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dotman32
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Reged: 12/16/07
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Posts: 39
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Loc: Boston, MA
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Body piercing!?!?
#238546 - 04/16/08 09:02 PM
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Maybe a stupid question. Wondering if people have thoughts about how wise it is to get a new piercing. I have 2 already .. interested in a 3rd .. but concerned about the risk of infection & activating the immune system. I suppose common sense would say don't do it. But I'd like to. At last count cd4 was 500 and viral load was 100.
Thanks everyone. Hope you're all well. :-)
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I have been going through the same thing in regard to a new tatoo. It is scary, I want one, but don't want to compromise my immune system further. D
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Hey there!! I have been through the same question but in the end i had two tattoos!! and they are really nice! and it did not compromise my CD4 count!!
So how r u guys doing?
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Bear60
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Legend
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Reged: 12/21/05
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Posts: 1390
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My opinion is this: as long as you have a CD4 above 350 andare going to a qualified piercer and that person uses sterile proceedures, there should be no greater problems than for an HIV negative person. If, on the other hand your CD4 counts are extreemly low...then my opinion is that you should not be doing anything to jeapordize your health.
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6 ft tall poz bear in Philadelphia
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pozartistsd
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Expert
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Reged: 01/04/08
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Posts: 105
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Loc: San Diego, CA
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Hey, I hardly feel qualified to reply here since i don't have one piercing or tattoo, but your t-cells are pretty near normal if not considered normal for some (i heard the "normal" range is 500-1,600). If you're that worried, can you talk to your doctor and get precautionary ideas from him/her? Maybe you could take some preventative antibiotics (like the ones - ie: bactrim - some of us take when tcells are low, to prevent pneumonia) for a while till the piercing site has healed and the danger of infection is passed. your concern is somewhat relative to me though since i just caught some kind of bug from one of my family members when i was visiting. I had a flu shot but still got some kind of flu/cold like illness. I was worried for about a week since i only have around 200 tcells, that it would get worse and turn into something like pneumonia, so i totally babied myself and stayed in bed etc. it took about a full week and i got over it so in a way, although it sucked getting sick, it was a good thing for me mentally to see myself be able to fight off and conquer an infection, with HIV and low tcells. I had never been sick since my diagnosis so this was a milestone i guess. My HIV-negative roommate, who traveled with me to visit my family, caught the same thing and took the same amount of time to get better, so that was reassuring to me too. I guess rule of thumb (or whatever) is prevention... ie: to encourage loved-ones and those you come in close contact with often to also get a flu shot. I can tell it worked pretty good since i was in contact with lots of people with "bugs" and i never got anything till now. My sister is a massage therapist so it's no surprise why she caught something. ok happy piercing 
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dotman32
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Regular
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Reged: 12/16/07
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Posts: 39
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Loc: Boston, MA
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Thanks all. I appreciate your thoughts. I'm inclined to do it ... although probably not till after I see my MD next in June. And when I do .. just be sure to keep the wound clean.
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Monchhichi
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Guru
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Reged: 02/07/05
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Loc: Florida
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I have not noticed ANY problems with my husbands numbers after he gets a tattoo. He has plenty and all but 2 of them were acquired after he was diagnosed. We actually get one every year on our anniversary.
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Never forget: Life is too precious to take for granted.
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