Hi, I'm a new member and I'm confused

[leatherman]

Updates: my last cd4 percentage reduced from 23% to 21%.

I totally missed this post the other day but figured this is as good a time as any to give another piece of advice.

Never care what one test result is. Labwork is only a snapshot of what's going on in your body at that moment in time. And of course, when you think about it, our bodies are constantly in flux. Your heart rate goes up and down, so does temp, blood pressure, etc. Everything else does too. For example cd4s are actually higher in the early evening and lowest in the mornings.

So all results MUST be considered as a trend of at least 3 tests over at least 6 months. Just like the ups and downs in other bodily function tests, cd4s, viral loads, and other immune functions can fluctuate so much that a snapshot result doesn't show what's happening, while a trend is a sign of whether treatment is working and how "healthy" a person is. Rarely do bodily functions change in a straight line; but more of a jagged trending line.

looking at your numbers....

11/01/2023 VL : U                       CD4 452 - 21.52%
08/10/2023 VL : U                      CD4: 397 - 23.22%
06/20/2023 VL : U                      CD4: 422 - 20.73%
01/17/2023 VL : 1430/mL           CD4: 300 - 10.45%

.... we see that your cd4s are on an jagged upward trend (300 to 452) while your cd4% (which is a more "stable" number than the cd4 amount which can change in either direction by 100 pts in one day) has DOUBLED from 10% to 22%. While the cd4 count is not an accurate measurement of your "health" (you could have strong or weak cd4s; but the general wisdom is that the more you have the better your body fights off infections), a higher cd4 is always a good thing.

Also, now that you quickly reached and have been undetectable for over 6 months (boy was that ever a straight line function. ), you can no longer transmit HIV to anyone else, and that's a very good situation.

She said my immune system is fine and we need to figure out why I'm so miserable

Well, it's not like your body hasn't been dealing with a very serious chronic issue (HIV), not to mention getting adjusted to meds and then switching med. Sometimes, like I was talking about above, recovery is not a straight line function either. Hopefully with some more time, you will be able to figure out and fix your issues.

[Kirat]

I reread the thread and found the answer Lexapro.  How is this working for you, and is your psychiatrist aware of your new HIV diagnosis?

Yeah, she is. Lexapro is working fine for my depression. No longer so depressed as I was. Now it just seems to be something more physical. I've been having apnea, my nose is always obstructed, this blurry vision is always present. It's been overwhelming, but I need to keep trying to investigate whats going on.

[Jim Allen]

So HIV and depression are stable, that's excellent.

Keep working on the rest and hopefully, that will be sorted soon as well. 

[Kirat]

Lexapro is working ok. But this whole situation is making me depressed again because I have no quality of life. I'm EXTREMELY fatigue, I cant even talk because my voice is so weak.

[Jim Allen]

Sorry to hear that you are struggling. Make sure to see your psychiatrist and whoever is looking into the physical side of things as soon as you can.

I hope you feel better soon.

[Kirat]

My HDL Cholesterol is plummeting. It's 24 at the moment. Does anyone know why this happens? I have a pretty decent diet, no refined sugars, no gluten, I eat salads, meat, fruits...
Currently I have no energy to exercise, but I'll go back whenever I get better.

[Jim Allen]

Nobody here can diagnose why you might have low HDL Cholesterol.

Is this just from the latest labs, or have they trended downward over time? Were the rest of the lipid panel results within the normal range?

Are you still taking Levothyroxine, Darunavir + RTV + TDF/3TC, Lexapro and Iron supplements?

If it's a sudden change, I would rerun the labs. See if it changes back or settles, as you recently changed HIV meds and started a few other things. On the other hand, it could be related to whatever ongoing issue has made you feel unwell for the past weeks/months. If, however, it's a sudden change, I would first consider any recent changes in diet, medication or supplements.

Anyhow, like I said, nobody here can diagnose why, see your healthcare provider and talk to them.

Cholesterol is an odd thing, for the past nine years, my Cholesterol has been perfect, which makes sense being Irish, slob, alcoholic meat eater.  I guess some are just lucky.

[Kirat]

Nobody here can diagnose why you might have low HDL Cholesterol.

Is this just from the latest labs, or have they trended downward over time? Were the rest of the lipid panel results within the normal range?

Are you still taking Levothyroxine, Darunavir + RTV + TDF/3TC, Lexapro and Iron supplements?

If it's a sudden change, I would rerun the labs. See if it changes back or settles, as you recently changed HIV meds and started a few other things. On the other hand, it could be related to whatever ongoing issue has made you feel unwell for the past weeks/months. If, however, it's a sudden change, I would first consider any recent changes in diet, medication or supplements.

Anyhow, like I said, nobody here can diagnose why, see your healthcare provider and talk to them.

Cholesterol is an odd thing, for the past nine years, my Cholesterol has been perfect, which makes sense being Irish, slob, alcoholic meat eater.  I guess some are just lucky.

Very recent labs, but it's been in a downward trend over time indeed. It was 40, then 30+, now 24. I'm still taking that regime, yes. I'm not taking the iron supplement because my last iron exams were normal. And that gave me some bad reflux too. It's really mysterious what I'm going through. Today I had to sleep the whole day because I was miserably tired.

[Jim Allen]

40, then 30+, now 24

So crap results three in a row. If I were you, I would simply suspect this part of whatever else has been making me sick for a while already and continue to work with the healthcare provider.

Take it easy.

[Tonny2]

         ojo.               @kirat, I’m sorry you are still not feeling well. You have to talk to your doctor about all these blood work results, as a matter of fact, I think you shouldn’t see the results, just your doctor, I don’t think it helps with your depression seeing results that you don’t understand and they just make you anxious. I wish I can find the words to make you feel better. How long have you been taking Lexapro? Maybe it’s not helping you, I am not a doctor, but I   think is related to depression. Again, talk to your doctor and try to keep busy…abracos

[Kirat]

Updating my situation. I still feel horrible. Can't exercise, always fatigued, brainfog, blurry vision, weakness(can't lift weights), dizziness/lightheadedness, almost fainting sensation and etc. I started looking up my heart rate and it was always bradicardic. I got a Holter 24h, it came back with 10 hours of bradichardia(40%). I go to a cardiologist, the cardiologist gaslights me saying :"oh, it's fine. Some people have bradychardia and live fine" but im not asymptomatic you *ssh*le. He gave my an echocardiogram, polissonography that I asked and a stress exercise. Anyway, I need a better cardiologist. The problem is, they are f*unkind expensive.
My HIV doctor put me back on DTG and Lamivudine, the dual therapy regime now, without the Tenofovir. I'm happy with one less medication.