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CMV, HIV and Immune Activation

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6 Comments

Frank

Hi I had a HIV RNA done and a HIV DNA like you said to have done and HIV was undectable but CD4 counts are 420 which are low and I lost more weight 100 pounds with muscle loss in arms and butt and stomach went from a 42 waist to a 36 waist. Pale skin and losing my hair floating stools .I had cmv test DNA that was undectable. My doctor does not know what else to test for hiv cmv . Hes worried because of my weight loss so fast in those odd areas and because I cant gain weight back with the low cd4s.I think I have full blown aids from hiv and cmv and my immune is so damaged that I have no antibodies. They say when you have hiv and keep getting infected with cmv this causes aids quicker. Is their any other way I can test for hiv and cmv. I had my cd4 tested in march 740 /May 597/June 420.IF I dont have have hiv/cmv why is my cd4 counts droping fast each month . The infectous disease doctor is sending me to a imunogist.

June 29, 2011

Joseph Sonnabend

Frank, I'm sorry that you are experiencing such a severe illness. The features you describe are most unlikely to be due to HIV infection. A loss of 60 pounds within 6 months of infection. with no anti HIV antibodies makes HIV the least likely cause of your symptoms. With the severe symptoms you describe its most important that you obtain a diagnosis; if the tests your doctors have done are all negative as you report, then ask for a referal to a specialist.. These normal tests probably included routine blood counts so this is another point against HIV infection. To have progressed so far with normal blood counts would not be seen with HIV as the cause. You can be tested directly for HIV RNA and for your CD4 count, if this will relieve your anxiety abouit HIV infection. Direct tests for CMV may not be so routinely available but can be obtained. But with the symptoms you describe, getting a correct diagnosis is the most important thing to do,

May 1, 2011

frank

i had cmv from girlfriend and than we broke up and was with a woman who had hiv than went back with my girlfriend who had cmv and kept reinfecting me with cmv. now its 6 months later and i think i have full blow aids. i lost 60 pounds in 3 months ,night sweats, i feel very weak, vision problems, rashes on skin and dry skin,i wake up cant feel my hands and feet,headaches, i feel very sick when i eat,dirrea,I went to doctors and did blood test but every thing is negative I think my immune is so bad it does not produce antibodies can please tell me a way they can test for cmv and hiv for the virus itse;f and not the antibodies

April 30, 2011

harun

hi sir! hiv win dow period 3 month, 6 month or 1 year.. i lived all the hiv akut sypthoms.. but i tested in 9 month.. must i test again after the one year?? tanks for your help..

February 1, 2011

JR

Hi C, I want to share my experiences as a gay man with you because I had a similar experience. In 1982, I found out from blood tests that I had unusually high IgM anti-CMV titers. My doctor told me at that time that it was due a recent CMV infection or possibly re-infection. I had been experiencing fatigue and night sweats and swollen glands, but it was hard for me to tell what to attribute those symptoms to because at the time I was having lots and lots of sex, doing lots of all night partying and running myself ragged in general. It was learning about my CMV infection that woke me up to AIDS; HIV had not yet been discovered. I cleaned up my act, took care of my health and I even stopped having sex for many months while I kept monitoring my health through blood tests. Over the course of the following year, my blood counts started to improve, I began practicing only safe sex, and my health in general seemed to return to normal. During that time, I also learned that one can be re-infected with CMV, and this being before the discovery of HIV, served as reason enough for me to only have intercourse with condoms. Even today, with an undetectable HIV viral load (thanks to anti-HIV meds) and continuing to practice safe sex all these years to avoid being re-infected with CMV, as well as other viruses and infections, my health today is fine. I wish you all the best and hope you find the medical care you need.

August 14, 2010

C

Dear Dr. Sonnabend, I have read your column with great interest since it began to appear on these pages. Unfortunately, your continued series of reflections on CMV comes at a time when the subject has forced itself upon my attention for personal reasons. I have had HIV for a little more than six years now; I have been quite healthy and have not needed to take ARVs. For the past two years, every single set of blood tests has shown t-cells above 600 and a viral load between 3,000 and 19,000. In the middle of May I became suddenly and dramatically ill. The illness ended up lasted about a month, and by the end of it I had lost fifteen pounds. In the middle of it I had blood tests done. I still had 685 t-cells, but the percentage, which had previously hovered at around 27 (lowest ever had been 25) was 9, and my viral load was 799,000. It turned out that I had recently been infected with CMV, probably for the first time in my life. If this guess is correct, then for the first six years of my time with HIV I was a rare case of someone who did not have CMV. Naturally, your series of articles on the subject has instilled some fear into me! Am I simply doomed to watch my progression to HIV disease accelerate from this point on? Is there nothing that can be done? I recently got the results of the latest set of blood tests, taken in the middle of July, a month after I had completely recovered from the initial CMV illness. 600 t-cells--not bad, but low for me--a percentage of 21, lower than ever before, not counting the 9 while I was ill; and a viral load of 31,000, quite high for me. Is this simply the new reality now that I have CMV? Will it simply get worse from here? Do you have any advice? Sincerely, C.

August 5, 2010

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