Personal journey, start of treatment with Stribild

[InquisitHIV]

Believe it or not, I've never posted a youtube video on this forum, hopefully just click on link below, if not then perhaps someone more concerned can find a way to assist those of us who would like to view project ECHO! and the official info about Antacids, or just go to youtube and search Stribild.


http://youtu.be/aLAZ7m-_rlI

[BT65]

As I said in another thread about this very issue (antacids and Stribild), I have taken a prescription for years for GERD, and have been on Stribild for about a year.  And I am undetectable.  I take the med for GERD in the morning, and the Stribild at night.  I was never told to not take an antacid.

It seems there are a few threads where the subject of antacids and Stribild is the main component.  It would be helpful if they were all kept in one thread.  Otherwise it leads to confusion.  Just as an example, when I checked this thread, I was looking for my response, then realized it was in another thread.  So, please keep the subject in one thread, thanks for your cooperation.

Betty

[InquisitHIV]

Dearest Betty,

Sorry, to hear that you seem to have got a bit confused finding you way around the forum.

Unfortunately, it seems most of the threads on this forum seem to have entirely unrelated posts. No fault of your's or mine. 

As far as I know I always posted relevant info or questions in the relevant threads. Compared to many others I seem to be doing pretty good.

I'm not aware that I have offended anyone, I keep my words simple and always try to be polite.

I find it strange, but mostly interesting that I'm only allowed to have one thread on the entire subject of Stribild, and now I am being asked to STOP posting on other Stribild related Threads.

Anyone know WHY?

Love, peace and understanding.

P.S Did you find the youtube Stribild video interesting?

[zach]

  we've replaced our regular moderator, with a new popcorn, lets see if the diners notice

[BT65]

Inquisit, I do not have trouble finding my way around the forum.  The issue is, you keep posting the same thing in every thread on Stribild-about taking antacids.  When that happens, and I read it, I wonder where my reply is, because I know I've replied to this concern many times already.

It causes confusion to anyone.  You need to keep the topic relevant to what the OP is posting about.  Regarding your concerns with antacids/Stribild, you need to keep it in your own thread.  Posting the same thing over and over is only going to get you timed out.  Please consider yourself warned. Thank you for your cooperation.

[InquisitHIV]

o.m.g.

[Poppy33]

Hi,, I been taking stribild for 29 days now. I never feel gassy, but I am relieving myself after every meal. I also have a constant headache. I do notice that I feel better if I take it with a really heavy meal. Such as pasta.  I hate taking meds.

[fgh12]

Hi Guys,

so after been undetectable last time, I had a viral load of 90 today. My CD4 also declined to 630 (-170). My doctor asked if I had a cold or something, as general lab suggested a cold etc. Hep C etc were all negative. We're doing another round of labs at the end of the month.

I know 90 used to be considered undetectable still, so please spare me ' back in the day' lecture. Have any other stribild users had a blip only a few months after starting? And again, what are you guys eating with it. I think I'm not eating enough with it and I have to admit that I have fallen asleep a couple of times and then took it more than 2 hours AFTER my scheduled time. So I'm going to be really strict or stricter with this from now on. My doctor told me it could be a blip but it is quite early, usually blips occur when you've been on the regimen longer.  I've only been on Stribild since June....

[leatherman]

My doctor told me it could be a blip but it is quite early, usually blips occur when you've been on the regimen longer.

what your doctor should have also explained is that VL decline with medications is not necessarily a straight line function  - meaning every test does not automatically mean a drop until reaching UD. The same is true of your cd4 counts also. Your viral load and cd4 may jump around for a while until settling. Plus he should have explained that it can take months (3-12) to reach and ultimately sustain a continuous UD status. So when you say that you've been on meds just a couple of months barely a month and have already hit, but not sustained, UD, I can tell you that your treatment is progressing normally. (Actually, now that I see you've just been on meds a little over a month, you've had incredible success in a very short amount of time!!)

so please spare me ' back in the day' lecture.

so, you don't really care about hearing the truth?

anything under 200 VL means virtually nothing. Besides you should never worry about the results from a single test. What you need to always consider is the trend of at least 3 tests over at least 3 months or more. If you graph your results, you can easily see that your VL and UD are trending in the correct directions meaning your treatment is progressing normally incredibly well.

[fgh12]

Hi Leatherman,
thanks for your honest answer.
No, i've been on Stribild since the first week of May. I got my first test after about 6 weeks I think and was undetectable then.

My doctor indeed told me not to worry and that it would take time for the cd4 to settle, as the viral load needs to be controlled first and then my cd4 cells can get 'fixed'. My cd4 is not getting tested next time, they are only re-testing my viral load in 2 weeks, he wasn't worried about the cd4 as it's still high. I Was kinda disappointed that it had dropped though.

I didn't know about the 3-12 months to reach and ultimately sustain a continuous ud status. So that means the first time you're just lucky? It doesn't make me sense to me cause the plasma level of stribild in my blood should be continuos by now I (ok maybe not on the days that I fell asleep and took them later).

I do care about hearing the truth, but now that the tests are much more sensitive I don't want to compare it with the old tests where under 200 would be UD. i want to compare it with the standards that we have now.


Thanks for your answer!

 

[Dan0]

When I switched from Atripla to Stribild, I had a blip of 70 after my first testing period on the new pill.  I think that it was a month after the switch and it came back at 70.  Not good - worried myself sick over it and waited patiently for a six week do-over.  It came back undetectable (again).  My doctor wasn't all that concerned over it and said that it could be any number of things, he cited some examples and said he'd see me in six weeks.  For my sanity, I checked in with our own Newt, who told me the very same thing.  Six weeks later - *UND*

[fgh12]

I'll relax and wait patiently then lol

[JosephP]

Sorry I've been away and busy, but today I am up to date with all of you.. It has been a year since dxd and 11 months on Stribild. So far it has been great, but on last labs my VL jumped to 26... I panicked!! ID Dr. sent me for a new round of tests and they were the most awful few days waiting for results...They came back as UD and CD4 of 321. Uffff! I know how you feel fgh12! What happened, I asked... Well the answer was that some times 'these things happen'.... These things happen?? Man, I lost ten years of my life waiting for those results....My ID Dr. didn't seem to be too concerned and I guess she was correct. So far I am adjusting to this post-positive life but I have found myself pulling back from social events and people company. I haven't disclosed to a single soul yet! 

[JosephP]

@leatherman, Great suggestion! I am tired of 'lint'....Thank you...Thank you... You know how nerve wracking is to forget your pill...Once I started driving to a meeting in an adjacent state and was 28 miles into my journey when I discovered I didn't have my green/blueish pill... Well I made an U turn drove the 28 miles back home and went again... I was late but I had my pill with me!!!!

[leatherman]

What happened, I asked... Well the answer was that some times 'these things happen'.... These things happen??

HAART  does not cure HIV infection; so even when our test results are UD, we all have reservoirs of HIV in our systems. Periodically, these reservoirs may "spill over" - but thankfully your HIV meds act against this "new" amount of viral load.

The bad thing though is if you are tested when that reservoir spills over, you have a blip, spike or tiniest bump imaginable. As has been mentioned elsewhere, just a few yrs ago when tests were less exact, a viral load of<500 was considered UD. So needless to say (but I'll say it anyway LOL) a viral load of 26 (which is just 6 over the standard of (UD =< 20)) means absolutely nothing in the big scheme of things.

also it is NEVER about the results of just 1 test. It's about the trend over 3 tests (that are over 4-12 wks or more). If you graphed out your 0 and 26, you'd have a line that barely wobbled off the zero axis.

of course, it was all those reasons that your doctor correctly told you "these things happen" and wasn't "too" concerned - because she actually wasn't concerned at all.

[leatherman]

Well I made an U turn drove the 28 miles back home and went again.

not that I would ever suggest that anyone not take their medications , however several studies have shown that being >95% adherent results in successful therapy. In other words, missing one dose, because it was a 40 mile round trip back to where you were, would not have affected your treatment.

thankfully though with a pill in the keychain fob you'll never be without your meds; you'll never have to drive 80 miles cause you forgot; you'll never feel bad for skipping one dose even though it wouldn't hurt; and you'll never have to swallow a lint-covered pill.

[fgh12]

JosephP and Leatherman

Thanks JosephP, for updating us. Great that you are doing great so far, any side effects? I don't have any side effects, even the truvuda farting seems to be less or I got used to it lol. Poor future BF.
Today I went back in to have some blood drawn, in a few week I will know the results. Hope that I will be UD, I don't want to switch. But apparently 90 is way too low to even do a resistance test , as the VL should be at least 1000. ( or that's what I understood)


LEatherman every time I'm on the forum and I read the thing about the keychain I remember that I HAVE to buy one soon lol.
I absolutely understand your point and the way it works, but I guess for our conscience and peace of mind, hearing that you are UD works really well. It's hard enough to deal with the whole situation so good results, or might I say the best results, are always welcome.

Today at the lab I was a little annoyed again, the stupid nurse came out wearing gloves to take me in, as if I had MRSA or something. They are supposed to wear gloves, but when they draw blood,  not when they come and get you. But I'm getting used to it, last time I was really annoyed and now just a little lol.

[PozNtn]

Hi guys...I'm late to the party (this discussion) as I just stumbled upon it today. I'm on Day 4 of Stribild and have been experiencing a weird dizzy feeling with nausea off and on. Today has been the worst. I've been adamant about taking it at the same time every day AND always with food (my ID doc recommended eating at least 400 calories within an hour of taking the pill). Now, I will say I kind of had these spells/feelings even before I was diagnosed and/or started any meds but not as frequently so I have no idea if what I'm feeling is even because of the meds. As for any other SE, I'm not seeing any others. I sleep well and not having any changes in stools or gas. I am tired but I've been exhausted for a year now which is one of the reasons I went to get tested in the first place. So, maybe the vertigo/nausea is unrelated...maybe not...either way I hope it goes away cuz sometimes I just have to lie down for it to go away and I can't always do that.

Also Fgh, I'm not a doctor but I'm a Nurse Practitioner and treat patients in an Urgent Care setting in a hospital so I know a little about how you were/are feeling. I'm terrified for any of my coworkers finding out. There is still a huge stigma, even in the med community especially here in the South (I live in TN).

Anyways, thanks to you all for giving your thoughts and writing of your experiences with Stribild. I'm pushing thru and have my first f/u on Oct 13. I'll be on Stribild for about 6 weeks at that time so I'm praying for better numbers. I pray to my lil green pill every day just before I take it the he will do what he's suppose to do. Hope he is listening!

[fgh12]

Hey guys
well a little update, sorry for the delay. I was really busy the last month.
I'm UD!  So  Leatherman and Josephp, you were right.
Oh well, it's a learning process. I'm slowly learning to relax a little and stress less.
I guess my body has gotten used and settled to Stribild, my other numbers are also good.

Very happy about the new Stribild coming out btw
( http://www.gilead.com/news/press-releases/2014/11/gilead-submits-new-drug-application-to-us-food-and-drug-administration-for-tenofovir-alafenamide-tafbased-single-tablet-regimen-for-hiv )

Are you other Stribild users excited as well?

[leatherman]

well a little update, sorry for the delay. I was really busy the last month.
I'm UD!

it's never too late for good news! WooHoo!