NOT FEELING WELL-PRESSURE IN EARS/LOWER CD4

[cityboy]

I have been on Reyataz, Norvir and Truvada for 2 years.  Recently my CD4 went down 200 to 685.  The last couple of days I get a white film on my inner lip and a little on the inside of my cheek.  Is this trush?  If so do not understand how i could get if on HAART.  

Overall I have not been feeling well.  Have felt a lot of pressure and some pain n my ears for several weeks . Also I am coughing and sneezing and feel tired.    I went to the otologist-was told it is stress and he was prescribing me valium. This did no sound right.  Got a second opinion from another otologist.  He told that I did not have a middle ear infection, as my  ID doc told me.  The ID doc gave me Levaquin, which I had a bad reaction to, then he tried ZPack-both did nothing to help. (I also got a regular flu shot)  This otologist said I had an Eustachean tube blockage which he prescribed a nasal cortesteroid for.  I am supposed to take this for 6 weeks, 2 weeks have passed so far, and only a very slight improvement.  I also am getting severe headaches.  I keep thinking this might be something viral.  One website prescribed a cortesteroid and Valtrex to a patient with the same symptoms I described.  I am feeling tired like just before I was diagnosed as positive.  I am very concerned with this and it is making me very depressed.  I am not sure where to go from here.  

[mikee]

take it easy cityboy,

im not very sure of whats happening.

it may also be caused by coughing and sneezing. since both increases the pressure on the eustachian tube.
im sure others who experience the same issue will chime in.

i too is experiencing some pressure on my right ear and a lil discomfort on my mastoid process (bone behind the pinna of the ears).

its still tolerable so ihavent consulted bout it yet. actually i havent consulted at all.
haha

anyway...just hang in there.
always hopeful
mikee

[BT65]

To me, it doesn't make sense that someone would be prescribed Valtrex for something in the ear.  Valtrex is for herpes.  Unless there's some new use for it that I just don't know about. 

I would calm down, and take the prescribed medication, wait until about a week after you're done, and see how you feel then.  And don't go cyber-crazy.  Websites are full of all kind of info, and they're not always accurate. 

[Ann]

CB, it's totally possible that you have oral thrush - because you've been on antibiotics. It's nothing to do with hiv or your CD4 count. All I have to do is look at a bottle of antibiotics and I get thrush - and I was like that before I was poz. I always request a prescription for fluconazole any time I'm prescribed antibiotics. You need to speak to your doctor about this.

Hope you're feeling better soon!

Ann

[Inchlingblue]

Just a note: After taking antibiotics it's important to take probiotics in order to avoid thrush.

[Ann]

Just a note: After taking antibiotics it's important to take probiotics in order to avoid thrush.

Yes, I'd forgotten to mention that. I always eat plenty of plain, bio-live yoghurt when taking antibiotics and I also get those probiotic drinks too. For me these things help keep the thrush down to a low roar, but I still need fluconazole to eliminate the thrush completely.

I wish the probiotics did the trick for me completely, because I don't like fluconazole. I always end up with chapped lips when I take it - strange, I know. The first couple of times it happened, I thought it was coincidence because it happened during the winter, but it's also happened to me again twice this spring and summer. I rarely get chapped lips when not on fluconazole, so there's got to be a connection.

Ann

[cityboy]

Yes, I'd forgotten to mention that. I always eat plenty of plain, bio-live yoghurt when taking antibiotics and I also get those probiotic drinks too. For me these things help keep the thrush down to a low roar, but I still need fluconazole to eliminate the thrush completely.

I wish the probiotics did the trick for me completely, because I don't like fluconazole. I always end up with chapped lips when I take it - strange, I know. The first couple of times it happened, I thought it was coincidence because it happened during the winter, but it's also happened to me again twice this spring and summer. I rarely get chapped lips when not on fluconazole, so there's got to be a connection.

Ann

Do you get thrush because you good backeria is also being killed with the bad when you take antibiotics?    I eat Activia and take Acidophillus regularly and still got this

[cityboy]

To me, it doesn't make sense that someone would be prescribed Valtrex for something in the ear.  Valtrex is for herpes.  Unless there's some new use for it that I just don't know about. 

I would calm down, and take the prescribed medication, wait until about a week after you're done, and see how you feel then.  And don't go cyber-crazy.  Websites are full of all kind of info, and they're not always accurate. 

Yes maybe there is an off label use for Valtrex.  When I was first diagnosed positive, they tell me that I can take Valtrex as alternative to meds until I go on them.  I hae heard this a few times.

It is difficult to calm down when you feel like crap and you are get many different opinions from doctors.  I am getting more anxious because my friend wants me to come to his country with him in January and I am no sure if I fly if I will make the pressure worse.  This is upsetting me too 

[Inchlingblue]

Yes maybe there is an off label use for Valtrex.  When I was first diagnosed positive, they tell me that I can take Valtrex as alternative to meds until I go on them.  I hae heard this a few times.
 

It is true that Valtrex is sometimes prescribed for someone who has HIV and has not yet started meds but this is for those individuals who also have herpes. It has been shown that Valtrex can lower HIV viral loads but it does not do so unless the person also has herpes.

At any rate, in your case you are already on HIV meds. If you do have herpes then Valtrex makes sense, otherwise not so much. You might want to ask your doctor why this was prescribed.

Re: your question about the probiotics, yes, when one is on antibiotics it also kills the good bacteria so it's good to replenish them by taking probiotics when one is finished with the course of antibiotics. This is not a guarantee against thrush but it does lessen the chances. And there's no point in taking the probiotics at the same time as the antibiotics since they will just be killed anyway.

Even though it's possible you might have thrush, you have not had a definitive diagnosis so maybe it's not thrush.