jumped off the examining table when my doc gave me my latest lab results: VL <20, CD4 637, and percentage 27%. I have NEVER had a CD4 count or percentage that high, and only three times had CD4 over 600, the last time in 2002. Of course I am thrilled that my current regimen appears to be working so well for the last 5 years.

But I have a niggling doubt. These are the first labs through a new doctor and in-state lab. The majority of the labs for the past several years had been done in a major city through clinical trials. Seems silly, but could the significant change in numbers be due in part to a different lab running the samples?

Just curious. In the meantime, a small celebration...
Salvage therapy wrangler, riding the poz bronco and dodging bullets for over 24 years.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CD4 at diagnosis 1989 = 330
Began treatment (AZT) 1989
Lowest labs 1998: CD4=74, 7%, VL=750,000
First sustained undetectable VL in 20 years (2009); CD4=315
Current labs (12/13): CD4=637, 27%, VL=<20
Current meds: Prezista, Isentress, Intellence, Norvir

Offline leatherman

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • Posts: 8,583
  • Google and HIV meds are Your Friends
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #1 on: December 11, 2013, 02:42:18 pm »
WooHoo!
I say take the happiness when and where you can.

Previously my cd4s rose to an amazing (for me anyway) 415 - the highest ever in 21 yrs of treatment. I made a bet with the doc that it was a fluke and my next labs would be back down to my "normal" 315 - and sure enough that's what happened. However, I do have bragging rights now on 415!!

So enjoy your bragging rights of 637 and be happy about it is what I say. ;) ;D
leatherman (aka Michael)

We were standing all alone
You were leaning in to speak to me
Acting like a mover shaker
Dancing to Madonna then you kissed me
And I think about it all the time
- Darren Hayes, "Chained to You"

Offline moxieinme

  • Member
  • Posts: 91
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #2 on: December 11, 2013, 03:44:39 pm »
Thanks, Leatherman!

Of course any "up" numbers -- aside from VL -- are good news. My 25 year averages have been in the low 300s too, but I'm on a long-overdue upswing.

But yes, it's all about the trend. I'll just put a gold star next to this one for now and keep on truckin'.
 
Salvage therapy wrangler, riding the poz bronco and dodging bullets for over 24 years.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CD4 at diagnosis 1989 = 330
Began treatment (AZT) 1989
Lowest labs 1998: CD4=74, 7%, VL=750,000
First sustained undetectable VL in 20 years (2009); CD4=315
Current labs (12/13): CD4=637, 27%, VL=<20
Current meds: Prezista, Isentress, Intellence, Norvir

Offline mitch777

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,087
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #3 on: December 11, 2013, 05:20:59 pm »
Hi Moxie!

Great news! Not sure if a different lab would produce different numbers to any great degree. Sometimes for unexplained reasons numbers just bounce a bit.

My numbers generally were in the 500-800 range for over a decade of my 31 "pleasantly positive" years but the past two years the cork popped off and bounced off of the ceiling with numbers around 1000.

Physically I felt better before the pop so I'm not seeing the correlation in that regard. Still, it's nice to know that some things are improving even if it's just reading the CD4 count from a lab report. :)

m.
33 years hiv+ with a curtsy.

Offline leatherman

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • Posts: 8,583
  • Google and HIV meds are Your Friends
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #4 on: December 11, 2013, 06:14:29 pm »
so I'm not seeing the correlation in that regard.
to me, that's the big misconception about cd4 counts. Higher does not equate to feeling better. It doesn't equate to working better either. Higher only means your immune system is "larger". Just because someone has a high cd4 doesn't neccesarily mean that they "feel well"

and it's similar on the other end too. I know a LOT of people who had less than 100 count and couldn't hardly believe they were positive because they didn't "feel sick".


I would simply proffer that some of that not-feeling-as-well-as-before could be a side of effect of your 31 PP :) yrs (long term HIV inflammation damage) and quite simply those 31 years (seeing 2014 coming up on us reminds me that getting older is simply a problem all in itself).  ;)
leatherman (aka Michael)

We were standing all alone
You were leaning in to speak to me
Acting like a mover shaker
Dancing to Madonna then you kissed me
And I think about it all the time
- Darren Hayes, "Chained to You"

Offline mitch777

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,087
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #5 on: December 11, 2013, 07:00:45 pm »
to me, that's the big misconception about cd4 counts. Higher does not equate to feeling better. It doesn't equate to working better either. Higher only means your immune system is "larger". Just because someone has a high cd4 doesn't neccesarily mean that they "feel well"

and it's similar on the other end too. I know a LOT of people who had less than 100 count and couldn't hardly believe they were positive because they didn't "feel sick".


I would simply proffer that some of that not-feeling-as-well-as-before could be a side of effect of your 31 PP :) yrs (long term HIV inflammation damage) and quite simply those 31 years (seeing 2014 coming up on us reminds me that getting older is simply a problem all in itself).  ;)
I agree on all counts. I am just hoping that 2014 has less stress than 2013. It took a toll and aging with hiv does a number on you on it's own.

I certainly don't want to scare the newly poz ,meaning those who were not the early guinea pigs, as their experiences may and probably will differ drastically because of the better meds. Each "generation" that face this illness are guinea pigs but the "kinks" are being worked out along the way. :)

33 years hiv+ with a curtsy.

Offline moxieinme

  • Member
  • Posts: 91
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #6 on: December 11, 2013, 07:23:22 pm »
I agree on all counts. I am just hoping that 2014 has less stress than 2013. It took a toll and aging with hiv does a number on you on it's own.

I certainly don't want to scare the newly poz ,meaning those who were not the early guinea pigs, as their experiences may and probably will differ drastically because of the better meds. Each "generation" that face this illness are guinea pigs but the "kinks" are being worked out along the way. :)
Amen, Mitch!

And sometimes I have to kick myself to remember aging is a privilege. Someday it may sink in.

Thanks for the support you guys.
Salvage therapy wrangler, riding the poz bronco and dodging bullets for over 24 years.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CD4 at diagnosis 1989 = 330
Began treatment (AZT) 1989
Lowest labs 1998: CD4=74, 7%, VL=750,000
First sustained undetectable VL in 20 years (2009); CD4=315
Current labs (12/13): CD4=637, 27%, VL=<20
Current meds: Prezista, Isentress, Intellence, Norvir

Offline mitch777

  • Member
  • Posts: 4,087
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #7 on: December 11, 2013, 07:29:59 pm »

And sometimes I have to kick myself to remember aging is a privilege. Someday it may sink in.

lol. same here.

33 years hiv+ with a curtsy.

Offline darryaz

  • Member
  • Posts: 450
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #8 on: December 12, 2013, 01:37:05 am »
Even if it is an upward blip, I say CELEBRATE!!!!!!

Offline rondrond

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,729
  • 22 years HIV+ yet a yard could be the death of me
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #9 on: December 12, 2013, 10:40:23 am »
Place you Gold Star and Celebrate.

I agree with the feeling better before getting a glowing report. My doctor just shrugs and states that everyone is different.

Maybe your body will catch up to the news and you will start to feel better later.

congrats on the good news

Ronnie
"I'm not done yet"....Glen Campbell

"I may not be exactly where I want to be, but I sure as Hell am not where I was"
Wynnona Judd

Diagnosed/HIV
1993
AZT
Norvir
1994-2001
Crixivan/Epivir/Zerit
No Meds for 7 Years

04jul07/DVT-right leg/Bi Lateral PE's     
16oct08/DVT-left leg
Aug09 Diagnosed: COPD

05may2015
Un-detectable
Tcells 700
44%

Offline Fisher

  • Member
  • Posts: 290
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #10 on: December 15, 2013, 02:48:49 pm »
Nearly jumped off the examining table when my doc gave me my latest lab results: VL <20, CD4 637, and percentage 27%. I have NEVER had a CD4 count or percentage that high, and only three times had CD4 over 600, the last time in 2002. Of course I am thrilled that my current regimen appears to be working so well for the last 5 years.

But I have a niggling doubt. These are the first labs through a new doctor and in-state lab. The majority of the labs for the past several years had been done in a major city through clinical trials. Seems silly, but could the significant change in numbers be due in part to a different lab running the samples?

Just curious. In the meantime, a small celebration...

I have to learn of this wonderful news off this site?  Really!

Maybe the significant change is not so much a change in docs and tests but a change in how you feel about yourself?

Loving life is healing. Feeling valued and loved and cared for . . . twice as healing...
- fisher
06/15 CD 365 %24 VL<20
01/15 CD 468 %24 VL<20
09/14 CD 385 %22 VL<20
07/14 CD 391 %20 VLUD
04/14 CD 486 %23 VL<20
11/13 CD 351 %21  VL<20
10/13 CD 390 %16  VL<20
06/13 CD 315 %19  VL 22
02/13 CD 396 %14  VL<20
12/12 CD 392 %13  VL320
11/12 CD 428 %13  VL1200
*Started Meds: Atripla
10/12 CD 427 %11  VL 139000 -- 09/12 CD 408 %13 VL 92928
09/11 CD 745 %27 VL CLOT -- 10/10 CD 863 %29 VL 2782
10/09 CD 597 %30 VL 2537 -- 05/08 CD 809 %28 VL 1504
04/07 CD 797 %25 VL 3558 -- 11/06 CD 720 %28 VL 1214
06/05 CD 731 %25 VL 1575 -- 12/04 CD 1176 %30 VL 1329
01/04 CD 959 %26 VL 1011 -- 11/03 CD 1000 %28 VL 1581
12/02 CD 748 %28 -- 10/01 CD 860 %25
08/00 CD 1022 %28 -- 04/99 CD 854 %27
11/98 CD 899 %28 -- 02/97 CD 1400 %37
11/96 CD 1325  VL <500 -- 09/96 – Western Blot
05/83 – 04/98 - Mon - Pa

Offline moxieinme

  • Member
  • Posts: 91
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #11 on: December 15, 2013, 04:36:59 pm »
I have to learn of this wonderful news off this site?  Really!

Maybe the significant change is not so much a change in docs and tests but a change in how you feel about yourself?

Loving life is healing. Feeling valued and loved and cared for . . . twice as healing...
Thanks, Dr. Fisher Feelgood!
Salvage therapy wrangler, riding the poz bronco and dodging bullets for over 24 years.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CD4 at diagnosis 1989 = 330
Began treatment (AZT) 1989
Lowest labs 1998: CD4=74, 7%, VL=750,000
First sustained undetectable VL in 20 years (2009); CD4=315
Current labs (12/13): CD4=637, 27%, VL=<20
Current meds: Prezista, Isentress, Intellence, Norvir

Offline weasel

  • Member
  • Posts: 1,906
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #12 on: December 18, 2013, 05:52:21 pm »


   Sounds good to me  Moxie  :)


        Hope you have a wonderful Christmas time  :D

                                                                Weasel
" Live and let Live "

Offline OneTampa

  • Member
  • Posts: 3,021
  • "Butterflies are free."
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #13 on: December 24, 2013, 09:48:09 pm »
C E L  E B R A T E ! ! !
"He is my oldest child. The shy and retiring one over there with the Haitian headdress serving pescaíto frito."

Offline Theyer

  • Member
  • Posts: 2,701
  • Current ambition. Walk the Dog .
Re: Best labs ever: celebrate or temper with skepticism?
« Reply #14 on: January 04, 2014, 03:52:45 pm »
Hello Moxie ,

Bit late to this but would add my vote to both sides.Celebrate off course , I like One Tampas celebration here , but keep somewhere in mind that numbers are not the be all off life , then when you have done that celebrate again , and again .......

Michael
"If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people ."  Tony Benn

 


Terms of Membership for these forums
 

© 2024 Smart + Strong. All Rights Reserved.   terms of use and your privacy
Smart + Strong® is a registered trademark of CDM Publishing, LLC.