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Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: blondbeauty on June 08, 2006, 09:26:03 am

Title: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: blondbeauty on June 08, 2006, 09:26:03 am
Today I went to the hospital to visit my Dr. I changed my mind. Now I love him. He was kind, sweet and very comprehensive. He checked my lymph nodes, blood preasure, lungs, heart beat, skin...
But the results were dissapointing:
Cd4: 539 (quite good) Percentage: 26% (not bad) and V.L.: 100.000.
He wants to see me in August. If the viral load remains so high and the cd4 drop, I will be starting treatment immediately with Sustiva & Truvada. Because he says: "the tendency is clear". He would like to see me earlier but said he would let me wait until august because I will probably want to enjoy mi last summer without meds.
This is my evolution:
30/Nov/2005: Cd4: 609-27.8%. V.L.: 15.232
26/Jan/2006: Cd4: 689-25%. V.L.: 48.600
10/May/2006: Cd4: 539-26% V.L.:100.000
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: MoltenStorm on June 08, 2006, 09:29:50 am
*BIG WARM HUG*

You're still going to be ok. Even if you know that, just wanted to give ya some love and support.

*BIGGER WARM HUG*
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: Cliff on June 08, 2006, 09:30:58 am
You are too much Juan.  You've been bitching about that guy ever since you've been here and now you love him.   ::)  Why Sustiva (just curious)?
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: blondbeauty on June 08, 2006, 09:37:57 am
Thank you Molten Strom for your Hug! Cliff you are right. I am too much...but I am not crazy. He really behaved very differently from my first appointment. Today I was the last patient, so he wasn´t in a hurry and explained me everything in detail. We talked about patients hospitalized in 1997 due to HIV wich is somethig rarely seen today, etc...
He chooses Sustiva because he finds, despite the sleeping problems it may cause; it is an excellent antirretroviral.
If I am able to tolerate that side effect, he thinks its the best option.
He is very confident I will do great.
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: Cliff on June 08, 2006, 10:25:26 am
Well I'm glad he was able to spend some quality time with you this time and made you feel at ease.  Hopefully that viral load is just a blip (have you been ill recently, sometimes an infection can cause a temporary rise in your viral load)?

Good luck and keep us posted.

Cliff
(Who knows Juan is not crazy, in the least bit.)
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: Moffie65 on June 08, 2006, 10:30:59 am
The side effects of the medications are no reason to wait for your immune system to crash.  The CD4s you now posses are good cells, any that you can rebuild AFTER they crash are called "naive" and are not as capable at all in fending off infections.  I wonder why your doctor is not concerned about this and why he is not anxious to see you next month, or at a maximum, six weeks.  

Hmm maybe in Spain they work things differently.  Just remember, your immune system will tolerate only a certain ceiling on the vl, and then it can tumble quite dramatically.  

Just another view.

In Love and Support.
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: kcmetroman on June 08, 2006, 10:35:18 am
Hey Juan,  sounds like your Doc is on the right track with this.  If your VL remains over 100k that is a pretty common benchmark to begin treatment.  Like Tim said, if it keeps rising it will also adversely affect your CD4's. 

Trust me, you DON'T want to get sick.

Please keep us posted
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: blondbeauty on June 08, 2006, 10:45:29 am
I am going to do the following: I will be going to "Clinica Sandoval" next week. Where I can have blood tests whenever I want. If the results are as bad as these or even worse, Ill go back to the hospital and ask them to change my appointments with the Dr. to see him sooner.
His words were: "i would like to see you as soon as possible but I imagine you are willing to enjoy this last summer without meds, so Ill see you in August. I am not going on holidays..."
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: aztecan on June 08, 2006, 10:55:21 am
Hey Juan,

I would echo what Tim and John said. The more of your intact immune system you can preserve, the better off you will be.

It sounds like you have a good plan. Please keep us posted on how things are going.

(((((((GREAT BIG WARM HUG)))))))

Mark
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: Moffie65 on June 08, 2006, 11:27:08 am
...................... I will be going to "Clinica Sandoval" next week. Where I can have blood tests whenever I want. ............................

Good Boy Juan,

I knew you were not stupid, but this encourages me to no end.  Your first post scarred the shit out of me.  This is better and I think a very good way to go, and remember, being "pro-active" will save your life with HIV.

In Love and Support.
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: Jwhite8040 on June 09, 2006, 05:42:01 pm
I think it is normal to have Viral Load spikes. Your body is fighting and winning sometimes and losing other times.  He is just looking for a pattern before he puts you on the meds.  The one happy thing I can report is that I am on Sustiva and Truvada and I have almost no side effects whatsoever.  I am slightly sleepy in the mornings when I used to jump out of bed to start my day.  I have no bad dreams, no problems with mood or depression, no stomach problems.  It has been a near carefree combination for me.  (Well, as carefree as a person can be who has a life threatening illness). 

Since there is debate about starting and stopping meds, and your t cells are still pretty good (above 350), you have some wiggle room to see if it is time to start the meds. 

Good luck!
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: Jena on June 10, 2006, 05:15:56 pm
Juan
 Honey you can still have a good summer if you are on meds! Like Moffie and Mark and John have said, you do not want your numbers to get any worse than they are and you want to preserve the good cells you have now. I started with VL over 750,000 and Cd4 of 96. Its been a real struggle but things are getting better and I feel fine. My VL is 55,000 and my CD4 is 309 after 7 months on meds.
You get yourself back to the clinic young man!!!!

Hugs
Jena
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: newt on June 10, 2006, 07:39:05 pm
I know you doc is a big shot but.......

He's jumping the gun a bit.

30/Nov/2005: Cd4: 609-27.8%. V.L.: 15.232
26/Jan/2006: Cd4: 689-25%. V.L.: 48.600
10/May/2006: Cd4: 539-26% V.L.:100.000

= a level viral load, probaly

... cos viral load tests vary by a factor of 3 - so a result could really be one third or 3 x as much.  On the basis of these figs you have a level viral load.  On the basis of one more high one then perhaps an increase.

Your CD4s is great and there is no rush to jump on the orange bomb unless you want to.

Indeed, In England you wouldn't so much as get near the pharmacy on most days with a CD4 of 26%/count of 500+

- matt
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: southmetro on June 10, 2006, 09:44:19 pm
I agreewith Newt, just look at my numbers.... My VL was the lowest just befiore starting meds about 6 weeks ago. One lab is nothing to go by. graph them out, forget one really high or low number see where most fall (within that factor of 3) and make your choices on that.
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: DingoBoi on June 10, 2006, 09:54:00 pm
i'd concur with newt and take at least 2 more labworks and get a definite trend... your viral load is trending upward from these, but your cd is also up and down and doesn't show any trend.   

Ultimately, the decisiion is yours to make and shouldn't be taken lightly, but you do have a bit of time to decide... and those extra 2 labs may prove it's not needed at this point.

I'm glad you are waiting for at least one additional lab though.
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: blondbeauty on June 11, 2006, 05:43:35 am
Thank you all for your great help! I am in Frankfurt today. I had a special flight yesterday to bring people for the football world cup here in Germany. I couldn't wait to wake up this morning and check aidsmeds to read your posts.
Anyway I will continue with my plan of having another blood test next week, before my third shot for hep-a-b vaccines.
I didn't know VL counts were so unprecise.
Jena, you seem to be recovering very fast. Congratulations!
Title: Re: Todays Labs. V.L. reached 100.000 copies!
Post by: heartforyou on June 11, 2006, 05:47:05 am
Ola, my bird in thin air...

I once had a VL of millions.
Undetectable since 1997.

A couple of years ago I suddenly got a viral load of some thousands , out of the blue.
Did some tests again, and yes, the firt results were wrong. I still was undetecable.

Say hello to the Lufthansa birds in FRA.

Hug

Hermie