I am a 44 year old male. It seems that questions with some background info is helpful BUT i will try to abreviate.I was first diagnosed with HIV back in 1993 my CD4 at that time was 450 and slowly decreased for two years with some (poorly complied with) drug treatment. Then in 1995 my count fell below either 250 or 200 (I cant remember)at that time, of course, the diagnosis was AIDS. Enough that the military considered medical retirement after 13 years of service. I started some regimens of more aggressive cocktail combo's and at first didnt do well with both mental and physical compliance for the first three years. After several changes of regimens because of resistances I continued to go down in CD4 and up in VL. I was told I have a very aggressive resistant strain of HIV. I got all the way to a CD4 count of 9 yes 09 and very high VL. I was started on Fuzeon along with norvir, retrovir, tipranivir, as well as preventatives of septra, diflucan and zithromax. Two meals of pills a day but I still eat other meals other than pills.

I have been fairly lucky that I have not had many OI'S but enough. I have been having other problems not neccesarily AIDS related (IE: unexplained pancreatitus maybe stress reatled,kidney stones which i had before hiv). I have had several infections that were never 100% diagnosed as MAC but all indicators went that way and that is how i was treated. I am seen at one of the largest military medical centers on the east coast and i have full trust and confidence in all of the staff. Even though i get alot of "we checked this and that....we dont what the hell you have". I do accept that because I KNOW they did every test sometimes multiple times and they do not pull punches and give their findings in full to the patients.I would rather have them tell me the don't know than the try and blow sunshine somehwere. I seem to have been kind of an enigma for alot of AIDS related issues. I have accepted that.

Since starting Fuzeon lst December my CD4 has gone up to 155 and the viral load had dropped to 55 (it has go0ne a little wacky the last month or two because of having C'Diff but it should go back up and maybe further since that has cleared.

Now that I have put you to sleep I just wanted to ask a couple of questions about fuzeon.

Being new to this website i have tried to browes the "ask the experts" and got alot of helpfull info and now understand the nodules or lumps from the injections are fairly common and eventually go away. (some not so much...) My question is has anyone come up with any home remedies to aleviate any of the swelling and bruising or anything to speed the healing process. For example heating pads or ice packs or massaging after injections as this site and my medical staff has told me. I also read on here about checking the angle and depth of the injection and I have been careful about paying attention to that. My health care staff had not heard of using the butt or love handles for suggested injection sites and would like you to re-address that if you would.

Hi, It is very important to rotate your sites of injection. This includes any fatty tissue you can pinch up such as buttocks, love handles, the back of arms, thighs, abdomen and even the back. Prior to injection apply warm compress, take a bath or shower and then massage the area for 3 to 5 minutes (try to get a hand-held massager).

When pulling/pinching up the fatty tissue put the bevel of the needle down, and when injecting go very slowly over 1 to 2 minutes. Always follow the injection with a massage and a warm compress to absorb the fluid.

Try to avoid any areas of firmness, redness or tenderness. Nodules sometimes can occur. The way to reduce their frequency is by not rushing the injection and following the steps above every time.

I am happy to hear you have responded so well to a Fusion-based regimen. A positive attitude about anything we do makes it work much better. Take care. Carol