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

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...

Just wanted to let everyone know I'm well!.. I've just been real busy with my product launch.. I'm still good, healthy & still doing everything natural... Pretty much just 3 grams of Olive Leaf a day, 180mg of Grape Seed extract, multi-vitamin, & vit C.. My next visit is probably in a month or so.. (haven't checked my cal..)... I'll be let'n ya all know what's up :)

April 9, 2012

So I went for my 6 week follow up on Monday and there was improvement! My Tcells went up from 617 to 638, and my viral load went from 184,000 (yeah, thought it was only 100,000) down to 68,000. So ~ awesome :) ...

I find it a bit interesting. Right before I had my Colonoscopy/Endoscopy few months back, I had the best lab results ever since being on an herbal regimen. My Tcells being 845 and my viral load at 26,449. And I have been pretty steady these past 5 years with my numbers. Tcells ranging between mid 800's to 600's, and my viral between 50,000 to 26,000. Then my labs after my Colonoscopy/Endoscopy were crazy. My viral load shot up to 184,000 & Tcells down to 617!?...

So I wonder.. Having read that the "large intestine is the major viral reservoir and site of persistence" for HIV, I wonder if the Colonoscopy stirred shit up (no pun intended;~) .. If not that, was it the anesthesia?.. Who knows... I'll now try to get my numbers back in check, and better than before! :) ... 

Something to add to my story. My appointment was at 2:15pm and I didn't get into the little room til 3:30!! Then 15 minutes later I saw the intern (who I remembered from years back/she's sweet). She said "You look great! and was interested in what herbs I was taking.. ~ And she didn't poo poo it. Thought that was awesome. 

Then my doctor comes in to go over everything. She proceeds to tell me she just came back from a seminar & they are now telling the doctors to put everyone positive on a cocktail. Where your numbers are at doesn't matter anymore. The reason being they've done studies on people with HIV that have never been treated and the disease ages the body internally more than people who were treated. She then ask's "How old are you?".. I said "I'm 40", she quickly say's "Then your 60..." lol

I proceed to tell her "I agree I'm 60.. But I'm sorry, if anything has aged me it was the cocktail you had me on for 7 years. While on the cocktail I had odd scary feelings of my sugars being messed with and nausea ~  and, now my joints are bad." She said "well we have better and more mild cocktails now. We've advanced a lot in the past few years.." ... I'm sure they have, but I have no doubt that treating myself with herbal supplementation is a better outcome than some drug that could make me diabetic, give me kidney & liver failure, and advance my lipodystrophy. 

And I mentioned I've started back to juicing every morning. I said "I juice carrots, ginger, turmeric, kale, etc.".. She's like " I never knew how much juicing is good for you until recently!". I'm thinking "Really?.... Really? You never knew that?". And I then went on about all the antiviral vegetables like Dandelion, etc.. They were like "oh really!?".. ~ Good Lord... 

And this study..?... I would like to read it. I have no doubt that HIV ages the body internally when it's left to go rampant. But I also have no doubt the drugs age the body more & faster.... Aaaaahh.. Anyway, we all have our path & this is mine. And I feel good about it still.

My next appointment with lab work is August 6th. So in the mean time I think I might start trying Antiviral Enemas that I've been reading on. And I'll also switch up my regimen (listed below). 

Cell Forte IP-6 & Inositol Ultra Strength Powder: 3 grams in the a.m.

Vitamin C 2000mg time released:  2x's a day

Phyllanthus Complex (2 capsules consists of Phyllanthus Amarus 200mg, Milk Thistle 200mg, & Dandelion Root 200mg):  (4 capsules) 3x's a day

Hyssop (Nature's Way):  (4 capsules) 3x's a day = 6 grams

ROEX Oleuropein: 1 gram in a.m., 1 gram in middle of day, and 1 gram at night

Multi-Vitamin: 1 in the a.m.

Blood Work Up Date! 2/20/12

These past 2 months were a bit crazy.. All on my part really. I can tend to be a hypochondriac. I’m now 40, so two months ago I felt I should have a real good physical... So.. I went worried about having my prostate checked. And everything was fine... No hernia... Blood pressure good.. Then because of my mom having polyps in her mid to late 30’s they felt it would be good for me to get a Colonoscopy. And I did mention to my doctor I had seen some blood around my stool 3 times in the last 3 years. So I just knew I had cancer.. 

So since I was going to be out on anesthesia during the Colonoscopy, I told them to give me a Endoscopy as well. I’ve always had Acid Reflux my whole life. I just wanted to check to see if I still had an esophagus. lol.. And of course I made the appointment for the procedure 1st thing in the morning. I knew I’d be starving.

By the day of the procedure I was just plain over it & wanting to know if I was all good, or had cancer.. I was so over stressing about it... So! Bada’ Bing ~ all was good. They found 1 polyp & it came back benign. He had told me that it might not had even been a real polyp. Maybe just a ruffed up area from cleaning out the day before. And the blood that I saw those 3 times was probably from the hemorrhoids.. (yeah, I found out I have hemorrhoids.. lol). My stomach results showed mild acid reflux. And he felt I didn’t need any prescription. Just Tums or Zantac when needed.

Exactly a week later I had my blood work taken for my HIV & cholesterol. And today (2 weeks later) I went for my results. My cholesterol, liver, kidneys, sugar, white cell count, etc was great. BUT my Tcell’s went from the 800’s to the high 600’s. And my Viral went from 26,449 (the lowest I had ever had it using all natural supplement’s) to 100,000... :( 

Hmm?... My numbers have been consistent for 5 years. I’m not worried about my Tcell’s, they’ve always bounced from the high 600’s to 800’s. And my viral has always bounce from 26,000’s up to 50,000 using natural supplements... I feel the big jump to 100,000 is from not being able to take my regimen the morning of my blood work because I needed to fast for the cholesterol test (It had been 9 hours since I took my regimen). And maybe also from being mega stressed from the colonoscopy/endoscopy procedure and possible results.. (I was SO stressed my face broke out)... and I had also read this: "Time of day, fatigue, and stress can also affect viral load values".... But, I feel the number jump was more from the fasting for the test. ~ 

So anyway, I’m not to worried. For the most part I’m pretty darn healthy :)

I go on April 2nd to get my blood work taken again. Then I get my results on April 9th. I’ll be talk’n to ya then! Hopefully with better results :)

Adding Hyssop 11/3/11

I came across the herb Hyssop after Googling natural antiviral for HIV. And as my times as I've Googled that I had never came across Hyssop before.. lol.. I found some interesting articles. One in particular from blessedmaineherbs.com.

"Hyssop is a blood nourisher, an immune system strengthener, and possesses potent antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial activity. Cornell/NCI researchers think that hyssop may be useful in the treatment of patients with AIDS.

Several years ago, a young woman was admitted to a hospital with severe AIDS symptoms. She was not expected to live. Her story, interwoven with that of hyssop follows: She had "disseminated Kaposi's sarcoma, was partially blind from disseminated CMV, and suffered from extensive oral and vaginal candidiasis, oral herpes infection, and chronic draining ulcers on her lower extremities." Her blood was found to have MAI (Mycobacterium avium intracellularae) and her urine tested positive for CMV. Doctors expected that she would soon die so they sent her home. However, follow-up of the patient 6 months later showed that her lesions had "improved significantly," her blood tests were negative for MAI, she could walk and move around more, and in general, she felt much better. Upon questioning, the patient's mother revealed that "for the previous month, the patient had been given an old Jamaican herbal remedy which was prepared in the form of a tea by boiling a mixture of leaves from hyssop officinalis, blessed thistle, and cassia augustifolia."

Researchers tested the herbs and found that crude extracts of Cassia augustifolia had minimal or no anti-HIV activity, blessed thistle extracts had only "minimal" antiviral effects, but crude extracts of hyssop inhibited HIV replication by 77 to 100%. Further analysis revealed that one of the antiviral compounds in hyssop was caffeic acid, a compound that showed strong antiviral activity.

Treatment of HIV-infected cells with caffeic acid resulted in reduced levels of p24 and p17 antigens, reduced the formation of giant clumps of infected cells, and impaired the activity of the essential retroviral enzyme RT (reverse transcriptase). Caffeic acid was previously shown to have anti-herpes activity in laboratory tests. When caffeic acid reacts with oxygen and becomes oxidized, several beneficial products may form. Researchers think that the action between oxygen and other compounds found in hyssop may also play a role in this plant's strong anti-viral activity."

My current regimen with Hyssop added 11/3/11:

Cell Forte IP-6 & Inositol Ultra Strength Powder: 3 grams in the a.m.

Vitamin C: 1000mg 3x's a day

Hyssop (Nature's Way): 1,335mg (3 capsules) 3x's a day

ROEX Oleuropein: 1 gram in a.m., 750mg middle of day, and 750mg @ night

Multi-Vitamin: 1 in the a.m.

My next lab work results will be February 20, 2012.

Lab Work Update! October 24, 2011

Lab update! My viral load went down from 49,000 to 26,449 (again, I started from 200,000 after stopping the antiviral drugs). And my T-cells went from 845 to 787 (no biggie, they always flux from 700's to high 800's).

It was exciting to see my viral load the lowest I've seen it. I've taken a small break in search of another natural antiviral to help bring down my viral load even more. The Olive Leaf does a Hell of a job though! ~ But if anyone has suggestions of another natural antiviral "that has worked for them" speak up!

I've tried Coconut Oil & Oil of Oregano. They didn't work for me. But they did work for a friend. They brought him to undetectable! He did however take a lot.. lol.. If I can remember, it was 10 capsules of Coconut Oil 3 times a day. And I'm really not sure how much Oregano Oil. Maybe 5 to 7 capsules 3 times a day. Again, not sure on the Oil of Oregano.. But it was a lot.

Good quality Oil of Oregano is expensive. And in order to see your viral load drop you need to take a good amount of it. I guess I stopped taking it because of that reason. That and taking a large amount kills your Flora. There for you would then need to take a probiotic. ~ And there's another pill added to your regimen! lol

So that's my update. My next blood work results will be in 4 months (February 20, 2012). I'll probably start researching soon to find a second natural antiviral to add to my regimen. And again, if someone has a suggestion of something that has worked for them, let me know! :)

Here is my current regimen:

Cell Forte IP-6 & Inositol Ultra Strength Powder: 3 grams in the a.m.

Vitamin C: 1000mg 3x's a day

ROEX Oleuropein: 1 gram in a.m., 500mg middle of day, and 500mg @ night

Multi-Vitamin: 1 in the a.m.