Intro

[hylas]

Hi all.  I posted something earlier in the month and was advised to introduce myself as a new member.   I looked at my history and it turns out I've been a member since 2009 but evidently I'm an introvert and hadn't posted anything until this year.

I guess that makes me new around here!

What to say about myself?  I'm in my early 50's.   I became positive on October 31, 2006 through IV drug use.   I took control of the drug problem but not before it was too late to become infected.  In the first couple of years after my diagnosis, there was still a debate on whether to hold off on meds or to hit hard and early.   I was unmedicated until early 2009 when the protocols said to start treatment immediately upon diagnosis.

I started out on Atripla, switched to Descovy/Tivicay around 2015 and  then to Dovato last year.  I've one detectable blip (54) but have otherwise been undetectable since a month after I began treatment.   I've missed my pills two times in the last twelve years so my compliance is pretty good.

I've been lucky that I've never been sick or had any medical issues.  I had zero symptoms at seroconversion but given my knowledge of my almost certain exposure on that specific date in 2006, I was tested about nine months later once I got up the courage.    At the time, I thought PEP was reserved for medical workers (and perhaps that was true at the time, things change so quickly in the treatment guidelines) so I didn't seek any treatment as folks would now days.

HIV hasn't really impacted me much other than getting my labs every six months and taking that pill every day.   Of course, in my 50's I'm also taking supplements, a statin, aspirin, and finasteride to prevent hair loss so one more pill doesn't really impact me at all.

I guess that one more interesting thing is that I met my husband on the POZ dating site.   We've been married since 2015.  His health is a little more tenuous since he's been positive since 1988 and is originally from a country with less than stellar healthcare (yes, there are a few countries with worse care than the US.)  He's got stage 3 kidney disease but his numbers have been holding steady for the last few years.

So, that's about it!  I'll try to post more often than every 12 years going forward.

[PozChilean]

Thank you for you intro, hylas!
Glad to read that you and your hubby are doing okay. 

[leatherman]

after all these years lurking, you're new to us!
welcome! 
Good to hear that things are okay for you and yours.

[J.R.E.]

   I looked at my history and it turns out I've been a member since 2009 but evidently I'm an introvert and hadn't posted anything until this year.

   Not necessarily !  To me, when people don't post all that much, means that for the most part, everything is going well in their lives ! Good Thing !

Great introduction !


Ray