ALTERNATIVE TREATMENTS

[COSIMO]

I´M THINKIG ABOUT STOPPING TAKING TRIZIVIR OR ANY OTHER DRUG.

 I WAS TESTED POZ 12 YEARS AGO, NOW I´M 32. I´D LIKE TO ASK YOU FOR SOME ALTERNATIVE TREATMENT.

 I WOULD LIKE TO CONTACT PEOPLE WHO DON´T TAKE DRUGS TO FIGHT HIV.

 I AM READY FOR IT. MEDS ARE MAKING ME WEAKER PHYSICALLY AND I WANT TO TRY THE OTHER WAY, I DON´T FEAR DEATH, THIS IS NOT THE PROBLEM. THE PROBLEM IS BEING ALIVE SUFFERING THE SIDE EFFECTS OF THESE DRUGS.

  THANK YOU.

[JamieD]

I think hydroxyurea is the only non-HAART drug that is going to work for HIV.

I know you aren't talking about pharmaceuticals though, so let me think. There aren't really many drugs that will lower the viral load (see my thread "Is there anything else?"), but there are a lot of things that can increase your CD4 cells. Unfortunately increasing CD4 cells doesn't take care of the underlying problem, which is HIV. My doctor told me about a woman who he was treating who chose to forgo HAART, and rely on natural remedies. She was able to increase her CD4's substantially, but this also increased her viral load a HUGE amount and she eventually died.

You really won't have much luck with "alternative" treatments. If you are absolutely dead set against taking HAART then you may want to try another (unproven, though possibly helpful) approach such as TNF-alpha blockers or COX-2 inhibitors since over expression of these two things is thought to be involved int he pathenogenis of HIV. I would urge you to look into other regimens that are less likely to cause side effects. My current regimen has no noticeable side effects, but my guess is that you are treatment experienced since you have been positive for 12 years.

[allanq]

Cosimo,

Before you give up on HIV drugs, why not talk to your doctor and discuss the specific side effects you are currently having. It may be possible to find a drug combination that has fewer side effects than Trizivir.

AZT (in  your Trizivir) can cause a host of side effects that may be making you feel sick. It can cause anemia, nausea, and wasting (among other things).

Allan