1st appt with ID Dr.

Hello Pittgurl, I know the feeling!!! but it is better for you to take control of your health! I have been livng with HIV for 26 ys and till this day I still get a lil scared...but with the meds we have now you will be fine!! trust me. let us know how it goes xo

love and light

MariaMejia

CD4 285 and Viral Load - 43800 (which she was suprised as many VL's are in the 100K's?) - confirmed that low CD4 was bc i was just infected in last 8 weeks and it should go up with medication.......she mentioned a percentage and ive heard of people talking about it ?  She said 13%?  

I was recommended to get 2 vaccines (3 really but 2 were lumped in 1 shot).  Hep A and B - bc the blood work came back that I am not immune to either so they want to make sure I am protected against that if exposed.  Also a Prevnar 13 which is a pneumonia vaccine.  The Dr said that all blood work looked good except my liver count was a little low but with starting meds that should come up. 

Dr was pleased with all the blood work and my levels and said as long as I take meds every day at same time (keep it constant in my system) and take care of myself that I should be able to live a normal life.  The Dr presented 2 medication options (Stribild or Triumeq) but was opting more towards the Triumeq  bc if I do need to start an anti anxiety (i was on Zoloft a year ago and am considering it again as i feel like i am obsessed with this) at some point that the best choice was the Triumeq since it doesn’t have a booster in it?  She also said that Triumeq  doesn’t affect the liver or cholesterol as much as the other one.

Sooooooo…. I start meds (1 pill a day) tomorrow or Wed - whenever it comes in at Rite Aid …..in 3 weeks I get labs done to recheck levels and liver and cholesterol.  The week after that (which will be 4 weeks total) I go back in for a follow up.  

Any thoughts?  Anyone on this? 

Thanks for giving us an update.  Sounds like you have a good doctor and great that your viral load is low.  It should take long to reduce it even further and your T-cells will increase.  Keep us informed and hang in there.

Dr is starting me on Triumeq tomorrow.  A little nervous.....i was tested against the allergy and I dont have it but im still really nervous....and yet i desperately want to get this started.  

I was just at my infectious disease doctor and he recommended I switch to Triumeq!  He liked it becuase it's once a day, no side effects and less long term issues (such as liver problems).  I'm just waiting on the allergy test to come back!  But I can say, that I've never had a once a day plan in my 9 years, so I'm pretty excited about that!