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6:00 am: TB meds 3 tabs.
8:00 am: ARV: zido/lami




Today, I am to discuss another OI (Opportunistic Infection) that plagues us PLHIV. This OI is something I know of more than I want to because I am still suffering from it... I am talking about TB or Tuberculosis... I have to discuss this as it turns out, as of my reading, TB ang nangungunang caused of death ng PLHIV...

Di na natin kailangan malaman anong microbio ba itong TB... but it is a bacteria, and therefore, more likely manageable... and that treatment is actually free... Sa RITM, ewan ko sa iba, even xray, sputum test, kahit sputum culture, lahat libre... ang problema, medyo mahaba yung treatment therapy at kailangan strict yung pagfollow ng instruction sa paginom ng gamot... we are looking at least 6 months... dun ako nagkaproblema so now dasal ako ng dasal na gumaling ako at di nagmutate yung bacteria into a drug resistant one...

Medyo toxic kasi yung gamot... and that I had to take it ng walang laman ang tyan... kaya kung pansin niyo, I take the TB meds ng 6 am... to which I almost always throw up after... alam niyo yung puro asido lang yung sinusuka ko... plus matigas talaga ulo ko...

Okay, highly communicable ang TB... although kung healthy naman ang immune system mo, more likely masusupress niya 'to at tipong ikukulong niya ang TB bacteria so not to cause any harm to the body or anyone for that matter... pero nga kung majeopardized ang immune system mo, like what happens if you get infected with HIV, dun makakawala ang TB bacteria and cause havoc sa katawan natin, mainly the lungs... more likely the lungs but TB can also infect other organs... but after 3 weeks of continuous medication di ka na contagious...

Symptoms... as per reading... ubo daw na matagal na, which I didn't have, later na lang... lagnat sa hapon... night and excessive sweating... chills... lost of appetite and pagbagsak ng timbang... 

Napansin ko yung lost of appetite ko... pero kasi ako nga yung taong di naiintindihan ang concept ng diet, so tipong, anong walang ganang kumain, dami nagugutom sa mundo! So, ipipilit ko talaga, pero for some reason, na it came to a point na sinusuka ko lahat ng kainin ko... dun na ko na alarm... kasi okay lang na wala kang gamot, basta kumakain ka... eh ako, sinusuka ko lahat ng kinakain ko... dun na ko nagpaconfine, dun na bumagsak yung timbang ko... in two weeks more than 20 lbs ang nawala sa akin...

Una, usually... XRay... wala silang nakita sa akin... skin test, nag negative din ako... it was only through sputum test na nakita na I have TB...

So yung advise ko sa mga fellow PLHIV, specially yung mga newly diagnosed, na pagnilagnat sila at tumagal ng 3 days, pacheck up na... lalo na kung nagchill... chill is never a good thing... infection na matindi ibig sabihin nun...

Medyo toxic yung gamot... and the way it should be taken... you start with 4 huge tablet, mas malaki sa efav at cotrimazol, 2 hours before breakfast, so walang laman tyan... but it is for free... for two months ganun ka... stick with the regimen and you would do just fine... usually with that, kung sinunod mo ha, at di ka naglaktaw... magcleclear ang sputum test mo of TB... and ibaba yung dose mo, depende sa timbang mo, I was 50 kg so it was 3 tablet na medyo maliit na, tipong nips na siya... pero toxic pa rin... just stick with the regimen, bawal maglaktaw... kahit clear ka na, mataas ang possibility ng relapse, katulad ng nangyari sa akin... and relapse is when treatment becomes complicated and the OI dangerous... kasi pwedeng nagmutate ang microbio and become resistant to drug... yun ang dinadasal ko now na wag naman sana... I know it was my fault... pero yun nga, baka nagbibilang na lang ako actually ng araw...

Okay lang... nakahanda na lahat...

6 months tatagal yung therapy... so advise ko, if ever... tiis ganda lang muna... kahit gaano katoxic yung TB meds... 

add me at twitter @casuallypositiv or email me: casuallypositive@gmail.com

Apparently, Cook is inlove with this Effy girl...

So, from the previous episode, when he saw her kissing Freddie, he went on a rampage, brutally beating some random guy... He got arrested for it and was made to live with his drunkard artist mother whom he hates... He was also expelled from school because of it...

Also found out, when Freddie visited him to see if he was okay, that he--Freddie--had sex with his mother when they were fifteen...

His baby brother, who idolized him, got into trouble, making their drunk mom throw a fit, blaming him for everything... Cook lashed out of the house with his brother and just did crazy things... 

But at the end of the day, Cook realized, his baby brother looks up to him and wouldn't want to screw his life like his... he went to surrender and accepted the consequences of his actions...

Just realized, it have been 5 months that I have been smoke free...

I have been confined at RITM for a week already before the doctors figured what was causing my fever then... Yes, it was confirmed that I was HIV+ and that my CD4 count was just 22, but what infected me to cause the fever was not clear... 

And that, during that week at RITM, despite it being prohibited, I was smoking in the room... although not as much... I used to have a pack a day... during my stay, I limit it to 3 sticks... and it was just 2-3 puffs and I was done...

The thing was, my x-ray came out clean... so did the skin test--they inject something in the surface of the skin and they see if it swells or not... it didn't... I have no trouble breathing whatsoever... just that I have observed, the only way to bring down the fever was if I was in an upright position... injecting paracetamol on my IV then doesn't help if I remain lying down... 

They only found out what was causing my fever when the result of the sputum test came about... I was positive on 3 counts of tuberculosis... That was June 3, I remember, it was my birthday and thought that it was my birthday gift... I welcomed it as it was frustrating that I was in the hospital for a week already, throwing up everything I forced myself to eat--didn't have appetite for anything, not even for spaghetti--and having fever that almost run 24 hours, and not knowing what was causing it... at least now, we know what it was and that we know how to try and fix it...

and I knew that I have to totally quit smoking...

It was easier than I thought... I think it was because I was too scared, but I didn't crave for it... I think it also help that none of the people around me smokes... I guess I was lucky in that way... I think I went to withdrawal... I remember breaking to cold sweat and trembling and feeling restless... but nothing "I NEED TO SMOKE!!!" I think my mind was that powerful to block the suggestion of smoking to my body... I didn't crave whatsoever... but I was also careful not to trigger it... like I don't want to drink coffee as I always smoke while having coffee... or I immediately go in my room and lock myself there after meal... I tried not to do things I used to do associated with smoking...