Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
March 18, 2024, 11:42:31 pm

Login with username, password and session length


Members
Stats
  • Total Posts: 772783
  • Total Topics: 66296
  • Online Today: 328
  • Online Ever: 5484
  • (June 18, 2021, 11:15:29 pm)
Users Online
Users: 0
Guests: 206
Total: 206

Welcome


Welcome to the POZ Community Forums, a round-the-clock discussion area for people with HIV/AIDS, their friends/family/caregivers, and others concerned about HIV/AIDS.  Click on the links below to browse our various forums; scroll down for a glance at the most recent posts; or join in the conversation yourself by registering on the left side of this page.

Privacy Warning:  Please realize that these forums are open to all, and are fully searchable via Google and other search engines. If you are HIV positive and disclose this in our forums, then it is almost the same thing as telling the whole world (or at least the World Wide Web). If this concerns you, then do not use a username or avatar that are self-identifying in any way. We do not allow the deletion of anything you post in these forums, so think before you post.

  • The information shared in these forums, by moderators and members, is designed to complement, not replace, the relationship between an individual and his/her own physician.

  • All members of these forums are, by default, not considered to be licensed medical providers. If otherwise, users must clearly define themselves as such.

  • Forums members must behave at all times with respect and honesty. Posting guidelines, including time-out and banning policies, have been established by the moderators of these forums. Click here for “Do I Have HIV?” posting guidelines. Click here for posting guidelines pertaining to all other POZ community forums.

  • We ask all forums members to provide references for health/medical/scientific information they provide, when it is not a personal experience being discussed. Please provide hyperlinks with full URLs or full citations of published works not available via the Internet. Additionally, all forums members must post information which are true and correct to their knowledge.

  • Product advertisement—including links; banners; editorial content; and clinical trial, study or survey participation—is strictly prohibited by forums members unless permission has been secured from POZ.

To change forums navigation language settings, click here (members only), Register now

Para cambiar sus preferencias de los foros en español, haz clic aquí (sólo miembros), Regístrate ahora

Finished Reading This? You can collapse this or any other box on this page by clicking the symbol in each box.

Author Topic: my results, your advice..  (Read 5623 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline dudeitsmedweeb

  • Member
  • Posts: 11
my results, your advice..
« on: November 03, 2011, 10:55:31 am »
Hi there, I am reachign out to these forms for your input and advice , I tested poz on Oct 5th, my ID doctor had me do more blood test, my VL took over a week to come back so I just saw my physician yesterday to discuss the results..

I had tested neg. in April, so I'm almost sure I became infected somewhere from April to June, still unsure how and from who..

my resutls are CD 612 and VL 7000, my doctor doesn't want me on meds because of my cd count , he says its strong, however I'm still very ignorant to whats healthy and whats not..
personally I want to be on meds asap to reduce the vl but he wants to have at least one more set of data blood work to work with before putting me on meds. I'm scheduled to see him sometime in Early Dec. again, I'm terrified my cd will lower and vl will increase, I just dont understand why I can't be on meds already.. 

should I seek out for a 2nd opinion?

Offline mikeyb39

  • Member
  • Posts: 980
Re: my results, your advice..
« Reply #1 on: November 03, 2011, 10:13:58 pm »
my opinion would be to wait for one more set of numbers, you're numbers are pretty good, you can afford to wait at least a few more months to see how you're body deals with it. 
11/02/2010  cd4-251, vl-591000
12/09/2010  started Atripla
02/18/2011  cd4-425, vl-800
06/10/2011  cd4-447, vl-70
10/10/2011  cd4-666, vl-80
01/05/2012  swiched med (prezista,norvir ,isentress, )
02/10/2012  cd4-733, vl-UD  Viread removed
06/10/2012  cd4-614, vl-UD
12/14/2012  cd4-764, vl-UD
09/01/2013  cd4-785, vl-UD
03/06/2014. cd4- 1078, VL-UD
09/05/2014  cd4-850 , VL-UD
09/05/2014 switched meds isentress, prezcobix -still only two antivirals
10/14/2015  cd4-600 , VL-UD

Offline vaguesbleues

  • Member
  • Posts: 97
Re: my results, your advice..
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2011, 01:12:34 am »
I'd agree with mikeyb39.  Many who are newly infected have viral load counts in the hundreds of thousands or even above a million!  And yet yours is only 7,000.  You should probably wait and get a baseline on your CD4 count with at least another set of labs prior to starting therapy.  And after one more set of results, then it will be a decision between you and your doctor as to whether or not to start therapy. 
3/10/11 - HIV-
4/26/11 - Inconclusive WB
5/19/11 - HIV+, VL < 50, T-Cell 747 (30%)
6/13/11 - VL 345, T-Cell 841 (30%)
8/23/11 - VL 50,100, T-Cell 1155 (19%) - CMV
9/18/11 - Started Atripla
11/7/11 - VL 489, T-Cell 881 (31%)
2/8/12 - VL Undetectable!, T-Cell 772 (34%)
8/8/12 - VL UD, T-Cell 1070 (42%)
11/5/12 - VL UD, T-Cell 1174 (35%)
3/18/13 - VL UD, T-Cell 972 (28%)
10/4/13 - VL UD, T-Cell 1025 (34%)
2/9/14 - VL UD
7/31/14 - VL UD
1/29/15 - VL UD, T-Cell 1027 (32%)
9/15/15 - VL UD
10/21/16 - VL UD, T-cell 765 (39%)
4/28/17 - VL 29
8/17 - started Genvoya
10/27/17 - VL UD, T-cell 880 (35%)
3/30/18 - VL UD
9/28/18 - VL UD, T-cell 980 (34%)
4/19/19 - VL UD
10/18/19 - VL UD
10/22/20 - VL UD, T-cell 1005 (35%)

Offline JasonCifredo

  • New Member
  • Posts: 1
Re: my results, your advice..
« Reply #3 on: November 22, 2011, 03:45:28 pm »
I first would like to commend you for wanting to be proactive and do something to take charge of your recently discovered diagnosis. The decision of start medication is one that should not be taken lightly, its a very personal decision that all of us in our situation have to make at some point or another.

From my experience in working in an HIV clinic often times patients will make the rash decision to start on medication before thinking it over. There are a few things to consider before you start medication luckily for you, you seem to have the time to weigh out the pro's and con's  judging by what you've stated.

Some of the things you should think about prior to starting medication is your lifestyle(do you travel a lot, do you work at night certain medications aren't ideal if you work graveyard shift), your living situation do you have roommates or family that you might not want to find your medication, do you have the time to get use to the side effects(if your a student and you take early classes, you might want to wait till after the semester (I always say you should give yourself about 2 to 3 weeks to get adjusted to the side effects).

Keep in mind this is a lifelong commitment that you are undertaking, are you prepared for that kind of commitment? Many of the medications can cause depression that might not be ideal if your still getting use to the fact of being HIV positive. Those are somethings to think about and discuss in consultation with your provider.

In response to your questions,

1)You are healthy, you have a medical condition that you need to now monitor but you're still healthy and you will stay that way as long as you don't ignore your status and address it head on. Your viral load is still considered to be low (low meaning less then 100,000 copies per/ml of blood) and your CD4 count is still at a range to fight off any common infections (meaning your not immuno-suppressed).

2) Keep in mind that your CD4 can fluctuate 100 fold on any given day (if you get a cold your CD4 will be lower, this is also true when you are recently infected because the bodies immune system hasn't had enough time to respond to this new infection thus is why ID Physicians will request a 2nd set of labs to gage whether this is a new infection or a long standing infection). From your post it seems like you recently been infected and you know this to be fact, so it could be that your CD4 and VL baseline might be even better. However there is only one way to find out and that would be for a 2nd set of labs.

From what I'm reading your doctor is following standard protocol, to start you on medication right away with out it being medically necessary and without having a 2nd set of labs to go off of would be vastly irresponsible. My suggestion to you is make a pro's and con's list of starting on medications sooner rather then later, discuss this with your doctor. Promoting dialog with your physician is key in maintaining your health (ask him if he requested a geno-type test already [a geno-type test-tests your virus' response or sensitivity to the different HIV medications] its also paramount in choosing an HIV regimen).

Ask your doctor about the "Start Study" ask him if his office is participating, as well about the different medication options such as Complara or Atripla.

In the mean time speak with a Peer Educator (this is what I do) they can help guide you through this time and help you navigate through the world of HIV. See a Mental Health Counslor, maintaining your mental health is HUGE! and can be the difference between LIVING with HIV or existing with HIV. Speak with a nutrionist they can tell you about foods that are helpful immune-boosters. If your insurance doesn't cover any of these services you might need to go through Ryan White eligibility and based on your income you will fall into a co-payment category. Seek out a support group so you have an outlet of people that are in your same boat.

HIV care is so much more then just taking a few pills so really take this time to educate yourself and think about everything before making such an important decision that will effect the rest of your life.

If you have any questions I'm always open to help out a fellow pozitoid you can reach me at JasonCifredo at yahoo

Offline skeebo1969

  • Member
  • Posts: 5,931
Re: my results, your advice..
« Reply #4 on: November 22, 2011, 04:58:21 pm »
should I seek out for a 2nd opinion?

I would agree with your doctor.  Due to the recent neg. result in April it's obviously a new infection.  It would be best to wait to see just how your immune system is going to rebound.  You might be able to go some time without meds, who knows...  only coming labwork would indicate this.

Welcome to the forums.
I despise the song Love is in the Air, you should too.

Offline TexasPOZ

  • Member
  • Posts: 46
Re: my results, your advice..
« Reply #5 on: November 27, 2011, 02:57:37 am »
I agree with you doctor and everyone else who has posted. Your viral load is not very high, and you CD4 count is as good as someone without HIV. Why not wait? Taking meds is a big commitment. Once you start, you have to be commited to taking them the rest of your life. Even though most of the new meds are easy for most people to tolerate, you still have to deal with taking pills daily, at a set time, ordering them before you run out, paying the copays. You have the luxury of being able to wait, why not take advantage of it. It may be some time before you need to start. Take comfort in knowing that you are in good health and deal with the emotional impact of being positive before you concern yourself with starting on meds. That will also give you time to educate yourself on the disease and making sure you have a good doctor before you start. Having the right doctor makes all the difference in dealing with this disease. Best wishes for you friend.

 


Terms of Membership for these forums
 

© 2024 Smart + Strong. All Rights Reserved.   terms of use and your privacy
Smart + Strong® is a registered trademark of CDM Publishing, LLC.