POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: David_CA on September 09, 2006, 10:54:01 pm
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Hi guys & gals,
Today, while I was working on some projects around the house, I started thinking about HIV (imagine that!) and aidsmeds. I remembered the second day after finding my HIV results I was laying in bed playing around on the internet. I suddenly got really upset wondering how one went about living with HIV. Like I always do when I want to know something, I Googled "living with HIV". I went through several pages of results until I came to one that seemed like it might be what I was looking for - aidsmeds.com.
Although Google did ultimately get me here, I wonder if there's a way we can get moved up a bit in their search results. So, my question is 'how did you find aidsmeds.com (or the forums on poz.com)?'
David
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I have been here since the end of April first of May and I cant remember how I found this place. I was all over the internet trying to find anything about HIV/Aids. Everything is a blurr of the first month.
But Im so glad that I did find this place. Dont know what I would have done without it and the people here!
I love you all
Teresa
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Hello David,
Its kind of interesting. I found this site by a google search. I was already on medication two months prior to finding Aidsmeds back in 2003.
I wasn't so much in need of support, I had already lived with this bug, long before this site became available, and years before the internet became available !! I already had a great support base through the years.
I was searching for information on the meds. ( Ziagen) as I was being switched over to that med, from Zerit. Thats when I joined the site. It opened another door for me, and took me into another phase of living with HIV. It took me quite a while to get posting.And I was a little uncomfomtable in the beginning. I would much rather talk to people face to face, then to type messages,( I hate typing) but anyway, here I am just about three years later !! :) And now I am addicted !! :P
All the Best-----Ray
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I started subscribing to the AIDSMEDS newsletter in 2002 shortly after I was diagnosed. I joined the forums in 2005. I forget why I took so long to join the forums.
Probably the drug use.
MtD
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Google here also.
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I blame Eric! ;) :-*
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By accident! I have been familiar with poz.com for a few years and visit that site every once in awhile. One morning while there I noticed the link to forums and clicked on that which opened up a wealth of information.
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It's been so long I can't remember. I've used AIDSmeds to research medications for years. I wasn't until this past year that I bothered to read the forums.
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I remember looking for pretty much anything about HIV using Google. I think the first link I clicked was to one of the lessons. And then I was like, "Oh! Forum!"
The rest is history.
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Hello David,
I was doing a search on the internet for an HIV/AIDS support group. Somehow through my searches, POZ showed up. From there I eagerly read through the site and I had discovered the forums through a link that was provided on their site.
I WISH I had of know about AM sooner than I did! I love the family here.
Have the BEST Day!
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I think I search using Google back in 10/2002. Been there ever since. The Lessons have a true source of information. (Thanks Tim, Peter and all the others behind the scenes.) But the Forums have been a life saver for me. They provide my sole support system. I love each and any every one of the posters for what they bring to the table. Through the Forums I have made the best friends I have in my life.
Let's all continue to be that to each other. Together we will survive and will beat this damned virus.
With my deepest respect to all, Ric
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I had come across Aidsmeds.com a few times before I joined. At first I just didn't look because I wasn't on meds and it didn't seem to apply to me. I looked again after they linked with poz.com which I visit all the time. I was at a low point needing support with no time to actually find a support group. So I posted one night and AM was my knight in shining armor....which was beatiful. There's no site like it that I've seen. I still wonder if its title may misdirect people. It's so much more than info on meds.
brian
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Hi David. I remember it like it was yesterday. It was during Christmas holiday time last year when I got the results. Happy Holiday to me, ho ho, not. But that very night I was lucky to Google hiv treatment and landed here at AM. I read what seemed like the entire website that evening, and it took me a few days to get up the nerve to actually post. And I'm so glad I did! I didn't want to burden anyone's holidays with my diagnosis news, so a lot of people here helped through those difficult weeks when I was alone and trying to absorb and deal with it. And I will never forget it.
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Hi David
I found Aidsmed.com when I was searching for the PEP drugs I was on and wanted to know why I was feeling so ill and having so many side effects...I got the information I wanted and left.
When I was diagnosed in 2002 I thought I would be able to handle things on my own, but after a year of various combo's, dreadful side effects and sickness I decide to go back to Aidsmeds and seek some help and advise from the guys on the forum...and I was given much more than I ever imagined...the support was amazing, so I hung around and made some wonderful friends in the process..and that David is why I'm still here after 3.5 years... ;).
Hugs
Jan :-*
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Blame Blue for me being here...
I met her in a chat room for HIV and she told me all about it the rest is history as they say....
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Can't remember...number 93 bus?? ;D
A yahoo search perhaps...
Melia :)
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I had pretty much been avoiding the internet as far as doing any "research". Just trying to let things sink in a bit.
When I had my first Dr.'s appt, I asked if there were any reputable sites to look at. The nurse told me about aidsmeds.com and thebody.com. Two weeks later when I got my first lab results, I got home that night and while I was mindlessly surfing, figured I'd check it out. I couldn't find the piece of paper Mary had written the sites on, but I remembered aidsmeds.com. I typed it in and found the lab tracker. Then I looked over and saw a link that said forums. "Hmmm, I wonder what that's about???" And here I am. YAY!!!
It's been great so far - well, for the most part anyway. :D ;)
Shane
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I found this place not long after I was diagnosed in February 2001. I didn't even have my own computer back then, I was going to my ex-husband's house while he was at work to use his computer to find and print out info. I found the lessons first while trying to make sense of CD4 counts - I still have the print outs of those lessons pages dated March 2001.
I found the forums around the same time but they were very different back then. This was pre-SMF software and pre-FuseTalk software too. Back then, days could go by before there was a new post (nevermind thread!) in the Living forum; most of the activity seemed to be in the Am I Infected forum (formerly known as the Fears of HIV forum). When Peter installed the FuseTalk forum software in September of 2002, the place really exploded, especially after Peter had AIDSmeds listed in the advertising sidebar at Google around World AIDS Day 2002.
In mid 2003 the forums were under attack from denialist who wanted to clog the site up and shut us down. I started helping get rid of these guys (by incessantly emailing Peter to say - they're back!) and that was how I ended up as a moderator - although nobody knew until July of 2005 when I came out of the closet. And the rest, as they say, is herstory. :D
I don't know what I would have done all these years without this place and the wonderful people who populate it. I probably would have gone completely stark raving bonkers living in isolation here on the Rock.
Ann
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Serendipity.
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Serendipity.
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I put HIV/AIDS in my AOL search engine and this is one of the places that came up.
I was tired of being alone with this. I just wanted to hear what other people dealing with this virus were thinking and doing.
First I signed up for the newsletter and got that for years before coming to the forums.
This was definitely because of drug use or I would've come here a lot sooner!!
Peace,
Kelly
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I found AidsMeds, by searching HIV medications in April of 2005 and have been here ever since.
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Don't remember exactly. I'm sure I was searching for info on PML. I guess it was more luck than anything being that my vision was so much worse at that time.
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Poz Magazine/ poz.com forum meld.
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after my fist bought of PCP .. i was looking for info on all the drugs i was taking..
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I'm sure I was doing a google search for any info about HIV....I am so grateful that I stumbled across this site ;D
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I found this website probably a month or so after being diagnosed/infected. I was right in the middle of the process of finding a doctor, getting my labs, etc..and I was desperately looking everywhere (over the internet) for information about the latest treatment, clinical trials, potential cures, etc.. I used to file these very large black binders with all the information I gathered on clinical trials, study results, drug pipeline reports, etc.. And I would read them after work (and during work). I stumbled onto aidsmeds while researching new drugs (I think it was viread or those IL-2/7 drugs). Soon afterwards I signed up for the forums.
The black binders are long gone. But the forum is still here for me.
Great thread David!
P.S.- Re: How high up a website shows up on a search...I think it has to do with how many hits the website gets. The more popular a website, the higher up it is in the search results. But maybe a more technical person can confirm this.
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I was recovering from PCP and was wondering how the hell I was going to hang on. It didn't look good. It was February, 2004. Then one day I googled and found Aidsmeds. The first log-on sign I noticed was by Alan, aka, "DO YOUR OWN DAMN DISHES"
It was the first time I had laughed in months.
If there any one or two enteupreneurs worth their new found $$$$ (billions) they are the the founders of Google. Just for Aidsmed alone, their "invention" has been priceless.
robert
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In mid 2003 the forums were under attack from denialist who wanted to clog the site up and shut us down. I started helping get rid of these guys (by incessantly emailing Peter to say - they're back!) and that was how I ended up as a moderator - although nobody knew until July of 2005 when I came out of the closet. And the rest, as they say, is herstory. :D
Thank you Thank you Thank you!! Denialists are the worst!!! (they contribute to death and suffering, i.e., the blind leading the blind!)
If my memory is intact, I ran a Google search last year and it took me directly into the forums. I remember thinking wow these people know alot, so I posted a question about a poz person having a baby and what would the status of the baby be ---Rasheen was the first person to answer ..... Funny how we can remember little details like that
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It was via www.duesberg.nl
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I saw a magazine about it in our MD's office. I liked the info in the magazine, and figured that hitting this site would help me help us keep up with things as well as finding a friend(s) who are in the same "boat" so to speak.
Frankly, I don't make friends easily, and my last "best" friend (besides my wife) was a buddy I shared an apartment with in Portland, Oregon. And that was in 1979, so you can kinda see what I mean.
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Google, like so many others.
I knew what HIV entailed to a large extent before arriving here but the lessons and person experiences in these forums have been invaluable - and great supplements to regularly scheduled visits to the doctor.
How could we live without the internet these days? Sure, it's got it's share of warts, but what a way to connect with other people across the globe from my big, comfy chair!
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I seem to recall being invited to visit this site after having a very heated and long argument with a couple of HIV denialists on another board. I really don't have much tolerance for the stupidity the denialists try to spread.
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The article on Regan brought me. Thanks ABC news!
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google search shortly after diagnosis but i never found the forums... I came back about 6 months later and discovered them and BAM! I was home.
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i was told by someone whos more knowledgable on this subject than i and through a learning experience, i also learned of this site.
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I was never "promiscious" so I have no idea which one of my very few friends gave me this dreaded thing.
It puzzles me to no end. But here I am hiv positive. My father must be so proud.
Signed, a very depressed Jeff.
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Hey Folks,
Just for fun, Google my name, Ric Wilke, and see what you get. I guess I'm out of the AIDS closet, as they say. But look where I came out. Yes, AIDSmeds.com. Thank you Peter, Tim, Andy and Ann. Yes, I'm Poz and yes, I'm Proud.
With deepest respect, Ric
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My Doctor actually suggested it to me.
Brian
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Although I've been positive for 14 years now, I never knew about this site until 2.5 yrs ago....when I started working for an ASO here in Pittsburgh. I just did alot of research on here for a while and then finally joined the forums about a year ago.
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Google here, on the very first days after my diagnosis...
Alex
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I googled my way here too within 24 hours of my diagnosis.
Gary
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I believe it was searching for information on viral resistance. I didn't sign up immediately, though. Probably on my 3rd visit I did and am surely happy about it. At that moment my doc put me on Fuzeon and I was full of questions about this medication and needed some feedback from persons already using it. Here I found good responces to all my questions and great personal advice sent to my personal messages section. This page is good therapy and it makes me feel we are not alone...
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Google
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After suffering through 3 weeks of "holiday cheer", and spending Christmas with my family out of state for two days, I'll never forget New Years Eve. Barely 4 weeks after getting my confirmed poz test, and after reading all the lessons here on AM, needless to say it was a New Years I will never forget. I wish I could remember that names of the really nice people that got me through that very depressing New Years Day here on AM, but my mind was not in such a shape to remember. I like this new software, but I regret that I don't know how to go back and see my posts from back then, because I truly would like to thank those people who got me through that...... is there any way to go back and see the old posts from before the software upgrade?
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I very recently googled my way here via poz.com. I have been content just to lurk and read and learn.
Thanks everyone who came here before me.
Scott
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Google, today
I'd seen poz.com but didn't know of the forums, i was searching for *blush* poz orgies...
out of curiousity... not to attend of course, just curious (my public position on this, and that it shall remain!)
:)
Pup
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I was diagnosed 2001, have been computer literate only since 1998, but found like most with computer access the various sites for HIV+, mostly the dating sites, but of all these only found two really good sites one run by poz magazine and positiveconnections.org out of Florida both have personal sites free with no gimics and no lures too post "free ads" which turn out too be merely a lure too get you too post your personal data. I only recently discovered the forums here, sadly did not really revue the poz magazine main web page well or would have seen its obvious link too forums. I have been on medications immediately, unlike the lucky ones who went many years from date of infection too meds, I got infected in early 1999, and when diagnosed in 2001 had CD4 Level of 99 and was getting sick.., but medications have been my blessing as well as curse since they do have the nasty side effects. I just chalk it up too fate and some bad medicine side effects cannot be as bad as feeling nothing at all and being deceased...! I do wonder why so many of us are diagnosed in the USA today and so few go on line, have my opinion on this, many just may not be computer savvy due too generation they are born in as I was, or have other priorities than buying a home computer, but anyone can use a free internet and computer access from any public library, by merely getting a free library card, often wondered why more do not do so and for that reason I posted a web page on the subject in hopes of educating some on the idea of maybe spreading the idea too others like us, got a reasonable nice response from many of the 180 plus some viewers who visited the site, but did get two negative comments, got attacked by one lady who claimed I was spreading mis-information and that women cannot infect men, all HIV/AIDS was caused by gay and bi-sexual men, she went beserk on me. Of course I did not take the bait, since she obviously was just angry at all men due too her alleged source was a ex-husband with a bi-sexual background. I did wonder why she even posted on poz personals if she had such anger at men, but then she blamed me for her decision too remove her ad, I guess she just had to have someone too blame. It did not deter me from keeping the site posted and who knows out of the 180 plus folks who visited it maybe some did as I suggested and printed up some simple one page flyers and dropped them at local places where us HIV get services and medical care and maybe reached some poor soul who is not computer savvy or has no home computer..! In any event I feel two negatives out of over 180 is not bad, if anyone is curious it is at http://www.geocities.com/rvhobo1954/page1.html?
I even put informational links too a web page on legal issues state by state on disclosure, since truly some states have really draconian laws and people need too be aware of them...! I was under the mistaken impression if you just disclosed you obeyed the law but some states even disclosure does not eliminate legal complications...! Take care and god bless too all..
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Tex,
I PMd you some instructions on how to find your posts in the old forum.
Ann
(who didn't want to hijack another thread)
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Google.
I searched the net frantically for any and all information that I could get for the first few months after diagnosis, until I got sick with overload. When I returned a few months or so later, I bookmarked a couple of sites as being particularly informative and helpful, "Aidsmeds and Aidsmap", it was only last year that I joined the forum just before it changed. Like many others I suspect I lurk a lot; even though I have so many questions I don't feel really comfortable about asking them just yet or revealing too much about myself, (Hell I am an Englishman after all ;)) but a lot of them are asked by other people anyhow and I learn a lot in the background. I really am glad I found you though, just knowing that I'm not alone has kept me from harm on many occasions, thank you all.
John.
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Grew up at TheBody cus my doctor told me about it.. Spent alot of time learning and growing comfortable. I grew very tired of the Anon's and alot of bullshit that I had to sift through. I knew about aidsmeds but heard it was a ruff place for the newly infected and a bit scary. I signed on for the first time here and got involved in one of those 500 thread counts on LIVING vs DYING threads here which scared me back for a while... Finally, I figured I needed to stay put somewhere where there was a healthy population of people living with HIV.. The other only had a few who are still near and dear to my heart. I think a few have migrated here on their own as well as me... I am happy to call this home for the long haul now... I feel safe..
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Hi David,
On September 30, 2005 the Ryan White CARE Act expired. This represents a $1.4 million annual loss for the care and services needed by the 700 persons living in Sonoma County, California who are currently in care and for the 1800 to 2400 persons who are HIV positive but not yet in care. I was enrolled in the L.I.F.E. program at the time and two of the other members of that group were members of the Persons Living With HIV/AIDS Committee (PAC).
I became a member of that committee that month. During the first PAC meeting I attended there was discussion of starting a grass roots letter writing campaign, which would begin in Sonoma County and go nation wide because all of us have family and friends in other states. I don't write letters, don't know many people who do and felt the grandmother or cousin or high school friends of the people living in Sonoma County who have HIV/AIDS may have a difficult time writing letters to Congress.
There is no available funding for what I started by the design of www.Commission-n-AIDS.org (http://www.Commission-n-AIDS.org) so I purchased the domain name and started writing. Since there is also no funding to support such a venture, I paid every fee out of my disability income. I have been living with HIV for 12 years and AIDS for 10 of those years. I had asked quite a few favors from a lot of people to get this project online and functioning. WEbincome of Colorado offered to design and manage the site at no charge.
I also became a Commissioner of the Sonoma County Commission on AIDS, a member of Basic Needs Committee, Executive Committee, a founding member of Re-Entry Task Force and the press contact for the Commission.
Since my site has been online since December 1, 2005, the viewers of this site has gone from 10 to 1733 and down to 16 each week. There has been about 60,000 viewers from Japan to Russia in the past 10 months. The weekly web traffic reports show a consistent 10% referrals from AIDSmeds.com. That is why I am here, to reach the largest number of people living with HIV/AIDS. It is the support from the members of these forums that keeps me going.
During these past 10 months, there have only been 9 total log-ins from the County of Sonoma. They are funded by the government and not allowed to participate in lobbying the government. They are however very proud of my efforts and constantly remind me of how happy they are that I will publically say the things they are not allowed to say.
Having spent the past three months on the Funding Allocation Working Group, I have come to the realization that I do not personally benefit from Title I funding as all my needs are covered by Medicare, Medi-Cal and HOPWA. When Sonoma County loses it's $1.4 million per year, my loss will be AIDS Emergency fund. That amount covers almost enough to purchase firewood for part of a California Winter. I can write a check for that.
Last November, I was invited to attend the annual HIV Planning Retreat in Petaluma. I was not a Commissioner at the time but more active in COA activities than most of the voting members. I still am more active than most of them. I have taken the last couple of months off from the Commission, the sub-committees, the Task Forces and the forums because I can not continue to spend every waking hour on HIV issues with no or little support from the organizations which my work supports.
I did attend the COA meeting this month and was asked to be sure and attend the HIV Planning Retreat again this year because with the loss of Title I funding as written in the current legislation, changes will have to be made in order to maintain the array of services offered. The focus of this years Planning Retreat is based on transition and maintaining services. I am being requested to open an independent Public Relations firm to represent the COA and the related HIV support organizations.
For the past year, I have been sending press releases, letter to the editors of 45 newspapers and radio stations in Sonoma, Marin, Napa, Lake, Mendocino and Humboldt Counties. Several publishers will print anything I write because they are used to the prepared and predictable material as received from the County of Sonoma, and the ASO's. They are aware I have AIDS and what I may say is not edited and comes from the heart.
Over the next month, I am going to take on the task of redesigning the site to build up my tracking numbers and hopefully get the steam going to get the letters sent to the Congress members who are responsible for the RWCA reauthorization. I will be taking this new site to the HIV Planning Retreat along with a business plan, and a time line for all the necessary documentation to begin the next phase of this project. I have a lender who is willing to put up the money to start this new venture and a workforce consisting of people living with HIV/AIDS.
It took a lot of effort to get me heading in this venture but of every one, the most support has come to me from these forums. Have the best day
Michael
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I was in the County Early Intervention Clinic and was reading POZ magazine
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I'd joined POZ for the dating thing many months ago. Only saw the 'forums' link there a few weeks ago. Wish I had come across it in the beginning, would have been a brighter winter!
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I googled in. This forum has been a great resource, invaluable to those of us who are newly diagnosed with so many questins. It is reassuring to know that we are not alone.
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Good question,
Like a few others here, I found this site through Google. At the time, I was feeling discouraged with my local ASO and the nitwits I met through their social programs. I thought surely there must be intelligent sane Poz people out there somewhere with whom to interact.
Daniel
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when i informed a friend who is poz that i had tested poz he suggested that i get myself into a support group and he reccomended poz.com and aidsmeds im very glad that i found this site too as i am the type of person that wants to know as much as he can about a subject this important to me so i found the lessons and i find the forums extremely informative and although i didnt post for the first several weeks when i finally did i found that there is plenty of support from my peeers available here too and for that i am so thankful ;)
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I found Aidsmeds a week after I was diagnosed. I was at a site called The Body and someone named ScottCharles sent me a message saying to check this site out.
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I found it through POZ Magazine, and decided to check it out, and I'm glad I did!
Capt. Carl
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found it today 1 week after diagnosis thru The Body and glad I did!
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How did YOU get here?
i'll say it frankly.. buttfucking :)
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Tested poz the health department and the day I did the guy that gave me my results recommended this site. It took me a few days 2 actually log on and although it has been a while since I have been on here I am glad that I was directed in this direction
JAG
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Google, today
I'd seen poz.com but didn't know of the forums, i was searching for *blush* poz orgies...
out of curiousity... not to attend of course, just curious (my public position on this, and that it shall remain!)
:)
Pup
Hmmmmmm.....does this mean that if one googles "poz orgies" a link for the AM Forums is a result? WOW!!!
ROFLMAO ;D Who's hosting??? Who's attending??? :P ::) :o
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It was the day of my diagnosis. I had been called by my doctor's office to come into the office when I got off of work and was told that they would wait for me if I couldn't make it by 5 PM. I knew the news was not good. I drove 45 miles to the doctor and she came in, sat down, said "I have some bad news, you are HIV positive." I was kind of dazed and just asked what I should do next. I drove the 45 miles back home through a few tears and called a couple of close friends to tell them my unfortunate news. Then I decided to try and get some sleep. Just as I was about to drift off to sleep a panic attack suddenly hit me and I was out of bed pacing through the house. I went to the computer and did a google search. I found both The Body and Aids Meds. My first contact on The Body was with Eric who kindly did the cyber hand holding thing and has been there ever since for me. I created an account on both The Body and Aids Meds but found Aids Meds a bit overwhelming for a newly infected person. So I shyed away from here for a while and as Eric mentioned, I too "grew up" over at The Body. Then I also got tired of all of the anon crap there and migrated over to a great group of friends here.
But yes, originally I found this through a google search the first night of my diagnosis as I sat at the computer in a panic not knowing what to do or who to turn to.
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I actually found this site from a friend in a poz chatroom. That chatroom and this site has become my line of support. I have learned a few things since being here and some things are still a little confusing for me. I have been here for about a week now. But I plan to be here for quite awhile.
Queen Akasha
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looking for POZ Magazine info.. I remember when POZ first issue came out and decided it was time to give it another look... many years later :)
David
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It is all Eric's fault..... I was diagnosed in January, and like Eric and Blixer grew up on the Body, learned how to be a real boy. I will say that I still find these boards overwhelming and some of the issue discussed scary, I come here to visit my friends that I made at the Body and just see how they are doing. Otherwise, I try to stay out of the complex discussions. D
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Poz Magizine I think...
I'm not sure though...Lil
I do remember my name.
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Well, like many of us, I also had been diagnosed recently and was googling for some information on meds and such. One year ago I was thinking my life would last "10 years". Now I don't anymore. Unless a bus hits me! ;D
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A google search!
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I can't remember. It was probably a google search.
I had joined several other boards over the years that had very little activity.
I don't know why this one never popped up sooner.