Skip to main content

Switching from Triumeq to Symtuza

 I had been taking Triumeq for several years. I am going to say that being HIV positive had never interfered with my life much UNTIL I started Triumeq. I started getting weak, nauseated, hazy minded and on an on. I would wake up with a hangover every morning. It would take me 2 hours after waking to fully function. I finally asked my doctor if there was ANYTHING else available as I felt this medicine was poison that was going to kill me faster than HIV would.

He switched me to Symtuza. I am feeling better upon waking up. BUT when I first started Symtuza I had  diarrhea so bad that I was convinced that I had CDIFF. I told my doctor that I thought it was c-diff and I had to gather samples of my stool and take it to the lab. That was a wonderful experience. For the first month I had the runs so bad it was disabling. Not to mention the horrible gas. Had that kept up I would have truly been disabled. Thankfully, it slowly started to subside. I don't get the runs now unless I eat something really greasy and salty. 

Oh the pleasures of HIV. But, I am still here. :)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

 Since I last posted here in 2016, there have been a number of changes. At the time I was dating someone. He came to visit from Alabama which was quite a drive and spent a few days with me. After a few days he went back to Alabama. Once there he called me. He told me, in tears, that he had met someone else and was breaking up with me. I was shocked as it was unexpected. But I wasn't mad. I wished him well and agreed we were better off as friends. There was an obvious lack of passion in the relationship which really stemmed from my decreasing and lack of interest in sex over the years. I have been single since that happened. Not only have I not dated, but I have been totally celibate for almost 5 years now. Things really come into perspective when you have a loveless and sexless life. Oddly enough, I am in a better place mentally than I have ever been. I have overcome two different, what I would call addictions in my life. Sex and booze. I am also sober since I last blogged in 2016....
Post a Comment
Read more
I was standing there in the little airport with a ticket in my hand bound back to my hometown. There was a group of college girls standing in a circle singing "Take Me Home, Country Roads". I stood there in a daze watching them. I will never forget that song. Only a few moments before I was in the college cafeteria eating lunch alone. When a nurse walked in and announced my name. I remember the walk to her office. Almost passing out. Knowing why she called me, but a million other reasons I could think of that she wouldn't say it. I was in nursing school in the job corps and back in those days, an HIV test was mandatory. She said "follow me". I sat there in front of 4 people at a desk and they told me that I had tested positive for HIV. I stared and even started to laugh hysterically. I joked that I would find any reason to get out of class. A counselor came in to talk with me, I was still in a daze. I remember her asking me if I liked Greg Louganis, who had ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Some days are diamonds

 I started out today feeling phenomenal. Actually, I don't have a lot of good days like this. Where I am clearheaded and energetic. I even woke up before the alarm went off. The first part of the day went swimmingly while at work. I was even running errands throughout the building with a swift walk. I had taken some Effexor that was prescribed the previous night. I told a nurse how I was feeling and she said "This is how you were supposed to be feeling the whole time." Really? I envy people that can feel this good everyday. HOWEVER, come about 2 p.m. I started to get dizzy and nauseated. By the 3 p.m. I was trying not to vomit. By 4 pm I had to leave work because I was so sick. I went home and slept the rest of the night.  This is the ups and downs of life on HIV medicine.
Post a Comment
Read more