HIV Support Group

well it should take two weeks for ur meds to kick in but if your symtoms get worse after the two weeks i would ask my doctor to switch them

I don't think it is a good idea to read the list of 'all possible side effects' written with HIV medication, it's more a legal thing than anything. Apart from that the lists are so outrageous, one can seriously have a bout of hypochondria!

It is much better to go by what others report and have discovered from years of testing and experience using the drugs. Our brothers and sisters have done a lot of work for us in the past that is often forgotten.

In fact if you started meds today you are fortunate to benefit from years of trials and tribulations that people in the past have gone through to arrive at this point today.

The last years have seen extraordinary developments. However sometimes it isn't easy to find the right combination, or one that fits you and your life at first - but there certainly is choice now and the knowledge to go with it.

Good luck!!

Um, the disease is definately worse.

I speak from experience here. I've been hospitalized with a skyrocketing viral load, and cd4 count of about 8, I weighed like 155 pounds (and I'm 6'2) and I couldn't eat ANYTHING EVER.

Now the only side effects I have to deal with (since I've decided to go back on meds) are the occasional headache and of course depression, but that's just a given. Trust. The downsides to NOT taking meds far outweigh the pros of taking meds.

Anyway.

I just read my post... I don't make any sense!!!

Taking meds = GOOD
Disease = BAD

That's the jist of my post. Haha, but u probably already figured that out.

I agree with chook! I never read the side effects when taking new meds...that just implants the possibilities in your head of what might happen. It's better to go ahead and take the medication like nothing is going to happen (at leat that is how I feel).

I know Sustiva can be pretty intense...and it may take longer than 2 weeks to become accustomed to it. In the long run ~ if it does it's job and controls the disease; there are ways of handling the side effects.

Combivir is relatively easy to handle, so that one should be a breeze ~ YAY! The one cool thing about Sustiva is that your dream world will become very interesting. I would highly recommend putting a journal beside your bed!! :) You'll know what I mean later.

Either way, give this combination a chance.
All of the therapies for HIV are difficult at first, but the long term payoff is that your disease is kept at bay and you get to live longer....so that's a good thing!

I hope that this transition is easier than you think it will be. I will send up a prayer for you and add you to my daily thoughts...

~Blessed be
A.

OFF TOPIC, BUT:

there are some twisted people out there, and i'm one of them, but i'm in good company.

i don't see why people don't have the right to die other than to help the rest of the people who know them. if someone is sick or feels sick or is dying or feels they're dying, they have a right to their life or lack of it.

i am sick of this bullshit with people (government/laws) controlling the lives of people who don't want to live. if i or someone else doesn't want to live, then they should be allowed to die...and instead of extending their already miserable life with drugs that cost a fortune, just "put them down." there are plenty of painless ways to die out there if we were given the options.

some people say "it's selfish to kill yourself" but what the fuck isn't selfish about someone else wanting to keep another miserable dying person alive for their own selfish reasons? stupid.

I guess the answer to that question varies from case to case. I personally know a few people who have been diagnosed HIV+ for years who have never taken drugs...so they don't experience the side affects...and interesting enough...they haven't been sick either! I guess the doctors would explain that the virus is developing differently in them for some reason. (This is why I personally think there has to be some other unidentified cofactors that we would do well to investigate.) However I would agree with Doormat that the side affects are a small price to pay if you are positive, have been sick, and have found the meds to render improved results in your state of health.

be sure to understand the psychotropic (tripping) affect of sustiva. for some it means great dreams, for others it means going out of their minds. we have a few people at group in my hometown who have had terrible episodes after taking sustiva without problems, suddenly they become completely wacked out.

if you see psychotropic signs and symptoms, address it immediately, not the next day.

all these drugs, have potential for disaster, even if you tolerate them very well for a period, wether that period is short or long, adverse effects can manifest.

i dont buy this thing they like to say, which is, that if youre tolerating the stuff, you wont have problems. one thing the protease inhibitors do commonly is rot the large bones... its called avascular necrosis and not a single doctor will TELL YOU ABOUT THAT RISK, becuase they all have this hysteria that you wont take your drugs if you know the risks, and they think they have the right to deny your right to 'INFORMED consent'... the thing is, AVN, avascular necrosis, comes on gradually over time and by the time you actually say something, your bone marrow is so supressed, the bonetissue has already begun to die, and then you need a hip replacement. that's just wrong no matter how they position their logic, to know ahead of time of this precaution is to protect and surveil your pain levels in the joints and not dismiss it as simple aging, arthritis, inflamation, other meds' side effects, cause ALL these meds can make you ache and stuff...

if fifty three percent of us die of kidney and liver failure due to meds, then does that mean that our chances are already more than half, against us?

have they done any long terms controled studies comparing peeps who take the drugs, and peeps who dont? NO! they only do studies where they compare one drug WITH ANOTHER DRUG... that freaked me out when i learned that.

in any event, those side effects listed are very real. its easy for us to talk ourselves into this idea that 'everything will be alright' but some might suggest that if youre in need of these drugs to begin with, then everything is NOT ok. it's serious business.

when i learned the real and huge difference between a virus and a retrovirus, i nearly dropped dead from shock that they have us all so convinced that there is very little difference. the difference is HUGE, and after a few years full time research, the significance of that huge difference changed my life and understanding of what we're REALLY up against here.

i suspect you know alot of this stuff already. anybody who actually studies their meds before taking them is open to the idea that they simply cannot tell us everything there is to know in a short doc visit. that's what 'TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN HEALTHCARE' is all about, but sadly too too many people dont fully get the weight, let alone the consequences of taking/not taking that advice.

last month a doctor told me that six months of shit**ing water, doesnt compromise the immunity. i always understood that diarreah of even just a few days is a SERIOUS sign, (not to panic and assume a nightmare, but serious enough to address) and then this hiv specialist tells me acute/chronic, diarreah (shit*ing WATER for six months!)...doesnt compromise the immunity?????

information, priceless. incomplete information, deadly, and the moniker, 'silence = death' was never as serious true and real and deep a concept as it is TODAY!

: )

-taoe

taoe,

i second that about the diarrhea thing.

if you have diarrhea OFF drugs, they say "well, that's why you need to be on meds. you are sick."

if you have diarrhea ON drugs, they say "well, that's ok. your numbers are better than before. you are not sick."

they're full of shit! fuck that. you know. if i FEEL sicker on the meds than off them, FUCK THE MEDS.

there is no difference between being sick and feeling sick for me. what the fuck is the difference if i'm "not sick" but feel sick, or "am sick" but don't feel sick? you know..i am ok with medication as long as it IMPROVES THE QUALITY of my life...not reduces it and makes me live that way longer! what the fuck! you know???

Number4940 your reply (#9) really makes perfect sense.