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Ask the Expert Hot Topics
November 3, 2003

Check out these hot topics at The Body's Ask the Expert forums:
Lipodystrophy and Wasting Can I already be dealing with lipodystrophy? I was always one of those people who could eat just about whatever I wanted and never put on much weight. I'm careful about what I eat, but since starting meds six months ago, I seem to have put on a fair amount of weight around my waist (about two inches) and gained 12 pounds. My facial wasting is really bad, and I'm tired of people telling me I look like I'm 50 years old when I'm only 35. Can I switch the d4T (stavudine, Zerit) in my regimen for something else? Is there a clear difference between lipoatrophy and lipodystrophy? What's the deal with the wasting treatment called New-Fill: Can it be legally used in the U.S. or not? What alternatives are there to using hGH (human growth hormone) for the treatment of wasting? Other HIV/HAART-Related Problems Is there anything that can be done -- medically, nutritionally or with supplements -- to boost my sex drive? When I started treatment I avoided efavirenz (Sustiva) because of stories my friends told me about its mental side effects. Do you think those stories are exaggerated? I've been on 3TC (lamivudine, Epivir), once-a-day ddI (didanosine, Videx EC) and efavirenz for the past month. I haven't gotten any rashes or had any wild dreams, but during the day I feel as if I'm drunk. I also have crying spells, difficulty concentrating, fatigue and dizziness. I thought after a month this would pass but it hasn't. They want to switch the efavirenz to nevirapine (Viramune). Will this help? For the past five years, I've been on an HIV drug regimen containing several protease inhibitors. My lipids are shooting through the roof. What's your drug of choice for treating high lipid levels?		Questions on HIV Treatment I take nevirapine (Viramune) and abacavir (Ziagen) twice a day without food, and tenofovir (Viread) once a day at dinnertime. Now I'm hearing that you no longer have to take tenofovir with food, which would mean I can take all my meds at the same time. Is this rumor true? Dear Dr. Bob: How many years have you been on HIV meds, and what have your biggest complaints about the meds been? How do I enroll in a clinical trial? Is it dangerous to take Viagra while taking Combivir (AZT + 3TC) and Kaletra (lopinavir/ritonavir)? HIV and Relationships I was diagnosed with HIV two months ago; I've been living with my HIV-positive partner for 12 years. We have a very deep and loving relationship. I'm getting the feeling, though, that he's in denial about the fact that I have HIV: He continues planning for the distant future and just says everything will be OK. Am I exaggerating when I say I may be dead or disabled in five or 10 years? Should we continue our relationship "as usual"? Strange but True Just when I thought I was OK, an awful thing happened to me. Two days ago, I went to the local hospital to get my HIV test results. While walking back home and reading (with relief) my negative result, I walked face-first into a police station sign placed at a low height in the middle of the sidewalk. It left a big, red, painful bruise, although I didn't bleed. Do you think that, because the sign was badly placed, many other people could have also hit it the same way every day, and I could have been infected by the blood of another person?
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