POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Pre-HAART Long-Term Survivors => Topic started by: ubotts on September 25, 2008, 11:44:02 am
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I all,
I haven't posted in here for quite sometime now.
My last post was about me reaching 528 tcells, something I havent had in 6 yr on meds.
Recently I went into my clinic and from august to September, ( I believe?) My tcells have gone
down by 218 t cells.
My t cell count this time was 310. Go figure ???
I was all excited that finally my tcells were in the five hundreds and now its back to the drawing board
for me and my doctors..
I went to the Dr's Monday, and I was find, the next day I felt like instant crap, and its wensday now
and I still feel very weak, my muscles are aching, I dont have a fever, I am thinking it could be the flu, because thats what it feels like, and theres nothing they can do for the flu anyway.
I have to get better by Saturday, because my brother is having a suprise party for his 25th wedding anniversary.
I really want to be there for him and the family, so I am resting up and hope I feel better by then.
Every year my brother and the family come down to the Jersey shore, and I always look forward to seeing them.
This time, we went out to a restaurant to eat and there were 12 of us.. I sat at the end next to the bathroom, and its a good thing I did.
I was eating my meal, and I had to puke, so I ran quickly into the bathroom, and no one suspected anything.
The second time, I started gagging at the table, and my nephew said, "what ever you do, dont puke
on my spaghetti, and he laughed, not knowing how serious this was to me.
Then once again I sat down to eat, and I ran to the bathroom again, but this time my sister in law and her granddaughter were in the next stall, I didnt know it, but they could hear how sick I was.
When I came out of the bathroom, my nephew realized I wasnt up to par, so he said, if theres something going on with you, we are your family and we need to know.
They know that I have been hiv since 1986, but they have never seen me ill.
The next time I tried to eat my food, ( and it was good) and I was starving, so I believe I ate it too fast
and maybe didnt chew it well....But this has been happening to me on and off for months..
When I told my doctor she said, take previcaid.. I dont have heartburn, but I used to. Anyway I asked
her how that would help me and she replied, that it may be my escforus..Cant spell it, so Ill say my
throat :-[ and she said my throat must be irrated and swollen from acid reflux, so the food has a hard time going down.
I really have no need to take anti acids, because that problem has stopped a long time ago.
I know I have been rambling on here, but thats how my mind is right now, all over the place.
Is anyone having this problem swallowing, and then throwing up? Or is it just moi?
Thanks for any answers you can give me. I appreciate it.. :-\
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Hey Ubotts,
So good to hear from you! I'm sorry about your t-cells. Were you not feeling well when you had your labs? Just wondering.
As for the antacid, well, maybe it would help. Just because you haven't had heartburn for awhile, doesn't mean it can't come back. So you should probably try to medication and see if it helps. Hell, it can't hurt.
There's a couple days between now and Saturday. Just rest up, and drink lots of fluids (that's what my doc tells me). Let us know how that party is!
Luv,
Betty
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Hey Ubotts ,
I had a few years of choking on the first few bites of food . It just got stuck and would take a few minutes to go down while I sat embarrassed and choking .
A buddy who I dined with often made it worse everytime by telling me to try chewing my food before I swallowed . He soon apologised to me when he developed the same disorder .
The difference between us was I just choked , he choked and threw up just about every time he ate .
My doctor sent me to a gastric . doc . who put me on some meds until my esophagus could heal and I have not had the problem since . I suppose if your doctor thinks previcaid could help you have nothing to lose by trying .
Good luck I hope you feel better soon .
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Hi Ubotts
Glad you checked in. I hope you feel better.
Joel
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Hi Ubotts~
So good to see you here! We miss you in the Ladies'Thread. As for your t-cells, let me tell you about mine. I was in the 300's for years while on Sustiva/Videx/Zerit. In 2005 I switched to Sustiva/Truvada (same as Atripla) and the counts didn't even change.
Last year I shot up to 700 out of the blue and now I am at 714, see my sig line below. My point is, I believe you can be healthy in the 300's. I was always in the 300s from when I started meds in 94 up until last year when I had the jump. I have never had an OI and have never been hospitalized. December will be 15 years since diagnosis. So, don't be so hard on yourself about not being in the 500s, just be sure to keep checking in with your doc.
Also, do you think perhaps you are anxious over the drop in numbers? I know for me, that stress can cause anxiety and yes, that choking sensation while eating, like I don't want to swallow my food. Just take a deep breath, pamper yourself with a good book or a nice walk, most of all, be good to YOU.
Hang in there and keep us posted. I think you'll be OK, really, and I'm saying a prayer for you today. :)
~ Cindy
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it's good to hear from you again, Ubotts. ;D it's been a while now.
My point is, I believe you can be healthy in the 300's.
for about 8 yrs now, my tcells have only averaged 242 (they spiked to 311 once, a few years ago ;D ). I haven't had a cold, flu, major or minor illness in all that time. (I only puke, once in a while, as a side effect of my meds) So lower tcells aren't always the worse news. ;) of course, I still worry about mine; but I'm not afraid of germs and living like a hermit anymore. It sure would be nice if I had more of them; but with at least some working tcells and a good attitude, you can weather through a lot of germs that are floating around. ;)
and I too have a swallowing/choking/acid reflux-y sort of problem; but I believe mine is caused by a weakened spot in my esophagous from a bad, bad case of thrush 15 years ago. I find that eating too fast at first (so hard to not do when you're really, really hungry or have really, really good food to eat ;) ), and sometimes bread for some reason, will trigger my problem. As soon as I can get to the bathroom and throw up, I "usually" feel better and go back to eating; but I take it slower and drink more fluids to wash the food all the way down.
I hope you were still able to have a nice time with your family, even though the dinner had some problems. ;) Living 600+ miles from my family, I wish I could see mine more; so I make sure to appreciate the times I do get to spend with them.
;D mikie
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Hi Ubotts...
good to hear from you and that you are doing ok.
Can relate to the eating problems. I have started to dread eating time. I have taken my Ranitidine, I start out slow and drink a lot of fluids and still it stops up....
Katie knows because I put my fork down and just sit there, eyes start watering, waiting for it to go down, or come up...
Fortunately I only throw up once and then I can continue the meal as though nothing happened....except for the tears in my eyes..and my face is flushed...
at least your nephew is looking out for you....
I had my blood drawn for my 3months labs and am waiting for the results.
How did your brother's Anniversary party go?
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Hi all,
Thank you for all your replies..
I made it to my brothers anniversary and put on my makeup did my hair and tried to look as best I could
Everyone said WOW you look great, that made my day, and I got though dinner without throwing up once.
Infact, I told my nephew, "dont worry, I wont gross you out today. The food was great, I ate slowly
and chewed my food really well, drank water with my meal and everything was fine.
As far as my tcells go, well it was nice that they shot up to 528 for the first time ever.
I always hovered around 245 to the 300's anyway.. I didnt feel any different, but it just made me feel
good...
Iam doing better and not so tired . I have my good days and bad just like the rest of us.
I go back Oct 27 and they will do my bloods again.
I was feeling fine the day they drew my blood, but all in the same day they gave me my last hep B
shot and also a tentius shot, so many that was too much in one day to have my bloods drawn.
Its nice to be here and you all made me feel a warm welcome back..
Ill keep you all posted on whats what next time I go to the doctors.
I missed you all so I just had to come back where people know me and understand
my symptoms...
Ha .. Its like Cheers, where everyone knows your name. :D
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Glad everything went well for the party. Come back more often!
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ubotts, its good to see a post from you... don't let the numbers play mind games with you... you've been dealing with this for years... hopefully your numbers will improve in the near future. sincerely, John