if yr fit and healthy, why introduce new toxins to a system that CLEARLY AND OBVIOUSLY is already full to the brim with plenty of toxins at present, which it must dispose of....

if your body is pressed to the max to 'recover' from the sustiva, and your counts are good, why not insist on blood work until your numbers BEGIN, even just a little, to climb some.

i did that once, and my numbers didnt jump for THREE YEARS!!!!!


WHICH TO ME, means i added three TOXIC FREE years to my life, and provided some 'evidence' to the fact that our own immune systems, wether meds help or not, are capable in some instances of regaining their original capacity to keep us healthy.

so wether ya believe the meds are good or not, there is still the question:
once the meds make ya stable, how long can we sustain without them, before we need to reintroduce them?
and,

with resistance being the med industry big concern:

how much longer can you stretch out the efficacy of a drug, by taking a break once or twice, especially if a break does nothing to compromise your numbers/health, AND... lasts a few years?

i would ask for new bloodwork, consider a one month break before new bloodwork, (expect a change in numbers without panic) and then at the two and three month marks, get more bloodwork, see how the changes are progressing, and ya mite be surprised that your vl increases some, but then stabilises at a steady rate, like mine has at about 1,000 (one thousand).... FOR THREE YEARS NOW.

if ya add it up, ive spent HALF of my last tne years without meds/TOXINS.

disclaimer: im a retired waiter/bartender,and have no business giving medical advice, so instead, i merely ask questions to stimulate the examination of alternative points of view.

cheers.

why is there a picture of that actor guy on your foto-spot?

typo correction above:

if ya add it up ive spent most of the last TEN years without meds/toxins...

Thanks Taoe
I'll admit i was hoping you'd answer , after following some of your writings I realize the experience you have is more than valuable. I know your not a doctor nor am i but i've met some people such as yourself that put alot of so called (Doctors) i've had the less than pleasureable experience to deal with.
As far as not taking the meds for some time , this is something i was already considering , thanks for sharing your experience. I'll weigh all the pros and cons and make a decision.

that actor guy??..What actor guy ..lol

I dont know how valuable my advice is being newly diagnosed. I chose not to take meds right away. ( I found out before i even developed antibodies) I have done a bunch of research and chose to take some vitamins. I have not taken anything since being diagnosed and had 4 sets of labs done first. I just started these vitamins and want to see where my numbers go. Im taking a bunch of vitamins but would rather vitamins than drugs. Heres my list: multi vit. co q10 maitake selenium alpha lip. acid vit c b complex astragalus. its a lot but check out the research. let me know!!!!

I left you a long message on your first ever journal. Only you can know what is best for you. I wish you wings with your decision.

Please keep posting what you are doing and how you are feeling and the lab results as well. I find this information extremely useful in my own battle with HIV.

BE WELL.

I spent 12 years taking vitamins and herbs and highly recommend them. The efficacy was well documented. I fought many doctors over the years and had the lab results to back me up. However as there is no cure for HIV the disease does progress eventually. And for me it was very disappointing to start medication. My viral load began to spiral in 6 months from 10,000 to 120,000 and my T-cells dropped from 300 to 180. They had remained stable for years. Although I felt fine, I did take on board the advice of a HIV professor and doctor who said that it was definitely time for me to start therapy.

So after that I kind of had to change my whole way of thinking. I'd spent 12 years trying to keep off the meds, yet suddenly I was now faced with reprogramming my mind into trusting them.

So here I am 6 weeks into taking Sustiva and Truvada and it's been a hellish experience. The first days were horrific, now less shocking/suprising, the side effects are a nightly affair. I wake speeding and buzzing in the middle of the night unable to sleep, and then I'm left exhausted the rest of the day. It's impossible to work and live a normal life if these side effects continue.

Do I change meds?? Do I hang in there with Sustiva? (I'm told it's one of the best drugs around and side effects can pass). If I change meds am I just changing side effects? Have I just jumped on the prescription drug merry-go-round?? I hope not.

I'm not very happy, but I'm not in the same space as Taoe to have a drug break. I've just spent 12 years taking vitamins and herbs - but they only worked to a point, albeit a good 12 years. No doubt vitamins would help now, (I seem to have lost the vitamin mojo temporarily) - the side effects have been so overwhelming with this combo.

I think I'm quite overwhelmed by it all actually. Made more difficult by living in a remote town hours away from any city. Makes a web site like this so helpful.