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Feb 11, 05
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dude... i feel for ya i was just in the hospital
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Feb 11, 05
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That's harsh. Obviously I don't know the specifics, but I do remember when I'd been put in a position a while back where I might have been exposed and how much it freaked me out 'til the test results came back.
Some things to note, though: -HIV can evade tests for up to 12 weeks in most people, and up to 6 months in about 4% of the population. So if it's a really recent thing, it may be frustratingly difficult to find out the answer right now. -If the worst ends up being the case, it's a big tragedy, but not the end of the world. I have friends and friends-of-friends who have been living with HIV for decades and AIDS for the same amount of time. Treatments are getting better all the time. Regardless, hopes, prayers (if he goes in for that sort of thing), and support are with your friend.
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Feb 11, 05
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yooo get better who ever your friend is yo... sorry to hear!
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Feb 11, 05
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thats brute:(but hey either way,its not the end of the world.Just another one of lifes great obstacles to over come.
When a door shuts,a window opens. my prayers are with your friend:)
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Feb 11, 05
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Quote:
Thank you. 'What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger' I don't know if that's a good one for this situation. :(
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Feb 11, 05
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Its been awhile. He thinks he has symptoms. He is getting tested today. It sucks because this is someone that is really important to me. I really want to see him survive in life. It's been so hard for him. He's finding it easier these days, and I don't want him to have to face this... I'M SAD!
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Feb 11, 05
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I think being faced with the reality of one's own mortaliy can be particularly trying when it happens to a young person.
He's lucky to have a strong, supportive network of friends like you Erin, he's really going to need you in the coming days, weeks (possibly months and years!) As Niko said, with medical developments, it is possible for HIV positive people to continue living for decades after contracting it. My family has a close friend that has it, and he's been able to live a full life (most of the time) surrounded by those that love and care about him. If it is the case, there will definitely be tough times, there will definitely be times where you think it might be the end, or when they look like walking death, but I'm constantly amazed at his ability to come back and continue to love living life.
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Feb 11, 05
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Feb 11, 05
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i went to get tested for HIV in january and the doctor told me that HIV is not detectable until 3 or 4 months after being contracted. that's just something to keep in mind.
i know how scary it can be to go be tested for this, so i really feel his pain on this one. i thought i had symptoms too, and it turns out i was negative, so hopefully the same will be for him. sometimes when you think you might have something your mind plays enough tricks on you to make you believe you see the symptoms too. if you need to talk, i'm always here erin, you know that.
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Feb 12, 05
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Why does he think he has symptoms?
HIV stands for human immunodifficiency virus, and means just that; you have a really low immune system. So the symptoms would just be an increase in a lot of infections and stuff that most of us can fight off naturally. Most of us start off with a CD4 count of above 500 if we're healthy. Think of CD4 cells as the cells that fight off any foreign invaders to your body. When you contract HIV, you lose about 50 CD4 cells a year. So each year, your body is less able to fight off infection than it used to be. Most countries define AIDS to be when someone who's HIV positive's CD4 count drops to below 250-200 and develops AIDS-related infections like yeast and pneumonia. I think it's 250 in Canada, and 200 in the states (because they want to wait until the last possible moment to start treatment). When CD4 count drops, viral load goes up. Recent medical advances have made it so that people can have undetectable viral loads. This is why so many young people are buying into the myth that there's a cure for AIDS. But there isn't. Undetectable viral load just means you have very little of the virus in your body--too little to measure, but not so little that you're cured. This is also the point that most people start antiretroviral therapy. It's not necessarily AIDS that kills you, rather, AIDS (acquired immuno difficiency syndrome) makes it so that your body can't fight off the simplest infections and you die from them. At anyrate, if your friend has symptoms right now and does test positive, he's likely had the virus for a long time (remember that you need to be at a CD4 count of ~200 to "officially" have AIDS once you contract HIV, and that's when most people become symptomatic. I'm only basing my assumption that your friend will test negative on the fact that you said that he thinks he's symptomatic already. If he's been at risk of exposure recently, he wouldn't be symptomatic at all. I don't know if this was information overload for you. I worked on the downtown eastside this past summer and had to deal with AIDS everytime I went in for a shift. Message me if you have any questions.
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Feb 12, 05
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^There is commonly a strange batch of symptoms that appear 2 to 4 weeks after you contract the virus. It's called Acute HIV Infection, and it typically resembles a rather weird flu or mono. After it goes away, you tend to enter the usually long-term asymptomatic period of HIV infection.
More info here: http://health.allrefer.com/health/ac...tion-info.html
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Feb 12, 05
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^ yeah, but most people wouldn't associate those with HIV symptoms, do you understand what i'm getting at?
and it's really hard to study that. it's not like researchers can ask HIV positive people this question, "about 2-4 weeks after you were exposed, do you remember having these symptoms?" most people don't find out about their HIV status until they've had it for years. how reliable can those memories be? creadible medical journals have yet to accept your above hypothesis.
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