My Primitive Cocktail: 2013

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Update: 6.11.13

So sorry for not keeping my blog updated. I'll try and keep my story short. I'm still having the same symptoms & always in waves. I'll have 2 days feeling great! Then here it comes again. Then a week of feeling great, then here it comes again for 3 days to a week.

Picking up from the liver problem, my enzymes began going down little by little. They did a scan & everything was fine except for mild fatty liver. So they sent me to a liver specialist. He tested me for insulin resistants. My numbers on that test came back a couple numbers off. He didn't seemed concerned & told me if I lose a few pounds I'm fine. He didn't feel he need to see me again & put me on Vitamin E 400 twice a day.. and it totally brought my enzymes back to normal. Okaaaay.. now what? Still feeling randomly crappy I've been through 6 months of crazy.

I ended up going on a cocktail because my doctor told me having a high viral load cane make you feel like Hell... So I was put on Complera. And of course now I'm undetectable & my numbers are great. BUT 3 months now & I still have the symptoms.

Let me go over my symptoms again: Achey & flu like, hive itchy, fatigue (loved my afternoon naps), random bad spells of diarrhea (there was a month or so I needed to take Imodium), once a week nights of insomnia along with frequent urination (I've lost 15lbs from peeing & diarrhea, but am holding at 227lbs was 243lbs), mild muscle cramps ache, nausea, and to small stuff like my left eye will water & my left nostril will drip ~ lol. ~ My symptoms are not as intense for some reason like they were 3 months back.

I was in Amsterdam in May. I felt great that whole week, but had one night I woke feeling majorly internally cold. I was shivering & couldn't get my hands or feet warm. I woke & felt better thank goodness. It happened once more the following week when I had returned home. After that I had them look at my Thyroid number. Sure enough, it was at 4.5 (the last number in the normal range before labeled having "Hypothyroidism"). My doctor put me on the lowest dose of Levothyroxine. I will say I don't feel sensitive to the cold like I was.

Blah Blah Blah ~ I thought to myself 2 weeks ago that this is almost like an allergy (with the hives and all). So I researched Gluten intolerance. It fit like a puzzle more than anything has yet. It said men with Gluten intolerance seem to have liver problems more than woman (like non-alcoholic fatty liver), it can mess with your thyroid, and all my symptoms were listed. I was SO happy to finally hear something that could possibly be it. It's so scary when your blood work shows all normal but you KNOW something is VERY wrong.

So I have an appointment with an Endocrinologist on Thursday, I'm going to make an appointment with the Cleveland Clinic allergist, and I'm having my doctor run a full panel to rule out any cancers. ~ So there you have it.. Any helpful thoughts or feed back appreciated on this.. Keep your fingers crossed it's as simple as going Gluten free. Which I might do anyway after reading up on how horrible it is for your body. Scary article on Gluten: http://m.naturalnews.com/news/036455_gluten_sensitivity_flour.html

Monday, January 28, 2013

Update! 1.28.13

About 5 months back I felt like a got a fast Flu.. Night sweats, achy, & itchy.. I had thought maybe I was having a Herpes outbreak because I was itchy.. But I didn't remember EVER being that itchy. So I began taking L-Lysine. It did take the itchy away.. But to make a long story short, they found my liver enzymes to be raised. A lot!.. It went down after I stopped the L-Lysine, but still elevated.. (I'm not sure if it was elevated before the L-Lysine.)

So for the last 4-5 months I've dealt with Hepatitis like symptoms. Last week my blood work said I didn't have Hepatitis B or C, and I had Hep A many years back. As for Hep B, I was vaccinated 12 years back... Funny thing, after she told me I didn't have Hepatitis (which I was sold I did) my symptoms went away.. lol

Anyway, my last blood work showed great for about everything. Testosterone, Vitamin D, Sugars, and no extra diseases.. and my Viral went from 200,000 (my viral had gone up when I was feeling all Hep'ish) down to 123,000.. As for my T-cells, they messed up & didn't draw it so I don't know.. last test I was at 500 T-cells.. Which is the lowest I've ever been...

I am ready to begin a cocktail if it proceeds to get any lower than 500. I'm comfortable and mentally good with it.. I would take it for whatever amount of time it takes for me to see better numbers.. and at some point (after a year or so) go back to natural.

I go back in 10 weeks to see the results of my T-cells & Liver enzymes.

And OH YEAH! I've reduced down on my Olive Leaf from 3 grams a day to 500mg in the a.m. & 500mg in the p.m.. And added Milk Thistle twice a day... I have stopped everything else.. hoping to bring my Liver enzymes down. ~ also began juicing vegetables as well to help cleanse...

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My Story

I believe it was 1994 I became positive, but didn't find out I was until 1995. I didn't have insurance at that time so I was tested anonymously. A few years later, I received insurance through my work & then found a local Infectious Disease Doctor. She then sent me to have blood work to see where my numbers were.

Two weeks later I had an appointment to find out my results. I'm not sure of the exact numbers, but it was something like my T cells at 1,800 & my viral load was 200,000. My viral was somewhat high, but my cell count was way up there! She told me I was in a grey zone for beginning a cocktail regimen. At that time I was scared & didn't know much about the whole HIV thing. I thought "Well, I have a son in elementary school. I need to be here & healthy for him." So I told my doctor I wanted to begin treatment.

I wasn't too good at swallowing pills so I chose the simplest cocktail at that time. And that was Trizivir (Trizivir contains three different medications: Abacavir (Ziagen®, ABC), Lamivudine (Epivir®, 3TC), and Zidovudine (Retrovir®, AZT, ZDV). Before taking the drug I told her "I wanted the drug that was the least one to cause lipodystrophy." She then told me I would be safe with Trizivir. After two weeks it had brought my viral to undetectable. So yeah, it kicked butt. It kicked butt for about 9 years keeping my viral undetectable and my T cells between 800 and 1,200.

During the last 3 years on Trizivir, I began having odd feelings of being overly hungry. That nausea feeling you get when you’re hungry but more intense. I recall a time after the gym I was in a drive through line ordering food and had to open my door because I felt like I was going to vomit. And it seemed I would get that feeling once a year for a couple of months the last 3 years.

I then started to notice a little bit of lipodystrophy in my legs & face. Nothing others would pick up on at that time but I know my body well and I could see it. After noticing that change I became scared & stopped taking Trizivir. Of course my doctor wasn't happy. So being scared of dying, I began the cocktail again after 3 weeks of being off of it. The next year there were times at the gym I thought I was going to vomit and/or pass out. So here we are again (and now that I look back, I feel those times of feeling nauseous & wanting to pass out was probably a build of toxicity from the Trizivir.).

During the next visit to my “Western” doctor I happened to see a business card for a Holistic Alternative Medicine Doctor on the front desk where you sign in. I'm sure it was only up there for her patience to call for nutritional help. But I was excited because I had been thinking of taking a more holistic approach. That was my last visit to my Western doctor for 4 years. I knew or felt she would be fighting me on the natural path, and I wanted to go to someone who would encourage it. So I did.

Because I am now older, more confident, and secure in my decisions I recently started going back to my Western doctor. And she is also in my insurance network. Where the doctors who practice alternative medicine are not usually covered (at least mine weren't).

When I stopped Trizivir my viral went from undetectable to 200,000. Once I started my natural regimen I brought my viral load down, fluxing between 40,000 and 29,000. My T-cells have fluxed between 600 & 850 (mostly staying around 800). I go for regular check-ups every 3-4 months to find out my numbers, and then make adjustments as I feel needed. I say "as I feel needed" because it seems the two Alternative Medicine doctors I had went to would just check my numbers & give very little suggestions of supplements to try. I almost felt I knew more about natural supplements than they did. I wish I could find the “Herbal Guru” that knows all and could look over all my numbers & give me my ideal regimen. So until then, I'm always Googling & researching anything & everything natural that is anti-viral & immune boosting.

I've now been on a natural supplement regimen since the beginning of 2008. I'm feeling great mentally & physically. So now I want to create a blog where I could tell my story and share my regimens; to discuss supplements that have worked for me, & the ones that haven't. And I want to encourage others to do the same. I hope my experience helps others and I look forward to sharing our successes.

My Primitive Cocktail

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Update: 6.11.13

Monday, January 28, 2013

Update! 1.28.13

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