My Background:

 

As an adult, I’ve always been the sort to take charge of my own health, and investigate issues from multiple perspectives. I believe in educating myself on health issues rather than expecting doctors to fix everything for me.  So, when I seroconverted in September of 2005 (not all that long ago), I had a pretty good idea of what was happening.  I had swollen lymph nodes, body aches . . . oh, and I spent two and a half weeks enjoying severe vomiting, diarrhea, and fevers running up to 104F.  I asked my regular doctor for a viral load test:  397,000.  Definitely acute HIV infection.

He referred me to an HIV specialist, but I started looking up information online right away.

During the first three weeks between my first test result and my first HIV doctor visit, I’d managed to get a good bit of research done.  I’d found scores of fraudulent websites, with wild, unsubstantiated claims.  Naturally, I also ran across the HIV/AIDS denialist sorts, who think that AIDS is the result of malnutrition and/or drug abuse, or even say that HIV treatment drugs CAUSE AIDS.  There’s plenty of wishful thinking out there, and more than a few conspiracy theorists.

 

Did I find anything useful?  Yes, indeed.  As I dug, I started to find links to published data (by which I mean published in peer-reviewed journals) on a number of subjects. I discovered PubMed (www.pubmed.gov), a government-funded search engine where you can read abstracts and (usually) full-text papers from a broad array of medical journals without additional payment.  Registration is free!

 

I learned that nutrition, certain herbs, alcohol and sugar consumption, and a number of other factors can impact immune function and HIV progression.  Imagine my surprise when the doctor not only didn’t know anything on these subjects, but dismissed them out of hand and started talking about what drug combination might be most suitable!  

Well, I didn’t start on prescription drugs.  Instead, I changed doctors and went back to my research.  I’d get future surprises about doctors who knew nothing other than pharmaceutical intervention, along with HIV+ friends who had no clue that laying out in the Arizona sun wasn’t such a great idea, or that sucking down a sugar-filled soda pop was knocking their immune function for a loop.

 

Within three months of my initial diagnosis, I brought my viral load from 397,000 to 976 (12/2005).  In 4/2006, I suffered a setback, an allergy-induced spike to almost 13,000 which brought with it night sweats, swollen lymph nodes, and a drop in CD4 count to just above 600.  Allergy treatment and relocating rapidly resolved this issue; the visible symptoms were gone within weeks of beginning allergy treatment, and at present (12/2006 and 3/2007) my viral load is back down (1,675 and 1,274, respectively) and CD4 count back up (bouncing between 700 and 800, as it had before the allergy issue).

 

Site Introduction:

 

 

This site will present to you what I’ve learned about HIV, its interactions with the body, and how certain feedback loops which encourage replication can be disrupted.  Much of this, though in published, peer-reviewed journals, somehow manages not to be common knowledge among caregivers.  Why?  I assume they have too much on their plates with patient loads and just keeping up with the latest drug options.  They probably don’t spend most of their time on research.

 

As there is quite a bit of information, I will present it in multiple formats.  There will be static pages, like this one.  There is also a blog section, where I will install information on individual subjects and collect comments.  (See upper right column for recent posts link, and archive link on the left.)  I’ll use those comments to refine the research as I build static pages for each subject.  If you like, you can subscribe to the blog’s RSS feed (left column for link); then you will receive notice of each new post!

 

I will post footnotes for all references, abstracts and journal links whenever possible, and will also mirror as many PDFs of journal articles as I can.  I have yet to investigate whether I can legally host PDFs of articles which are not yet freely available (typically six months after publication).

 

In time, I plan to add a discussion forum where people can discuss their experiences with HIV management.  Unfortunately, I do have to work full-time, and getting the research consolidated into a web-friendly format and posted will take priority over setting up a discussion forum.  For the time being, the blog post comments area will have to serve!

 

As a user of this site, I only ask three things of you: 

Be constructive.  If you disagree with a statement, or if you see an error, please speak up, and provide research which backs up your point of view.  I’m still building knowledge as well, and hope to refine each section continuously with the best available information.  I don’t know everything, nor do I claim to . . . I only know what’s working for me and what the studies say.

 

Don’t believe anything I tell you.  This site isn’t about my opinions; where I express an opinion, it will be stated as such.  Rather, believe what the research says.

 

Don’t take as gospel truth what your doctor tells you, or what the CDC tells you, or what any of the HIV-oriented mass market publications tell you.  The truth is in the research, not the spin.  XYZ Magazine is not JAIDS any more than The National Enquirer is The Wall Street Journal.

 

Note:  Terms in the above paragraphs in bold will eventually be linked to definitions or category entries!