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fear of medications side effects
#175116 - 02/15/06 06:46 AM
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Hi all! Im one of those who just tested postive. My cd4 is 320 and as per my doctor Im on what you call "gray zone" level. Done with my baselines and all of my lab tests are negative. I may not be advise to take medications for the time being but Im pretty scared of the side effects like steven jonhsons et all. I know medication side effect varies but can anyone tell me how to handle these scenarios. Had an orientation on HIV treatment a week ago and the more I was aware of the side effects and OIs, the more I got freak and scared of what will be exactly how Im gonna be. Im not into smoking and alcohol, I regularly do my work out and into healthy food regimen. Need advise urgent! thanks
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AIDS2HIV
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Reged: 12/19/05
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everyone is different, but if you do experience adverse side affects, simply console with your doctor immediately. Theres many meds available. Its normal to switch meds especially in the beginning to find the right meds that will work for you best. A solid, open, line of communication with your ID specialist is key. Good Luck & God Bless*
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Survivor
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Reged: 10/30/05
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Knowledge can sometimes really fuck you up when it comes to thinking about meds. Use your doctors judgement. He knows what will be the best for you. Everyone reacts differently to meds. Until you get there, dont worry about it. There is absolutely nothing to fear or fret about. I went on meds 3 weeks ago, nothing, the fear far outweighed going on them. Based off of any resistance factors, if you have any, all wild card suseptable virus react very well to first line, well tollerated meds and can last a very long time. If you have problems, they switch you immediatly to something your body tollerates. Lipo and alot of other side effects that were part of hiv and meds are almost a thing of the past with newly diagnosed hiv'ers. If a loose stool bothers you, that would be the only thing that I have heard that comes to mind..
Best
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loose stool?... that's being a little kind. more of a water fountain effect sometimes! LMAO!!! the symptoms get better as the days pass. with the exception of "loose stool", i don't notice anything except a little dizziness.
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Survivor
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Lets put it this way.. I have time to catch up on my hiv journals enjoying a nice "mellow movement"... Better??
Lets not get to graphic.. I have yet to have din din..
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Calvin, my partner and I were both diagnosed in '98. We started on meds immediately. I go to the gym regularly and he doesn't...but we're both doing fine. I have good days and bad days. The bad days are when I feel tired...but I also do alot more than some healthy people. Stress is something that you have to steer clear of if you can. The side effects vary from medication to medication. When I started taking my meds, I remember feeling as if I had the flu for about a month, but then I felt normal and everything was right with the world. I don't know if I'm the norm or the exception, but talk with your doctor and see what he/she says. I hope this helps.
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LMAO!!
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StPPoz
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Reged: 02/15/06
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take the meds!! times have changed, and some have side effects, but not like in the past when i first tested positive. back then it was azt and nothing else. i took my first capsule and in about an hour i threw up. but i took the next one - same thing . . . i threw up. that went on a couple of weeks until i finally started keeping it down. i've long since moved on to several different combos. about 3 years ago moved to kaletra/ combivir, then to kaletra/truvada. been undetectable for years with t-cells in the 800 range. no side effects at all. hiv has gone from ruling every minute of my life, to something is just remember to keep under control by strict compliance with my med schedule. life is as good as it's ever been. met my partner 8 years ago - 7 years after i tested poz. he was negative then and he's negative now. take the meds - you'll be just fine!!
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I understand your fear and confusion. I tested poz in June 2005. There is a lot of info out there. My advice: partner with your doctor, get support and get educated. I would recommend reading the book called Healing HIV by Dr. Jon Kaiser (specifically chapter 6 outlining case scenarios). I am enrolled in the HEAT study (google epz104057 for more info) as of 10/31/05 and I am happy to say that after just 12 weeks of being on meds my t-cells are up to 603 and my viral load is down to 145 copies. I experienced minimal short term side effects (some nausea and diarehha).
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Im on the same study "HEAT". Gota like that 25 dollar check they give you as well!
Best
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I tested poz in Oct 2004, and had decided not to go on meds until I need to. My numbers were good and I wasn't having any issues. I too was worried about the side effects. Between Oct 04 and May 05 I had had a lot of stress from unrelated, outside events(death in the family, work issues) and decided to begin taking meds. My Dr. and I talked about it, and decided to start with a once daily combo of Sustiva and Truvada. The only problem I was having was fatigue caused by the Sustiva. I actually liked the dreams, but I turned out to be one of those very few people who get fatigued by Sustiva. I talked to my Dr. and decided to try replacing my Sustiva with Reyataz and a Norvir boost. The term "loose stool" doesn't even come close to describing it, but it did exactly what it was supposed to do as far as my viral load and CD-4 counts. BTW, I do tend to have a sensitive digestive tract when it comes to medications. For the second time I replaced one of the meds in my combo, this time I replaced the Reyataz/Norvir with Viramune. It's been 3 months and no side effects at all. The meds have come a LOOOOOOONG way from where they were 10 years ago. Also, keep in mind that if you take meds, you won't get any OI's. The meds get your immune system back to a range considered normal for those that aren't infected. Which means, that while you will still have the virus and are able to pass it to someone else, you're probably not going to die anytime soon, unless you get run over by a bus. New research shows that HIV positive people who are on meds, and are adherent, have about the same chances of dying from AIDS as a non-infected person. Also, not everyone gets side effects from their meds. The best advice I could give is talk to your doctor, and be patient. The most important thing to know about any of the side effects of the meds is what are the most common side effects and what are the most serious side effects? I'll tell you right now, the most common side effects of any medication taken orally are stomach upset, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and gas. Just because they are the most common doesn't mean everybody gets them, it just means that out of the people who have gotten side effects, they were the most reported. After that just pay attention to the most dangerous. Some meds may cause a rash, 99% of the time it's not dangerous and you can continue with your meds. In some very rare instances it could signal something serious. If you get a rash from the medications, call your doc ASAP, but try to remain calm. You may also need to try a number of med combos before finding one that works best for you. As long as you talk with your doc and remain adherent with taking your meds, the only real issue will be how you enjoy life.
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If your Dr. gives you the right medication... there wont be any side effects. Only the really old drugs like AZT will cause side effects. Diet and taking your meds like the drug company and dr suggests is paramount to reducing the adverse effects of taking meds.... You could always not take medication and one day end up in hospital and then end up in a pine box before your time... i know what i would prefer. I am on 3tc, Tenofovir and Efavirenz and all have been very good. Each person is different. My suggestion to you is take them... side effects if you get any wont last for more than a couple of weeks. Good luck friend.
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Hey Calvin. I sent you an email yesterday regarding the "HEAT" study. I hope you were able to google it. I forgot to mention to you that I was also in a "gray" zone with T-cells bouncing between 289 and 485, viral load very high (>750,000 in June and then down on its own to 73,000 by October) and lots of stress and fear. After doing a lot of research and lots of talking to my doctors and counselors I came to the conclusion that we know so much about HIV and how it behaves today and unfortunately a lot of people who were diagonsed before me (including 2 of my close friends) have died. For me to NOT take advantage of the drugs and resources available to me and to continue to live my life in fear would be to take the lives of all of those who have suffered and died in vain. I sincerely hope this advice helps.
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Hello. I was in your almost exact situation back in May of 2003. I recall being very concerned about negative side effects related to HIV treatment. My doctor didn't exactly encourage me to start treatment, but he did say that if it did turn out that I had a bad reaction to a medication, that it would be better to find out earlier rather than later. It sounded like good logic to me, so I started the treatment of 4 pills taken together once a day, with or without food. The regimen was Viramune, Viread, and Epivir. Guess what? I didn't have any negative reaction. Nothing. Of course, my VL had been hovering around 134,000, and in less than nine months I was undetectable, so that made me feel great. I eventually swapped the Epivir for Emtriva, and I have remained undetectable ever since. My t-cell count hovers around 800. If I had to do it again, I would switch out the Viramune for Sustiva because they are working on a once-a-day, one pill combo of Sustiva/Viread/Emtriva. The only thing is, I CANNOT MISS ONE SINGLE DOSE. So I just take my meds after I brush my teeth in the morning. (Something I think almost everyone does at least once a day.) I also set my cell phone to go off, and my watch to go off at the same time every day. Also, I organize my meds in a little organizer and I always have one day's worth of medicine on me at all times in one of those little containers that you can attach to your keyring, just in case I spend the night at someone else's house (wink, wink). But as far as side-effects are concerned, nada. I wish you all the best.
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