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tommyga
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Reged: 04/28/09
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a little nervous
#245882 - 05/26/09 12:36 PM
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Newly diagnosed. My numbers have been great from bloodwork. I've had two rounds of tests, my VL has been below 14,000 each time, and my CD4 has been around 650 the first time, and 764 most recently. These are good numbers, but I'm a bit torn over when to start medication. My initial instinct was to wait as long as I could. My doc says numbers are good, have a nice summer, we'll test again in September and see where you are at.
I'm just unsure now, and I am a little nervous that not getting on medications will result in more damage to my immune system. Anyone have any thoughts or experience that might be helpful for me?
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westernbear69
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You will find that having Hiv pretty much means constantly checking the VL and the CD4 numbers as this is how the Doctors determine what the virus is doing in your blood stream. The general concensus is that the higher the CD4 and the lower the VL the better your body is doing with the disease. Of course there are other areas that the virus affects (like the Brain), but they are harder to identify quickly.
The current concensus is that the medication does not need to start until the CD4 is below 350. Monitoring the blood every few months to watch for changes is the best course of action.
Think of it as a prison. The CD4 cells are the prison guards who are under attack. Once the Virus Load gets too high the Virus gets out of control and kills off the CD4 cells. Then the meds come to the rescue and lockdown the Virus keeping them from multiplying and attacking the CD4.
If your body is able to keep the Virus under control then you do not need the reinforcements of the meds. But it does need regular checks to see if the balance is shifting.
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Robert1
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The experts are mixed on whether you should start or not. Your CD4 is great. But you do have a viral load.
Medications will help you by bringing your viral load down. Remember HIV is bad for you and the less HIV you have circulating in your blood, the better you are. Read about treatment basics and you'll learn. I would wait a bit if I were you and start if my CD4 goes down to 600 or so.
Good luck!
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I was diagnosed back in Sept so I could be considered somewhat newly diagnosed as well. My vitals are all good. I've had 3 checkups and my CD4 count has ranged around the 700's. My first checkup my viral load was 28,000, the second, 26,000. During my second checkup my doctor recommended going ahead with treatment. His reasoning was that I'm very young, and healthy, what could it hurt? I decided to go ahead with it and he started me on Atripla. I just had my third checkup and my viral load was 80, in 3 months of taking the retrovirals. I have seen no side effects yet. I feel the same as I always have, so my advice, I would go ahead with it, because the earlier you catch it, the healthier and longer your going to live, and medicines are going to help you out a lot.
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I was at a recent HIV Symposium and all of the medical professionals indicated that until someone reaches a CD-4 of 500 or less, meds should be delayed. So, what your doctor is saying seems to be reasonable. (Incidentally, the doctors were from Vanderbilt, Johns Hopkins, Emory and other well-reputed providers and researchers of HIV/AIDS.)
Another key point that some seem to miss, is that whatever goes into your body (regardless of how it enters) and whatever you fail to take in (even though you know you should), will help determine the results you will eventually experience. So, be sure to experience and take in the good stuff -- healthy, nutritious and tasty foods & beverages; physical exercise - weight training, cardio and other fun activities; do mental health work - yoga, meditation or some sort of therapy. Minimize - or completely eliminate - things which will cause deterioration of the body's ability to function and heal: alcohol consumption; illicit drugs; stress.
There's a new area of medicine being practiced by relatively few, at this point - functional medicine. Basically, the premise is that whatever your consume or fail to consume will determine your overall well-being. And that everyone is different; thus, everyone will have some degree of difference in their respective outcomes. I think HIV/AIDS is definitely a "functional medicine" issue, instead of an internal medicine or infectious disease issue. There are a couple of books on functional medicine by Dr. Mark Hyman which are pretty easy to read and understand. And they make sense!!
Be sure to check out Nelson Vergel's and Michael Mooney's book, "Built to Survive." It had good information on living successfully with HIV.
Hope this helps you, in some way.
Best wishes for continued healthy well-being.
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