I'm 30 years positive and have been very healthy but I have had diarehea for l8 months (I've become drug resistant. Now my MD says that my body is just not absorbing nuitrition properly, already causing adema. He has no advice about what I should do. He thinks I should not try any of the new 'special needs' drugs either. Is this a problem that I can afford to ignore? What can I do? Can one measure malnutrition? Im not willing to just sit back and wait for the infections to come which seems to be his tack. thanks

Hello, and thanks for posting.

Depending on the cause, prolonged diarrhea may be associated with malabsorption of nutrients and subsequent nutritional deficiency. This may lead to a potentially fatal downward spiral unless it is aggressively addressed. There are many options now for people with multi-drug resistant virus and in most cases viral control and immune reconstitution can be achieved.

Feel free to repost with details about your drug resistance and current regimen. But regardless, you should establish with a clinician who is expert in advanced HIV management with access to and willingness to use new and investigational agents in order to turn your situation around.

Good luck!