Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 18, 2024, 11:51:35 pm

Login with username, password and session length


Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 772783
  • Total Topics: 66296
  • Online Today: 328
  • Online Ever: 5484
  • (June 18, 2021, 11:15:29 pm)
Users Online
Users: 0
Guests: 229
Total: 229

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: Any thoughts.  (Read 9189 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Apogee78

  • Member
  • Posts: 4
Any thoughts.
« on: February 02, 2007, 05:26:51 am »
Hello World, Im Bradley -

I tested Positive on 09 Jan 07 and I wanted to ask around and see if anyone could give some advise besides what my doctors have told me. ( I am fairly certain that I was infected the last week of October 06 )

On 22 Nov 06 I had 3 days of cold and and sore throat symptoms. These went away and I logged them as just a small cold, which I have always managed to fight well. A few days after I noticed that I woke one morning with a headache and thought nothing of it. However,  I noticed that I would get it in the evening hours with increased frequency as days progressed. Within two weeks I was having constant headaches with the most intense throbbing  pain being when I woke up and evening hours. In addition to this I was waking up with soaking wet at night and carrying a fever.I was also having pain on my shins and on my arms which felt like someone had hit the bone with a hammer.  More fun things included a small spot on my back ( originally I though I had a insect bite) that became swollen and open and infected and sore throat. My face also started to have red blotchy spots on the right and left side. Not knowing the exact orgin of these issues nor wanting to initially face the music,  I tried for almost a month to deal with them, until finally I went to my doctor. on the first week of Jan.

He ran a complete blood work up on me and as expected it came out positive for HIV. Hep B, C was neg and all other checks looked A/OK.

With repsect to the above mentioned symptoms, my doctor put me on a cycle of Doxicyclin anti-biotic after the blood work and in the first two days of treatment all the above things seemed to improve , no fever, headache, sores began to heal and spots on face healed up, bone pain went away. (now all those issues are gone or healed)

QUESTION

Does anyone have any experience with any of the above?? As a team, my Dr. (GP ) and myself never came to a conclusion as to why I had all these issues at the same time .not sure if it was directly related to HIV or not. we did many blood test and found nothing. However, there was some talk of staf infection, but neither of us are 100% confident in that. Any thoughts ?

Additionally we ran two sets of Labs with in 2 weeks of eachother and my numbers were the following :

09 Jan 07 CD4 761 / VL 170,000

The lab screwed up and lost my first sample for VL so I went back they took more .. then they lost that and then found the original, so there was some question as the the accuracy of the VL numbers in the report , so we re-did the labs

Round 2 :

17 Jan 07 CD4 793 / VL 240,000

I would greatly appreciate any thoughts or experience any of you might have with respect to numbers in this range.

My GP is sending me to a new ID doctor today and I will be taking the labs with me and hopefully plan a course of action with her. I had a consult with an ID doctor 3 weeks ago that my GP found for me, and to be frank, I did not like him as he was not personable and wanted to put me on meds before he even had my first labs back, so we did more research and found this new girl.

I understand that meds could highly likely be in the cards because of the VL numbers, but is there any chance these numbers are consistant with initial infection and the VL digits could come down. It is my understanding that my CD4 is quite good.

Very sorry for the long winded explination and questions, but anything anyone can add to either issue would be fantastic.

All the best !

Bradly


Offline RapidRod

  • Member
  • Posts: 15,288
Re: Any thoughts.
« Reply #1 on: February 02, 2007, 05:47:52 am »
Bradley, did your doctor do a confirmation test on your postive test? Such as a Western Blot?

Offline Apogee78

  • Member
  • Posts: 4
Re: Any thoughts.
« Reply #2 on: February 02, 2007, 06:17:15 am »
 My first labs that im looking at say repeatedly reactive for HIV 1/2 Antibody screen, then below there is HIV 1 Western blot test that was done with positive result.

Offline Razorbill

  • Member
  • Posts: 622
Re: Any thoughts.
« Reply #3 on: February 02, 2007, 06:39:11 am »
Bradly,
  Welcome to the forums.  Glad you're seeing a specialist.  You don't need to be on meds yet in all likelihood.  Good call on your part.  How do you feel?  All this new info flowing in and the diagnosis leaves people reeling sometimes.  You seem together, but feel free to vent/chat/growl if you need to.  I don't tackle specific medical questions - maybe you're symptoms were a conincidence of some sort.  Anyway, that's resolved it seems and the real work begins.  Good luck and again welcome.
Ernie

Offline RapidRod

  • Member
  • Posts: 15,288
Re: Any thoughts.
« Reply #4 on: February 02, 2007, 06:39:46 am »
It will take a while for your VL to settle. Your CD4 count is in the normal range 500-1700. You have to have a few blood tests to see where your VL will level out to. It is nothing to be worried about. As for all your other symptoms, don't ever get into the habit of thinking, "They are cause by HIV." Just because you are positive you can get everything else that anyone else could get or have. You can get a cold, the flu, fevers, heart problems and as you know the list goes on and on. Just don't view everything in the HIV window glass. If something isn't right, see your doctor. You don't have to go to your ID doctor and you may not even have one at this time. I use a GP for all my little stuff and the ID doc for HIV related matters. As time goes on, you'll understand better.

Offline indyguy

  • Member
  • Posts: 260
  • Hoosier Boy Single Again.
Re: Any thoughts.
« Reply #5 on: February 02, 2007, 07:14:03 am »
Hey whats up dude? I just tested poz this past November and found this site. The guys and gals here have been a big help to me because they have been there and done that. My PC hung up on me when I first found out from a clinic here that I got tested at every 6 months. He acted like it was my fault which I guess it kind of was since I was the one who had unprotected sex. Any how I found a good gay doctor here who treats me with respect and doesnt lecture me. Hope all goes well for you and remember you have plenty of places to vent on here. Keep us all informed and stay in touch. God Bless...Michael from Indianapolis
Meds doing well so far.

Offline Apogee78

  • Member
  • Posts: 4
Re: Any thoughts.
« Reply #6 on: February 02, 2007, 07:27:09 am »
 

Thanks for the prompt and kind remarks.... Again, I appreciate everyones opinions ..... look forward to may more :)


Offline Andy Velez

  • Global Moderator
  • Member
  • Posts: 34,126
Re: Any thoughts.
« Reply #7 on: February 02, 2007, 03:33:17 pm »
And keep us posted on how you're doing. If you haven't already read the lessons on the site such as for when newly poz, also about disclosure issues, check those out.

You're always welcome here to ask questions and to discuss anything that's on your mind.

Things will get sorted out. The most important thing for now is to have a doctor who's watching your numbers and with whom you can form a good partnership to keep you healthy.

Cheers,
Andy Velez

Offline rick21007

  • Member
  • Posts: 286
Re: Any thoughts.
« Reply #8 on: February 03, 2007, 05:58:33 am »
Hey Bradley--welcome to the forums!  I am newly diagnosed too--December 11th. I've found a lot of good information and a heckuva lot of encouragement and caring here myself.

Last year I had acute hepB---was really sick with it for about 3 months.  Fortunately was able to kick the virus and did not go chronic.  I most likely was infected with hiv at the same time (December 05) but did not get tested for a year (looking back the MD who treated my hep was just as ignorant as I was since I told him the hepb was sexually transmitted, as he never mentioned testing for hiv!  Well maybe it was ignorance on his part and denial on mine, but eventually I requested to be tested for hiv.  I also had the feeling he was homophobic too which did not instill a lot of confidence in me either.)  Last fall I developed an opportunistic infection that was really kicking my butt--it took two office visits and numerous phone calls and a lot of persistence to get this diagnosed and treated.  Fortunately a round of Bactrim took care of it.  Now I have an hiv doc who is also my primary care physician and I am finding out how pitifully incompetent my previous provider was.

The main thing is that you have an ID who is knowledgeable and you have confidence in and have a good rapport with.  I am finding being a poz means you have to be on top of your own health and have an MD who practices good preventative medicine and is thorough in evaluating your total health--including emotional health.  Don't hesitate to "doctor-shop" if you are not satisfied with your care.   For me having a good doctor means I don't have to be as worried about my health so much and I don't have to fight to get the care I need.

BTW I am healthy as a horse now.  Don't have to be on meds, for the time being anyway.

Best of luck to you!!!  You didn't say anything about the emotional support you have in your life.  This is as critical as having a good doc.   Rick

Offline poz41sttime79

  • New Member
  • Posts: 1
  • Not the best!
Re: Any thoughts.
« Reply #9 on: February 03, 2007, 01:39:57 pm »
Hi Bradley,

My name is John and I live in Bakersfield, California. I too was a newly POZ diagnosis as of 11/17/2006. I read a lot and have done a lot to know about this disease and trulu KNOW nothing about it, however, I hope that this helps. I was given a diagnosis after getting with what I thought an incredible case of the flu. This flu lasted almost 2 weeks and I just knew that something was wrong.  ???. I knew something was definitely wrong as the people that I lived with who were caring for me during this "flu" wsn't getting sick either. The last thing I can remember is being infected the lasat week or 2 in Oct-2006. I went to the the MD who gave me a DEFINITEY  HIV+ result. They too did an entire lab of blood work on me with also a possibility of an HEP C infection.

I'am a recovering IV drug user with a choice of methamphetamine. That life is a VERY high risk life to get this disease. Im NOT aure if you're homosexual or not, I happen to be!! My 1st set of numbers were NOT good the MD actually said that he could have given me both an HIV+ status with a full blown case of AIDS....VERY SCARY!!!! My numbers were:

Viral load: 870,000
CD-4:711 at 24%

They have flucuated since then. I havent been the most diligent in keeping my health the best as I was in serious denial of having this illness!! I thought that I was given a death sentence, which I believe most everyone does. Im NOT sure if what I have written will help u, however, I hope that it does!! I would like to keep in touch with you if at all possible.\

Here is my email address:
hallway79@yahoo.com

I hope to hear from you again soon and PLEASE take care of yourself!!!

John
John C. E. Garren II

Offline koi1

  • Member
  • Posts: 713
Re: Any thoughts.
« Reply #10 on: February 03, 2007, 07:54:12 pm »
Hey Guy,

If anything is good news is that your cd4 count is good. Viral loads are initially high, like rapid rod says. If you take care of yourself, you should go many years without needing meds. One can only hope that by then many more available options will exist for treating this virus.

rob
diagnosed on 11/20/06 viral load 23,000  cd4 97    8%
01/04/07 six weeks after diagnosis vl 53,000 cd4 cd4 70    6%
Began sustiva truvada 01/04/07
newest labs  drawn on 01/15/07  vl 1,100    cd4 119    7%
Drawn 02/10/07
cd4=160 viral load= 131 percentage= 8%
New labs 3/10/07 (two months on sustiva truvada
cd4 count 292  percentage 14 viral load undetectable

Offline JPinLA

  • Member
  • Posts: 148
  • Cheers!
Re: Any thoughts.
« Reply #11 on: February 03, 2007, 08:03:57 pm »
Hey Bradley -

I was diagnosed in November so I am pretty new to this as well.  I just wanted to wish you luck and that I have found this site very helpfull in the past few months.

It is still a little difficult for me to get the VL and CD4 numbers and starting meds straight.  It seems like there a number of answers.  My Dr (is an HIV specialist) said that anything below 300 absolute CD4 count and he would suggest I begin meds (currently I am at 326(25%)/vl ~5700) regardless of VL.
It seems like there are a number of approaches.  

The past few months did not sound great for you and I am glad to hear that you're feeling better again.  From what I understand the seroconversion process a time after your initial infection can be mild to wild and could include many of the things you experienced.  That doesn't mean that they were definitely related to HIV though.  Could have been an unfortunate coincidence but I am not a clinician so this is just my understanding of what I have read/heard/discussed.  Hopefully someone can shed a bit more light for you.

Anyway, good luck to you, keep up updated, hang in there and I am absolutely happy that you chose your own ID Dr.  My GP sent to a jerk at first and the one I have now is fantastic!

JP
11/06 - Diagnosed - VL/5784 & CD4 326
2/07 - VL/6000 & CD4 290 2/07
3//07 -Began Truvada/Viramune 
4/07 VL/undetectable and CD4 320 22%
7/07 VL/undetectable and CD4 286 22%
11/07 VL/undetectable and CD4 302 26%

Offline Ral24Guy

  • Member
  • Posts: 6
Re: Any thoughts.
« Reply #12 on: February 05, 2007, 02:24:41 am »
Hi,

     Sorry to hear of your recent diagnosis.  If you are anything like me, I am sure your head was swimming.  I can relate a little with the odd flu.  A few years ago I started running a fever, and felt completely awful.  I was just like the flu, except I wasn't coughing or sneezing.  It hit me really hard and then went away completely after one week.  HIV is a very weird thing to get, it acts differently in everyone.  I waited a very long time between my HIV tests so there is no way for me to know my exact time of infection...  When I was diagnosed my cd4 was 191 and my VL was only 58k.  My primary care doctor really didn't know how to treat me or even help me for that matter.  I am now under the care of an ID Doctor and she is amazing.  I go to her for every thing.  Under her care I have also started taking meds.  Growing up as a teenager I heard stories of how bad the meds were and how sick they could make you.  After taking them for a few months I can honestly say that they are easy as pie to get used to.  In just 3 months my cd4 is 305 and my VL is 984.  All I had to do was take 2 pills at bedtime.  Hang in there.  Don't read into all the little aches and pains and contribute them to HIV.  You'll still get a cold or a bug just like anyone else.  Just try to take the extra measure to take care of yourself so that you can get better quicker.  I wish you the best of luck, and I would like to give you hope that everything is going to be OK. 

 


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.