Dr. Frascino,

Thanks so much for your voice of reason and humor. I live in Santa Clara, CA and was diagnosed with HIV a little over a month ago. I'm trying hard not to be concerned about every little thing, but I have noticed the past couple days that my lower back has gotten extremely tired by the end of the day. I'm not on medication at this point. I've only had two tests for viral load and CD4 count, which showed an increase of CD4 from 574 to 1,013 and pretty much flat viral load around 12,000. I know it's relatively new to say that my system is doing okay fighting the disease, but my question is, how likely is this sore back related to my body over-working on fighting the HIV virus? Also, I'm up in San Francisco often and am curious how I can involve myself in HIV/AIDS awareness.

Hi,

Your "tired back" is not related to your HIV disease. Sore backs are an extremely common complaint HIV or no HIV. Physiologically speaking, we were never meant to walk upright on two legs. Our backs are better designed for us to crawl around on all fours. Unfortunately that's not socially acceptable in most circles, so we have to deal with our aching backs! I'd recommend a good massage and some gentle stretching exercises and maybe getting into yoga.

As for getting involved in HIV/AIDS awareness in San Francisco, the opportunities are essentially endless. Just check in with any of the AIDS service organizations. Google AIDS service organizations/San Francisco and an impressive list will pop up.

Be well. Stay well.

Dr. Bob