Today I have to try and get myself to the doctor’s office to pick-up a copy of my most recent bloodwork results.  I need to submit them to the COBRA case management agency that helped me find the APT I currently reside. This got me thinking about my last visit to doctor to discuss the lab results.

I have been HIV positive for over nine years now and, thus far, I have never been on antiretroviral therapy.  Well, my last results were not the best and my doctor recommended that I start on Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, or HAART.  My numbers are nowhere near full-blown AIDS but recent studies have shown it to best to start treatment if the patient’s CD4 cell count have gone below 500/µl.  This is now the case with me. 

I told him that I still wanted to wait.  He then told me that it doesn’t appear to be one time thing; for the past nine months my CD4 count has been declining and it is percentage of each that concerns him. I told him I would think about it.

My fears: I know that there have been advances in treatment

Allergies: I grew up with many, and many I grew out of, and I have, in recent years, discovered new ones particularly to prescribed medications.  I asked my doctor, “Are there tests to determine which of these HIV meds I might be allergic to?"  He said, "No.”

Side-effects: Besides allergic reactions.  I know these are not the meds of the 80s and early 90s but a friend of mine died from kidney failure a few years ago.  His partner told me it was the medication.  The very thing that prolonged his life killed him slowly.  Recently, someone else I know, HIV positive and receiving treatment, stated that there may be problems with his kidneys due to the medication he is taken for HIV. 

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OK… I shouldn’t project… if I were to start treatment it doesn’t mean that any of the above will manifest.  Nor does it mean that I will experience any other of the common side-effects that I did not mention. 

I am not looking to scare anyone.  If you are newly diagnosed, listen to you doctor, do research, find other HIVers and ask questions. 

I, myself, will begin to research treatment options available to me.  I will decide in July during my next visit to the doctor.  My lab results then will most likely make the decision for me.

Any comments, questions, or suggestion would be gratefully appreciated.