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Confused, but always hopeful)
Oct 25, 2001
Hello. You have helped me in the past and here I am again, needing another opinion.
My details - Positive since 1984, pretty good health since, started meds early last year, early this year was put on combination of Abacavir, 3TC and Nevirapine. Handling them well and health is good.
However, saw my Professor today for my latest results and while my VL remains undetectable, my CD4 count has dropped from 450 to 370 in 10 months and my from 22 to 21. He doesn't seem concerned, but I am.
Shouldn't my CD4 count be climbing, and shouldn't my be climbing as well? Is this a trend I should be concerned about? Does this mean I should swap meds now?
Apart from being scared silly by this, my health has been outstanding all year.
He also mentioned the IL2 trial and says it might be a good idea for me at this stage, but I have one friend who has done IL2 and while he now has an abundance of T4s, he went through hell to get them. My Prof's response was 'No pain, no gain".
So, what do I do? Looking forward to the same brilliant wisdom I received the last time I asked a question of you great people. Thank you and many blessings. Gus
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Response from Dr. Young
Looks like you probably don't have any significant change in your CD4 cell count, as the percentages between the two tests are essentially the same. Your numbers point out the amount of variation that you can see in absolute CD4 count without significant change in the CD4 cell percentage.
As for IL-2, you surmise correctly that the treatment does come with some side effects (the pain part). It does seem that IL-2 increases CD4 counts, but it remains controversial if the increased counts translate into improved CD4 cell function or improved quality (or quantity) of life.
Good luck, BY
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