HIV meds and its side effects...

tuls, I fainted today...

oh... what happened?

my vision went blurry and i black out...

oh my .... then how?

my colleagues brought me to the clinic...

so what did the doctor say?

the doctor referred me to the eye specialist...

huh... why one?

he say that i will go blind with my condition like that and ask me not to not wait long and quickly go..

what the.... why would he say that? 


and so i googled his symptoms and what the doctor said.... it kinda pointed towards HIV retinopathy..


im afraid....

dont be afraid...  the doctor is wrong... he shouldnt have said it that straight forward... he could have use better words... but... maybe he just dont know how.... but whatever it is, you need to get your eyes checked... , is it still blurry? 

yea one side... ..... ....will i die?

hm.... ..... ..... did the doctor say what's wrong?

no.... not really...

well, i kinda try looking up on the net for your condition....

and?

hm..... it is best if you go and see the specialist... 

but.... i just started this job 2 weeks ago..... i dont wanna portray myself as a slacker or someone who uses sickness to skip work...

well, do you wanna die? or go blind?

-.- youre scaring me...

hm.....

you waited 2 years to start treatment.... so many things couldve happen along the way... this might be one of it... 

:(

the doctor say try not to wait too long to go see the specialist.... if you dont listen to me, maybe listen to him...

:( 

it is your eye.... dying is easy, living a life in blindness, that is a torture.

:(  bitch....


and so he went to the specialist after a week.. the nurse took his blood sample for a routine blood test...

after one vial of blood taken, he turned slight blue...

one vial of blood isnt that much that could turn someone slight blue...

and i guess he fainted...

when he woke up, he texted me...


hm.... i loss consciousness...

what happen...?

dont know... they took my blood for test and my vision went blur again... and then now.... .....doctor say im anemic..

well, that's good news!

why?

it is most probably caused by your meds you just started!

huh...

yup.... side effects... anemia, it is not that uncommon after all...

hm......

yup, and that means......!!!!! you might not go blind....

YAY! maybe not yet....! -.- i hate you....


there was quite a long pause after that....


doctor say i need transfusion.. i dont have energy to type anymore... the procedure will be done tomorrow..

ok.. rest well...



basically first things first, the doctor could have picked the signs up if he wouldve examined my friend properly..

my friend told him that he just started on anti-retroviral therapy (HAART) and he could and should suspect side effects and make immediate referral...

the specialist in charge of his case should have told my friend about some signs to look out just in case side effects do happen... i didnt really ask my friend about it but sometimes during these kinda situation, it is really hard to remember so many stuffs when there are so many other stuffs going on in your mind....

hm....


my special friend was on

Zidovudine + Lamivudine  and Efavirenz


With initiation of any new meds, there is always a chance of incompatibility with the user, so if a rash do happens that is widespread throughout the body, it is most probably an allergic reaction, telling you that the medicine is not suitable and you should go back to the hospital to get assessed and be given new set of different class of medicine.

Zidovudine + Lamivudine
Specifically for this combo, they commonly attack the liver, the blood, or the muscles.

So if you're feeling dizzy, you look pale and is cold and clammy, most probably your reb blood is affected.

If you keep falling sick, like a simple flu or sore throat that is taking weeks to heal or maybe not heal at all? Your white blood is affected.

If you turn yellow, your liver could be it.

If your muscles ache for no reason, you should get it checked as well.


Efavirenz
Specifically for this med, they commonly affect the brain and the liver.

If you have suicidal thoughts or newly developed negativity or anxiety depression kinda feeling, it could be the meds.

If it is the liver, you might go yellow. Maybe the white of the eyeball? or the skin.



If you suspect any of the side effects, to be safe, just get it checked. But if you are feeling fine, maybe you are one of the lucky one that doesnt have side effects, and so for you lucky lot, just go and attend your next doctors appointment as scheduled.

There are many combo that one could be started on. Just make sure you know a little bit more about the meds you take and how it might affect you in terms of side effects so you could pick the signs and symptoms up before it gets too complicated like my friend.

There are a lot of gay healthcare professionals and gay healthcare bloggers out here and there if you need someone to talk to or enquire if you feel more comfortable to. Just give us an email and we will try to help you out the best we can.

Dont be shy and always have your meds on time.


love
TULS

special friend...

hey tuls, you wanna hang out sometime?

whoa, havent seen you like, what, 8 years?

hahaha.. yea... you free?

erm... yup, not doing anything at the moment...

yumcha?

ok!

and so i drove to a nearby cafe to meet up with this high school friend whom i have not seen for years.. well, ever since high school i guess...

o m g!!!

you are so fat!!!

you are so thin!!!!

-.-

-.-

so, how are you?!

so we did lots of catching up... talk about my life, his life, about me when i was in UK and him and work... just the usual...

you smoke? since when?

er....

such a bastard

hahaha...

there was a pause... i feel like he wants to tell me something but he doesnt know how...

you got something to tell me arr?

....hm.....

and then he came out to me..

i knew it!!!! o m g!!!! so, are you with someone now?

yea... for 3 years already...

o m g! awesome... Carter and I in our 2nd now too..

and so we came out to each other... so lame... and we go on talking about our new topic for the next 30 mins or so...

ice latte after ice latte until we had the whole table filled with empty plastics...

i've got something else to tell you...

hm..... i know already....

really?

yea... youre so skinny now...

hm.....

it's ok, i don't judge... 

i sympathize him somehow but i know that these social stigma wont go away with my sympathy and so i embraced it and knowing that people living with the disease will need support from anyone they can get and have...

so he came out to me and told me this shocking truth all in the same few hours.. it is not hard to process.. but just the desperation you can feel that he really need someone to hear him out, like as though it is going to explode and eat him inside out if no one understands him...

your bf.....?

he knows...

and he is ok about it?

yea... he is the one taking care of me....

o m g. like this kinda bf already extinct d...     how long liao?

hm.... 2 years?

mm... treatment?

mm...... just started.

o.O 

i was not ready....

ok... ok.. as long as youre ready then good, cos you must eat meds on time... not ready also no point cos later will make it worse...

yup...

and is your bf?

no...

oh...so.... like how did you ?

hm... we dont really have sex much... so one day when we wanted to do it, he went down, and saw that my knob was red with spots and he was shocked so he asked me to go get checked...

ok.... then?

i have syph ... and also the virus..

hm....

he was really supportive and went back and forth to the hospital to help me in and out...

you better not take him for granted!

:)

so we chatted on for awhile more then headed off for dinner after that....

HIV is a disease, not curable at the moment but there are ways to prevent it. being gay is already a social stigma like it or not, and people always relate being GAY with AIDS... -.- that is so 20 years ago.. AIDS is now rarely heard of anymore because of the advancement of medicine.. you will get full blown AIDS if you dont get treatment...

we need to always educate ourselves. dont despise those who have the disease. dont be afraid of those who do have it. often, they are afraid of themselves and you don't really need to add that burden to those who already have it. if someone were to confide to you, you must have done something right that made them wanna share it with you, not for your pity, but maybe just an outlet for them to express. 

the response from the first person whom they tell it to, will either make them or break them. so please dont overreact and think before you say anything. if you dont know what to say, just dont say anything and let your friend finish what he needs to say. the last thing they want is to get judged and feel as though they are a disease and should be isolated from society.

with that, i have myself my first special friend.