vitamins and supplements, good results

[webontheweb]

I have been in treatment for just over 2 years now.  I never took supplements until after the last blood draw in July.  I struggled for two years to get my CD4 over 250.  Started at 134 and the highest I had ever gotten was 247 but it dropped to 235.  WELL!  I take a multivitamin, B12 and Selenium EVERYDAY and my last blood draw went up 50 points to 283!!!!   WOOOHOOO  WOOOHOOO .
Over the last 3 months, I have also had two serious operations and have been in a lot of pain which does affect your whole body and yet I have kept on chugging.  Plus, no colds for either my partner or me even though most people around us have been ill lately.
Take your supplements, they work!  I had no opinion about this ahead of time.  I used myself as a guinea pig to see if it would work.
Cheers, everyone.

[Miss Philicia]

Correlation does not imply causation

[webontheweb]

It might not, but your flashing picture just gave me a seizure!  honest!   

[BT65]

You may be interested in the thread about selenium causing high cholesterol.

[WillyWump]

It might not, but your flashing picture just gave me a seizure!  honest!   

I am always eager to see MissP's "avatar of the week" but yes this one is causing me seizures as well *as I get up off te floor and dust myself off*.

OP, I take multivitamin and additional VitC and Omega-3, but have for years so I really have no before and after results to compare to. I have seen that it's recommended that all HIV POZ people take at least a multivitamin. Glad to hear you are doing this.

-Will

[risred1]

First, my multi does have 200 mcg of Selenium and I take it daily.

There are at least some studies that point to an immune stimulation with selenium.

As now there are studies that point to the importance of Vitamin D.

But less is know about other supplements, so I'm at the stage now, being on meds, that any supplementation activity should be discussed with our doctors and monitored.

Not all things out there will work. Not all things are meant to be taken in high doses. (trust me, I'm the king of 20 cups equivalent of Green Tea in capsule form.) What we achieve may be temporary. Boosting itself may have consequences.

This doesn't mean one shouldn't look at supplements.... But we should try to understand what it is we are trying to do and understand that when your one meds, what we take may not be compatible with them.

While studies are nice to hear about. Not all are about being poz and few are about mixing supplements with our specific meds. I do listen to anecdotal evidence, but I'm also concerned about what I'm looking to do and my focus on supplements is mitigation of side effects in a preventative manner. (prophylactic use).

For example. Acetylcarnitine has been identified as a potential treatment for Peripheral neuropathy. Before that study was released, it was anecdotal evidence that I understood was the foundation for HIV Positive people to be taken as a supplement. I am continuing to take Carnitine now as a preventative for PN as a possible ARV side effect.

There are lots of tools of research out there.... I have found this site to be helpful.

http://newyorkbuyersclub.org/resources/all-about-supplements/index.html - This organization is an ASO and 501-3c non profit.

And of course Wikipedia.

Beware of Hype, talk to your doctor, understand why your going to try something. I think trying to boost ones CD4 when one is having difficulty is of course a worthy mission. Understanding why one is having issue with raising CD4 is important as well in determining why course of action you may want to take and of course discuss that with your doctor, whom I'll bet may be nonplussed by the whole thing... The important thing is that you don't pile on additional harm or damage to other aspects of your/our systems. Monitoring your blood work is very important!

Digestive/Pancreatic, Hepatic/Liver, Kidney/Renal, Heart/Vascular, Nerves/Neurological, Bones/Skeletal, ETC. are all potential areas that may be the recipient of of the supplementation we take.

For example. There are reports that NSAID use (non steroidal anti inflammatory - ALEVE, IBUPROPHEN, ASPIRIN) may cause kidney damage with Tenofovir which is in Truvada and Atripla. Of course occasional use may be OK, but continual everyday use may be a bit of a concern. Many of us will take the same supplements day after day. So it is important to learn about these supplements, ask questions, and discuss with our doctors.

[tommy246]

I have done the full circle on the vitamin and supplement thing, the bottom line is a multi vit wont harm you but before you take supps test to see if you need them . You cant beat a good healthy diet i am lucky in that respect as i live in spain and my wife cooks me a great mediterranean diet ,if i lived alone i would be on the multi vits for sure. After lots of reading  i came to the conclusion most important are selenium max 75 per day not 200 and vit d and calcium . i tested fine for all these so dont take them. All i take is 1 green tea ,2 omega 3 , probiotic drink/ yogurt and my atripla. I also tested for testostorone which many hiv pos lack and i am low on this probably why i have no energy,so getting some gel hopefully to sort it.