POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: JessieJames on May 13, 2013, 03:36:07 am
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I went on a business trip and I immediately came down with a respiratory infection. I had the chills and the whole nine yards, I thought it was pneumonia. I started round 1 of antibiotics, and it sort of worked, but the congestion remained and the fever became low grade.
I went on anti-biotcs round two. No effect.
On physical exam, two doc were sure I had TB again. I did the sputum tests, the blood tests, x-rays and a CT. No TB.
It felt exactly like the TB did the first time I had it, but at that time, my CD4 was 85....
But I still have the low grade fever. It comes and goes all day. I just got a CD4 back: 520. Actually a slight increase from my last 6 months ago. (It has been hovering around 500 for three years now.) I am awaiting the viral load results. (I have gone over three years undetectable.)
The fever is not high, never more than 37.8 C. But I feel it coming and then going after Tylenol. I always have mild liver dysfunction.
I have had all sorts of tests, but no doctors seem to have any answers. In fact, they don't seem that concerned. But I feel like crap! Not totally out of; I can work (from home), but I am sweating all the time, especially after the fever breaks.
I am also having occasional and only mild night sweats. (Nothing like when I had TB; the pillow and the area around my torso gets damp, not wet.)
I am just concerned because it has been nearly 40 days now. Any advice?
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Not Nice ,where did the busness trip take you ? and where are you based
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Do your upper respiratory infection completely cleared? Sometime sinusitis can cause low grade fever that don't go away as well. Antibiotic sometime don't work while use for sinusitis due to low blood supply in the sinus.
If you don't know what to do, go see an ENT and let him have a look. :)
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I had this happen in the early 90's and it was an allergic reaction to the sulfa in an anti-biotic. Not saying this is what is going on with you but I suppose it's worth asking the doctor.
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Sorry to hear that you are going through this.
I am also allergic to sulfur based drugs just as Ms. P. notes. I had an awful reaction to Bactrim (an antibiotic) in the 1980s.
Here is a link to the side-effects information about Bactrim: http://www.drugs.com/sfx/bactrim-side-effects.html
You may want to connect back with your doctor to see if you are having an allergic reaction or something else is going on.
Take care.
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I am based in Cambodia and the trip was to Bangkok.
My chest congestion has cleared (CT scan looked cleaned) and my cough is gone, but I have residual nasal congestion.
Thank you for your advice and counsel. I actually have an appointment with an ENT, but the doctors here in Cambodia are not the best. My primary care doctor is well trained, but he does not do very well with anything outside of HIV/AIDS.
I am off all antibiotics now.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I have hypertension as well. My lying down blood pressure is 140/90. I have started medication for it, and I am feeling better.
I smoke, and when I feel well, I run. But I have not felt well enough to run for nearly a year. I have run only a half dozen times in the last 12 months. It was okay the day of the run, but the second, and especially the third caused me to sleep the whole day.
I miss running; I would like to get back to it. (I don't have high blood pressure when I am running.)
I will look into the sinusitis.
I am going home for a while at the end of June. If my viral load is undetectable (and I have CD4 hovering around 5oo for three years) could I wait until I got home?
I have been fortunate in that my last few contract have allowed me to work from home; I have set up an office in my bed with two screen and my flat screen hooked to my computer. With Skype and other VOIP, I can stay at home for the next couple of months.
But I don't want to!
I have also had a loss of appetite, but after the first loss of two kilos I have halted the weight loss. (I have learned how to eat when nauseous or feverish. )
I spent nearly a year in bed with my first bought of TB; it was systemic. I also began ARV treatment at the same time. I am fairly good at 'being sick'.
But I would like to feel better. I am hoping that American doctors might be able to help me a bit more. I have been, for the most part, heading my own treatment since 2006.
I am a lawyer; I believe that a lawyer that represents himself has a fool for a client. I believe the metaphor true for medical care as well. I will end this.
Again, thanks for all the help. It is truly appreciated. I wish you all happy and healthy days ahead!
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"I am also allergic to sulfur based drugs just as Ms. P. notes. I had an awful reaction to Bactrim (an antibiotic) in the 1980s."
I did as well when my CD4 was plummeting. I had a type 4 rash and had to come off it immediately. Many of the patients had the same problems, but the doctors kept them on the Bactrim.
I have found that in Asia, as long as a patient has a good CD4 record and no viral load, that they are "fine". No problems. Again, I think it is time to get the Americans on the case.
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Yes, it does sound like a good ole thorougher med check up and down , would be a good idea , leading to some more comfortable and energetic days.
Wish you luck , hope you are able to get the medical care you need , keep us posted.
m
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Sinus infection - might be worth checking into.
For what its worth, i used to get low-grade fevers and profuse sweating when I had either EBV or Chronic Fatique, long before I had HIV infection. Epstein Barr. There's controversy as to whether this exists or not as a disease, but during the bouts of low energy, fever and sweating, I also had EBV tests and levels were high.
It always made sense to me that a virus could be causing my malaise.
As I had to keep my job and also, being young, I would just plow through the malaise, which lasted a few months each time. During this time, I would also get sinus infections....
I would be drenched in sweat with any sort of movement.
I guess this may not be very helpful or precise, but maybe you have some sort of viral infection (in addition to the HIV) that is taxing your immune system, and laying you low...