Email 13

I received another email this weekend:

Hi,

I saw your email in one of the HIV blogs. 

I am confused, I need someone to talk to. I am an OFW and will be returning to PH on XXX

I went to XXX last year of XXX until I was able to find a good job. I left my BF in PH but he came to XXX also XXX.

During my time in XXX alone, I became very wild. Having sex with people of all kinds. Something that I regret a lot

My last sex is XXX, a day before he came to XXX, but it is with a Filipino.

He discovered my whereabouts when he arrived, as in everything...

then I became paranoid with HIV because of the different things that I have been experiencing.. mostly, the general feeling of being unwell

On XXX, we went back to Manila to have myself tested for HIV. The good news is that i came out to be negative.

I returned to XXX 3 days after and he was left in Manila for a couple of days. He returned back to XXX where we had full blown sex again (kasi negative e)

Then, my BF is also looking for a job here. As part of the requirement, he needs to be tested for HIV. He was tested I think last month. Then the result came out to be positive... He is now back in Manila, to double confirm it. He went to XXX, the clinic told him that if positive, it will take another 3 weeks because it will be endorsed to San Lazaro. Until now, he is waiting for the result.

My BF is very faithful to me... he never had sex with others... (according to him) so I am thinking that huge possibility of him being positive is because of me.

But why my result last Feb is negative? That is where the confusion is...

I am now afraid with my condition and also his. They said that ARV will make you live normally and healthy, but why is it that the person in the blog said that he is already considered full blown AIDS if he is under medication? I am hopeless, I need people to explain what is going on... pls help me

Thanks,

Iam

POZZIEPINOY’S REPLY

Hi Iam,

First of all, thank you for sending an email to me. I am on vacation right now but I felt the urgency to reply back to you.

Let me reply back in the order of your questions or doubts.

First, based on what you told me, your HIV test turned out negative last Feb 24. That is good news. However if you are still in doubt, you can have yourself tested again after 3 months. That's what my partner did when I turned out to be positive. He immediately got himself tested and turned out negative. Then my Infectious Disease (ID) doctor told me to get him tested again after 3 months and once again he got a negative result. Thank God. He will get another one 6 months from now to be really sure. My point here is if you are in doubt, you can have yourself tested again after 3 months, then after 6 months again to really prove that you are not the one who infected your partner. It is better that way to calm down your nerves. Now if after a series of tests you still turn out to be negative, then he didn't get it from you. By then it will just boil down to you accepting him out of love, and not even thinking or discussing how he got the disease. 

Second, you said that you don't feel well and that confuses you. The best solution to this is go and seek the advice of an Infectious Disease doctor and disclose everything. It is better that way and from my experience, it is better to know your current health status before it is too late. I guess it is true for all kinds of diseases for that matter. So go ahead and seek medical consultation. If you don't know any doctor, I can refer you to one.

Third, your BF got tested again last April 10th and it was sent to San Lazaro for confirmation. That meant that his initial rapid test or ELISA was already positive but the Western blot (the one that he is waiting for 3 weeks) will really confirm it. I just hope that it is a false positive (meaning he is negative in the Western Blot). If he is positive, then there are different HIV/AIDS hubs he can go to for his next possible steps. We can correspond when this happens.

Fourth, about the ARV's. The ARV's will really make one's immune system recover. Trust the ID doctor. He/she will tell you if the cocktail (combination) of ARV's are working for you or not. Else, they will be immediately replaced by other cocktails. However, a person will still have to do his part. One, HIV replicates when one gets sick (even with a common cold), so try not to get sick while your CD4 count ( status of your immune system) is still low. Avoid crowded places, use hand santitizers, have a good hygiene etc. (Check out my blog: pozziepinoy.blogspot.com if you want to tips). Second, eat healthy and cooked foods. Third, exercise to fight other diseases. Fourth, have a positive attitude. Depression can make also weaken one's immune system. What I am saying here is that the ARV's will help but the will to get better comes the person himself, and by studying how he can fight the disease and by doing what he has learned, I am pretty sure that everything will turn out well.

I hope I was able to answer your questions. Feel free again to email me if you have other queries and doubts. 

Stay healthy,

Pozziepinoy

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