I'm a male with 33, HIV+ for 6 yrs and taking meds (HU+DDI+D4T) for 4 yrs, with undetectable viral load (<50 for at least 4 yrs), CD4 count about 1600, normal imunesystem cells (CD45 ,...), no opportunistic diseases. I'm suffering from the so called Lipodystrophy Sindrome, specialy in my face and I'm getting depressed with it, loosing the will to live, etc. Sorry for my english. I'm trying acupuncture in the face but it's very early to tell about the results. I'm also thinking about STI. My Q. are: 1. What can I do about Lipodystrophy/Toxicity 2. What are yours opinions about the STI. Thank you very much, Rui

Rui, the loss of fat in your face is a difficult side effect of your medications. So far, no controlled trial has identified a good method of dealing with it. STI has been advocated, although I am not aware of any controlled results to suggest that it reverses lipoatrophy. STI has also been advocated to stimulate the immune system to control HIV, but I have not seen any convincing results to show that it works in persons with chronic HIV infection.

John A. Bartlett, M.D.