Your numbers

[dico]

Hi.

When I was infected by HIV, I didn't know how much I would be still alive. I have great anxiety about my numbers as there was nobody I knew I could compare to.

I think it would be good for the newly diagnosticed HIV+ people to know the numbers of ''older'' infected people.

Please share your numbers history ( VL, CD4, CD8, %).

Many thanks.

[dico]

I begin with myself :

03/25/2013 : $#@%
12/31/2013 : Tested +
02/14/2014 : VL 8176 (3,91 log)  CD4 481 (13%)    CD8 2554     CD4:CD8 0,19
03/17/2014 : VL <20                       CD4 486 (14%)    CD8 2432     CD4:CD8 0,20
07/17/2014 : TBD

[dico]

Forgot to say that I started taking Complera on 14/02/2014

[buginme2]

I think it would be good for the newly diagnosticed HIV+ people to know the numbers of ''older'' infected people.

After you have had hiv for awhile you stop spending so much time obsessing on what "your numbers" are.  Honestly I couldn't tell you what my last cd4 count was.  600 maybe? Around there somewhere. 

I have no idea what my cd8 number is.  I think my cd4 percentage is in the 40's.  Cd4/8ratio is like 1.2 (around there I don't know).

Point being, you asked for "older" people to post (I'm not old damn it).  After you have had hiv for awhile you stop obsessing about "numbers."  Yes they have meaning and are significant but once your stabilized your focus shifts to a more holistic view towards total health and not just cd4 counts and such.

[mecch]

''older'' infected people.

Uh, do you want number from people HIV+ for many years? Long-term survivors?

Or, do you want numbers of old people.  40? 50? What is old?

Neither one is going to tell you much about yourself.  What is it you are looking for.  How old are you. How many years HIV+?  (Not how many years diagnosed.  How many years HIV+, if you know). 

[Ann]

I recently posted my numbers history here. Also, many people have their numbers in their signature line which appears at the bottom of all their posts. Just look around the threads - you'll find them.

You can't really know anything about your own hiv by looking at other people's numbers. You do realise that, right? It's not really anything more than a point of interest.

Uh, do you want number from people HIV+ for many years? Long-term survivors?

Or, do you want numbers of old people.  40? 50? What is old?

I suspect he's using the word "older" as an opposite to "newbie" - ie someone with an older diagnosis vs someone with a newer diagnosis.

[Miss Philicia]

I have had HIV for approximately 26 years and on medication for 21. My last lab numbers were:

Absolute cd4 = 1504
% cd4 = 55.7%
Abs cd8 suppressor = 1037
% cd 8 = 38.4%
cd4/cd8 ration = 1.45

Note: the lowest my numbers have been during my first year of treatment/diagnosis were cd4's of 164 and cd4% of 14%, viral load testing was not available back then

The highest my numbers have been were cd4s of 1785 and cd4% of 55.7%

[dico]

I have had HIV for approximately 26 years and on medication for 21. My last lab numbers were:

Absolute cd4 = 1504
% cd4 = 55.7%
Abs cd8 suppressor = 1037
% cd 8 = 38.4%
cd4/cd8 ration = 1.45

Note: the lowest my numbers have been during my first year of treatment/diagnosis were cd4's of 164 and cd4% of 14%, viral load testing was not available back then

The highest my numbers have been were cd4s of 1785 and cd4% of 55.7%

Thank you very much. You are the first to post his numbers here.

Btw, your numbers are really good.

[Ann]

Thank you very much. You are the first to post his numbers here.

Technically, he's the second. If you read my post, I gave you a link to the last time I posted my numbers history but I'll try again: CLICK HERE!

[dico]

Yes lol but it was a LINK.

Btw we are waiting your results if 8th April

[Ann]

Btw we are waiting your results if 8th April

Don't hold your breath waiting for my 8th April blood draw results - I probably won't have them until next August and you'll pass out by then.

I'll be getting my results from last December next week.

I'm used to waiting so long to know what my results are like but no news is good news. They can, will and DO ring me ASAP if there's ever anything concerning about my bloodwork.

It gives me a fit of the giggles when I think of how our newbies would be tying their knickers up in knots if they had to wait that long to get their results.

[Bizkits]

Wow! Why DOES it take so long for you to get your results, Ann? Is that just how it works across the pond? Generally it's no more than a few days here, some tests can take longer depending on where they have to send the blood to process it. Not every lab has the same equipment...is that a similar case?

[Ann]

Wow! Why DOES it take so long for you to get your results, Ann?

It's because I fly to Liverpool for my hiv care; I live on an island in the middle of the Irish Sea.

When I was newly diagnosed I was being seen a lot, mainly because they were trying to sort out what to do with me because of my hep C coinfection.

2001-02-22 VL 80,700 CD4 490
2001-03-30 VL 21,000 CD4 997 32%
2001-05-29 VL 43,700 CD4 440
2001-07-10 VL 43,700 CD4 350
2001-08-07 VL 25,000 CD4 480
2001-08-21 VL 00,000 CD4 660
2001-10-08 VL 91,100 CD4 470
2001-12-04 VL 96,200 CD4 620

2002-02-04 VL 21,000 CD4 620
2002-04-11 VL 00,000 CD4 530 26% Started hep C treatment
2002-07-10 VL 00,000 CD4 460 27%
2002-09-11 VL 00,000 CD4 530 26%
2002-10-09 VL 30,300 CD4 322 31%

2003-01-08 VL 17,800 CD4 363 23%
2003-04-02 VL 06,940 CD4 410 Ended hep C treatment
2003-07-07 VL 40,700 CD4 474

If you look at the dates, you'll see how long I had to wait in the early days for my results. I never got the results until the following appointment, so for example, I didn't get my numbers from the initial diagnosis blood draw for over a month. The same follows for all my results posted in that other thread. I don't like to post it too often because it's so fecking long. I'm long-winded enought thankyouverymuch. At least I know it.

I lived. And got used to waiting and trusting that I'd get a call if anything was amiss. Which I have a few times. Gotten the call I mean.

These days I go over once every four months (as I'm "stable" - physically anyway - and on meds). My doctor says I can go every six months instead, but even I have limits on how long I'm willing to wait. Six months is a definite deal breaker.

I'd be happy to get my results over the phone, but the clinic is allegedly over-worked and under-staffed and they always say "if we do it for you, we'd have to do it for everyone".  Never mind that Liverpudlians go for a blood draw two weeks before their appointment.

If they want six monthly appointments to stop being a deal breaker, they'll agree to emailing or phoning me my results. Put that in your vapouriser and smook it.

[Bizkits]

What a hassle! Where I receive care, they offer a secure online server in which I can log-in any time 24/7 and look at my labs, doctors notes and other health stuff...it takes like 1-3 days to post because they give your doctor time to see results first before posting them but it's generally worked out very nicely.

[dico]

Anybody else willing to give his/her numbers ??

[Jeff G]

I have been poz over 30 years and my cd4 count is 780ish last count and my % 28 . I'm undetectable .

[tednlou2]

Since you're interested-- I place my infection back to summer 2001, but wasn't diagnosed until December 2008.  My latest numbers were like CD4 588, vl 27,000, and my CD4% at 22%.  I'm not on meds yet, but my labs are showing I will need to make the decision soon.  When the recommendations were changed from 350 to 500, I said I would definitely start above 500.  Plus, my percentage has been hanging around 20-22%.

[BangkokGuy]

At what CD4 level do people start showing symptoms?  Is CD4 the only variable for when/if people get sick?

[pittman]

At what CD4 level do people start showing symptoms?  Is CD4 the only variable for when/if people get sick?

Your question is ambiguous. Symptoms of what exactly?

1) HIV has an acute stage in early infection. Some individuals, but not all, experience flu like symptoms at the point their body starts creating antibodies (seroconverting) to fight the HIV infection. This happens within weeks to as long as 6 months at the two extremes. Typical is somewhere in between.

2) After the acute stage, most become asymptomatic for quite some time. If they thought the seroconversion was just a cold/flu, or it was really mild, they may not have paid it any attention.  A significant portion of the individuals who are HIV+ do not realize it yet. They are not experiencing any symtoms. This is why getting tested is important, and why going by the way someone looks is completely ineffective for determining if someone has HIV.

Over time, when left untreated, the body's immune system starts to become weakened and impaired. This can occur very quickly for some few individuals or never seem to happen for some very small number of individuals. Nearly all however fall into a slow decline over a period of a few years. As the body's immune system declines in an untreated individual, they can become more susceptible to colds and flu, and may notice that it takes longer to fight them off. As the immune system starts to become more severly compromised, they may have trouble fighting off things that normally would not bother anyone. That is the stage where opportunistic infections are problematic.

3) If treated, most do not have "symptoms" either. As with any medicine, there are some people that experience side effects. With today's medicines, this is thankfully a minority of individuals, and most can find alternative combinations to take. Long term survivors who were on the earlier regimens have a higher incidence of side effects. It is important to understand that those that have survived infection from the earlier years have had a different experience in that regard, and it is not an indicator of current treatments.

4) Not every sniffle, creak, pain, wrinkle, expanding belly, or other random body change can be attributed to HIV or your treatment. We are all getting older, and everyone faces the decline of their body even if they do not have HIV. As long as you and your doctor monitor for the things that need to have an eye kept on them, you will probably be better taken care of than the many HIV- individuals who never bother getting check ups.