Diagnosed HIV+ for 12 years. Currenlty taking Viracept, Epivir and Zerit. Viral load undetectable and CD4 at 820. Suffer from severe diarrhea (have been unable to control using lomotil or Ultrase). My concern is my weight gain and redistribution of fat. Most has concentrated around my gut, upper body and face. My lower body, legs have lost fat and muscle. Is excersize an option for me and what would help lose excess fat in these specific areas? Are there any other options to stop diarrhea beyond those I have already tried (assuming I don't change my current meds)?

Exercise is definitely an option and has been shown to improve lean body mass, but I'm not sure how much fat reduction in specific areas you can expect. The type of exercise should be resistance-training type. Sounds like you've tried the major diarrhea treatments. Though I don't know your entire treatment history and am reluctant to make specific treatment recommendations you could talk to your doc about switching theviracept to a non-nuke like viramune or sustiva. This approach seems to be safe in that viral loads if undetectable tend to stay there, you would probably have less diarrhea without the viracept, and you might see some improvement in your fat redistribution. Alvan Fisher, M.D.