Email 29

Hi Pozziepinoy, 

I'm quite impressed sa blog mo especially your dedication para mag share ng info at update regarding HIV. I too have HIV, sa ngayon nasa ika-24th day na ako ng pag take ng aking ARV drugs. 

I have a question regarding skin rashes. 

Day 7 - while taking ARV and Cotri- (antibacterial), lumabas yung rash ko. It started sa waist paakyat sa katawan ko. 

Day 9 - lumabas na din ang rash sa upper arm pababa sa lower arm.

Day 11 - almost 70% ng katawan ko covered ng reddish skin. 

Day12 - I went to my doctor in San Lazaro. Sinabihan ako to discontinue Cotri- (antibacterial) at baka daw allergic ako sa drugs na yun. Instead, she prescribed me to take steroid and continue taking antihistamine. Napansin namin na pag stressed ako (naglakad ng matagal etc) lumalabas yung reddish spots na meron ding darker spots. pero nawawala din kapag at rest ako especially kung wala akong ginagawa (nakaupo o nakahiga lang).

Day 14 - almost bumalik na sa normal ang kulay ko. However minsan kapag tumayo ako o kung ano mang galaw ko lumalabas yung very faint red spots, eventually nawawala din naman agad.

Day 15-16 - same, normal ang kulay ko.

Day 18 - mejo nagbalat yung skin ko, very thin skin shed lang. slight makati pero tolerable naman. nagsimula sa upper arm. Napansin ko din meron shedding sa tummy, pero halos hindi noticeable. Pag nangati ang skin ko mejo nagiging very slight reddish ang skin ko. Pag di naman makati, normal ang kulay.

Sa palagay mo, ano kaya tong rash ko. Right now nasa Day 19 or almost 3 weeks na since i got the rash. So far wala naman akong ibang nararamdamang pangangati except sa likod na alam ko mejo nagbabalat.

Babalik ako sa doctor ko this coming July XXX for checkup. Taga XXX ako.

Hope to hear from you soon.

Mr. XXX

POZZIEPINOY’S REPLY

HI Mr. XXX,

Thank you for reading my blog. I wish you are learning something from my entries.

Regarding your question about your rashes, I am in no position to tell you what the cause of your rashes since I am no doctor. Second I don’t know what ARV’s you are taking right. However, I can just tell you what happened to me 9 months ago when I started my ARV’s and my prophylaxis.

The ARV’s that were prescribed are still the one’s I am taking right now, namely, Lamivudine, Tenofovir and Efavirenz. My prophylaxis were Cotrimoxazole and Azithromycin which I took until the 8th month when my CD4 went up dramatically to 487.

I started taking my prophylaxis last September 26, 2011 as prevention for recurrence of my pneumonia and prevention of other opportunistic infections. During those times, I didn’t experience any side effects. I started taking ARV’s on October 6, 2011 and everything was ok until rashes started coming out 11 days after (October 17, 2011). I noticed the rashes were on my chest and at the back of my head and were so itchy. Good thing that day was the day of my check up with my previous infectious disease doctor and she prescribed me with Xyzal and Iferax. The following day, my rashes spread out to my chest and legs shoulders , and diappearing on my chest and nape. On the third day, everything slowly subsided and on the fourth day, everything was gone. On the fifth day, I stopped Both the Xyzal and Iferax. My prophylaxis and ARV’s were never stopped.

For two months I experienced itchiness and body heat whenever I was sweaty due to exercise or I was in a hot environment so I made it a point to turn on the aircon every time. I also observed that I started to itch when I had a glass of wine (I asked Dr. Ditangco about it since it was New Year's Eve and she said it was ok, but not a lot). To remedy my itchiness, I moisturized my entire body with a moisturizing lotion at night or whenever I was itchy because I found out that the ARV’s can cause dryness which let to itchiness. Well, it worked for me and I slept well at night. On the third month, everything was back to normal but I still continued moisturizing my skin.

I don’t know if my experience sort of answered your questions but still the best way is to ask your doctor about it. Better yet, you can go to a dermatologist for the best advice.

Let me know if you have other questions.

Stay healthy, 

Pozziepinoy

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