feel like im getting sick

[johnnyl]

Been on Meds for almost a month now and feeling great.  That is until some one at work decided to come in sick. Before I knew my status really didn't think much of it, bronchitis..coughing up some nasty stuff, but now a little worried..am on azithromiacin, and dapsome, to prevent the OI's .. I have read that once u strt Meds, people get sick, before they get better.. have noticed rash I had on my face , before meds is gone,, cracked sides of mouth gone, and energy levels through the roof... Just feel a little icky, and don't have doc appt til end of August..

[Rockin]

Been on Meds for almost a month now and feeling great.  That is until some one at work decided to come in sick. Before I knew my status really didn't think much of it, bronchitis..coughing up some nasty stuff, but now a little worried..am on azithromiacin, and dapsome, to prevent the OI's .. I have read that once u strt Meds, people get sick, before they get better.. have noticed rash I had on my face , before meds is gone,, cracked sides of mouth gone, and energy levels through the roof... Just feel a little icky, and don't have doc appt til end of August..

Hey Johnny...your CD4 was 4 on your last test in May? Why are you taking so long to do another one? When I started treatment my doctor asked me to do like 3 VL tests or something in less than 6 months to see my progress.

And he also said that if I ever had a fever during the start of treatment to go straight to the hospital.

[Miss Philicia]

I would call my doctor's office if I had that low of a cd4 count and felt any respiratory infection coming on, just to be on the safe side.

[leatherman]

I have read that once u strt Meds, people get sick, before they get better.

It's called immune reconstitution inflammatory syndrome (IRIS). what happens is that as HAART destroys the HIV and your immune system recovers (reconstitutes), it may begin to fight other illnesses that you are infected with but which your immune system wasn't fighting off. So yes, sometimes people start meds and get sicker before they get better. This does not happen to everyone by a long shot though; however a very low immune system, like yours at 4, makes it more likely for something like IRIS to happen - if you have other germs floating around in your system.

(I was down to 5 myself back in the day but didn't have any issues like IRIS. For a long time after I started meds, I was very germ-ophobic though. I didn't get above the 200 cd4 mark for 12 yrs so I was always scared of other people's germ. I can't tell you how many times I ran out of grocery stores because of someone coughing, or how many yrs I lived like a hermit afraid to be out in public. best wishes on not getting any germs from your co-workers!)

I'm surprised too that your doctor has not re-checked your labs by now. Usually, and especially with someone with such a comprised immune system as yours was, lab work is done within 4-6 weeks to verify that the meds are actually working.

[johnnyl]

Rockin...Tested poz May, VIA home acess test..went in and had blood work done, and they only did a vl which at the time was like 175k..(which really pist off my id doc) when I finally got into see id doc, had labs done in June which gave me the grim news on my numbers ..June 25th..  started Meds on June 21st, so doc said that he would see me aug 25th... I am going to ask him to ok lab work, as i am curious to see what these Meds are doing for my system...like i said i feel great and i know they are kicking the shit out of this virus... I was a smoker until now, and this bronchitis was a 3 times a year deal for me. 

Miss p...good advice...going to get an appt.

Leatherman, thanks for the response..I'm hoping this iris is not a bad thing..going to do a little research on that .. and yea ..going to isolate myself when co workers come in sick...