It's been a awhile..........

Hello everybody,

I hope everyone is doing alright, considering.  I have really good news in that the TX seems to be working tremendously well for me.  My VL that started out at 14 million dropped down to 2,500 about a month ago and then now is at 250!  My doc told me the next time I have lab work done (which is coming up in April) he wouldn't be surprised if it read "undetected"!  That being the case he says I stand about an 80% chance of kicking this thing in the butt when I complete the TX in November.  Yeah, I will admit, it hasn't been easy, and with the SX's and then the Ativan withdrawals that I had put myself thru, I just wanted to quit; but at this point it's out of the question.  Well, it's never really been an option anyways.  I hope all of you guys are okay out there.  Drop me some thoughts when you get the chance!

billstrong1969

[wyntre9]

So glad to hear your good news!  Got my fingers crossed you'll be UND next labs.

Are you back on the 48 TX?  I'm at week 68 of 72 and man, the last couple of months have been tough.  

Great that your Dr. thinks you have an 80% chance of kicking the buiggers out.  that is very encouraging.

[Forseegood]

hi, so glad that it is going relatively well for you...question...when you say Ativan withdrawls, can you explain? I'm thinking that's the only thing that might get me through tx, cause I suffer from anxiety already...i figure I'll be okay if I just do a very small amount just some of the time...thanks!

[Forseegood]

Billstrong...just wanted to make sure you saw my reply...guess there isn't much room nowadays, and posts get put on back pages very rapidly these days....

[billstrong1969]

So sorry it took me awhile to get back.  Okay, Lorazapam A.K.A. Ativan comes in 3 strengths .5, 1, and 2mg.  I take the strongest of course (2mg) because I'm a big guy.  I take up to 3 a day but then when I am naughty and take more and end up running out of them before I'm supposed to I go thru serious withdrawals such as migraine/cluster headaches (pain behind the eyes), light sensitivity, in ability to sleep at all, irritability, ect..... JUST DON'T RUN OUT IF YOU START!  They otherwise work great for me with this TX.  Take care...

billstrong1969

[jdwithhcv]

I think you have a good plan in place.  I take Ativan (1mg) for anxiety, just occasionally, as needed.  I probably take 3-4 mg a week.  I haven't had any of the problems billstrong describes, but then I don't take it daily.  

[Forseegood]

thanks so much for getting back to me...yes, I only ever take about a quarter of a 2mg pill...(whatever that is, lol) once in a great while...I know on the first day I'll take 20mg...just kidding...thanks jd too, both of you...I know you can develop a dependence, but I'll try just to take them infrequently, and a very low dose...this might have to take the place of antiD's for me, cause I just can't cozy up to those things, I've tried like 6 different kinds now...I'm going to try prozac, and that might be the last one..lol...

[jdwithhcv]

Like you, I just can't make friends with the antiDs.  I've done 29 weeks of Peg-intron and riba just using occasional ativan and that has worked out well for me so far.  But we're all different so I don't want to sit in judgment or anything.  Do whatever it takes, this tx is tough sometimes.  When you're ready to start you'll find the way forward.  Just listen to your body and you'll be ok.

jd

afterthought - anybody reading my posts might conclude that some days it works better than others, but mostly it keeps the anxiety and irritability under control. ;)

[billstrong1969]

Amen to that!  I just love you guys!

billstrong1969