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Thanks

Date: Mon, 31 Dec 2007 14:24:26 -0800 (PST)
From: RTA <mississippi_rta54@...>
Subject: Re: [PozHealth] Insurance refusal for Isentress
To: Travis32824 <travis32824@...>

Don't know how it is where you live but here in Mississippi if you have Medicare part D then the Ryan White program will only give you a one month supply. and then u are on your own. i have the problem of not affording the Truvada that i am on and was told this and they only gave me a month supply witch i am out of now and have to come up with right at $200.00 for a month supply. Could use some help if anyone has any and they are not taking that drug now. email me for my address It would help greately.

Don't know what i am going to do and can't find any other help here.

I take Truvada and Viramune and have for a couple years now. I was on the Ryan White program till the Dr found out i had Medicare Part D then he took me off. so could really use any extra any of you might have if u have been taken off Truvada and not taking it an more.

Being on fixed income SSD and with also heart problems and having to get those meds it is just out of my reach with the money. i am undeticitable and VL is in the 300's.

I have been that way for over 6 years and am wondering what or how long i would last if i came off the meds compeletely except the heart meds that i know i can't stop. but for the HIV meds i may not have a choise. either that or cut way back on food.

Thanks for listning.

Ralph in Mississippi

Travis32824 <travis32824@...> wrote:

On my Medicare Part D plan, Isentress wasn't on the formulary for 2008, because it just got FDA approval. However, I asked my Plan to make an exception to cover Isentress, and they are going too. The doc had to fill out a form stating medical necessity, etc. But, to cover all bases, I called Isentress Patient Assistance Program, and got approved for that, so they'd give it to me for free (its based on income levels). So now, I'll have 2 bottles, one free, and one is $5.50.

I have a feeling that your insurance simply did not have it on their formulary, and you may have to ask for forms for them to make the exception until it does go onto the formulary. Be forewarned, this process takes a few weeks.

If you desperately need it now, I'd contact your local AIDS Service Organization. Ryan White funds is supposed to cover meds as "a last resort".

I bet you get the approval.

Travis

fredsdadus2001 <fredsdadus2001@yahoo.com> wrote:

Just before Christmas my doc exchanged my Videx for Isentress. My
insurer, Tufts, has refused to cover the perscription. What recourse do
I have to counter this rejection? The nurse in my doctor's practice was
contacting Tufts but because of the holidays I haven't gotten a
response yet. Has anyone else in the group had a rejection for
Isentress? I've never had a problem with Tufts before.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Craig G.

---

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If you are healthy with no OI's and not sick and your T-Cells
went under 200 did you always go on meds or are those that
stayed with their natural therapies to keep them well? I'm
struggling with that now and need to decide what do do because
I'm not sick and not on meds but my T-Cells are between 150-200
with viral load at 93,000.
Am I crazy for not going on the meds yet?
Thanks for your thoughts.
JT.

I thought I'd read (several times) exactly the opposite of this--  I.E., that most research suggests hormone replacement does NOT actually cause prostate cancer, but may accelerate its growth if it's developing anyway...? 

--- In PozHealth@yahoogroups.com, "guyinsouthala@..." <guyinsouthala@...> wrote:
>
> I started taking Test. cyp. about 2 months ago, and I love the results (for fatigue). I just learned, however, from the friend who made me aware of the benefits of testosterone supplementation, that he has prostate cancer. He's young (45 or 50), so he and his doc are pretty sure it's because of the testosterone injections and gels he's taken over the years.
>
> I was warned before I started taking it that prostate cancer is a possible side effect, so now I'm wondering if it's worth it. I might go off it in a few months.
>
> S.

i have been giving myself injections in the upper outer quadrant of
each ass cheek, alternating left to right each different week, for 13
months now. up until last month i was using 1" needles (18ga to draw,
22ga to inject) but i found over time the test 'kick' had lessened.

i actually bothered to inspect my ass and realized that the weight
i'd put on over the last year included fat with the xtra muscle, and
i have a 1" thick pad of fat covering the glutes. basically the only
penetration into the muscle i was achieving was due to pressing the
1" needle an extra half inch into the flesh, whihc made it harder to
withdraw.

in the last month i've switched to 1.5" needles, i still push in a
little extra past the surface (the skin indents) but not as hard as i
would with the shorter ones. the 'kick' is back, ALMOST feeling like
i just started test now. there's a growing pack of poz bottoms in nyc
who can attest to that. ;)

the convenience key has been the double-mirror setup in my bathroom,
it allows me to id a precise spot in the upper outer quadrant that's
safely distant from the sciatic nerve, keep tabs on it as i wipe with
91% isopropyl alc, always making sure the injectable is free of
bubbles. also, AT ALL POINTS every thing is clean and as sterile as
possible...i wipe the vials with alc b4 n after withdrawing, my hands
r washed, and everything is laid down on a fresh paper towel. ****the
biggest difficulty over time has proven to be ensuring that u keep
the needle steady when pushing the piston in...this can be difficult
when the piston is all the way out due to a fully loaded syringe and
ur bending around looking in the mirror, and pushing the needle side
to side can injure u (my biggest terror is breaking the needle off
inside my flesh...even if the greatest-but-not-likely danger is death
from air bubbles or random infection).

in general, taking the procedure seriously and treating every
injection as my first has kept my technique uniform and ensured i
havent had any problems in 13 months of exclusive self-injection.



as for tongue-tingling, i would ask 'what meds r u on?". when i was
on sustiva/combivir, among the many weird sensations i developed was
the feeling that there was a little flap of flexible plastic (like
the inserts that keep the points of cheap dress shirts pointy)
nestled against the side of my tongue. i'd literally just be walking
talking or hanging out and get that distinct n bizarre sensation.

i started reyataz in 11/04 with some weirdness, but ever since i
boosted it with norvir in 10/05, i've been over-salivating. it's a
biut embarrassing, as if i sleep at someone's house there's a better
than even chance i'll drool all over their pillow, and i have to be
careful in close personal conversation, because if i get too
enthusiastic my audience may complain they got a droplet or two,
whihc is horrifying. it's a weird way to become more mellow.

my point is that HIV meds are far more systemically powerful than
test and can have lots of itty bitty side-effects that may vary from
person to person and not always be picked up in studies.


--- In PozHealth@yahoogroups.com, NJBlueiii@... wrote:
>
> Justin,
>
>      The generic testosterone cypionate, in itself has no
indication in the current literature that a "tingling tongue" in the
mouth, in particular, is a sign of hyprersensitivity or a side
effect, however it does note under the topic of "skin" there can be
hypersensitivity signs & symptoms, perhaps this was simpy a side
efect, not an adverse reaction, to the administration, most side
efects will dissipate after 10 - 14 days of regular dosing (I do not
know your doising schedule)....this med is supposed to be injected
deep IM (inter muscular) in the upper outer quadrant of the dorsal
gluteal muscle (yes, the ass), the danger here is hitting the sciatic
nerve, I don't know if perhaps you grazed the sciatic, you give no
indication of where you injected yourself, as an RN & as a patient
myself it is IMPOSSIBLE to inject this yourself in the DG
independently, it would be dangerous for you to do so as well as
hitting the sciatic is a no-no & can cause many other problems
including some
> nasty pain & some paralysis (a trained person, family/friend etc,
or an RN/LPN should be doing this for you), if you hit the sciatic
directly I guarantee you will know it....hopefully wherever you did
do the injection you did a deep IM, the anterior thigh if you have
muscle there is appropriate most times, but check first (call the
drug manufactureres 800 number on the box's label & ask the
pharmacist there where there are injection site appropriate for this
medication, those pharmacists are always happy to lend
assistance)....remember to keep this medication at room temp, take it
out of the fridge about 20 or so mins prior to self
administration....if it is to cold & there is not enough time to warm
it then roll it between your plams briskly for about 45-60 secs &
that sould do the trick, do not shake the med as it will add oxygen
to the solute & you are better off not doing that as the O2 may
increase injection pain & if you accidentally get enough O2 into the
circulatory system
> via a vein or artery, well need I say more?, you NEVER want to
inject any amy of O2 into the circulatory system as an air embolous
can develop & be fatal....also look for crystallization of the med,
if that appears you also want to roll the med to dissolve the
crystals, remember no matter what you read do not SHAKE any liquid
meds that come as injectibles....SAFETY FIRST!!!....
>
>      ....likley when you did the injection you probably hit a vein
as muscle tissue is well vascularized, but your still alive &
breathing now & that is most important....
>
>      ....my other suggestion to you is to get an order from the
physician for VNA (Visiting Nurse Associatioon) to come out to your
house to teach you how to self administer this particular
medication....they will administer it for you a few times & teach you
over the course of a few visits to teach you self administration....
>
>      ....if you live in the Northern part of NJ or NYC I can come
over to teach you how to do this injection safely....let me know if
you live in the area & we can connect....I would be happy to help....
>
>

        Michael RN, Montclair, NJ
>

Carotid Intima-Media Thickness Predicts Future CV Risk
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/551469

Sue Hughes

Heartwire 2007. � 2007 Medscape

January 30, 2007 (Frankfurt, Germany) - Confirmation that carotid
intima-media thickness (IMT) is a reliable predictor of future risk of
cardiovascular events has come from a new meta-analysis [1]. The
meta-analysis, published online January 22, 2007 in Circulation, found
that carotid IMT is a strong predictor of both stroke and MI.

The authors, led by Dr Matthias Lorenz (Johann Wolfgang
Goethe-University, Frankfurt, Germany), explain that as carotid IMT
can be measured relatively simply and noninvasively, it is well-suited
for use in large-scale population studies and it is increasingly being
used for risk stratification in individuals and as an end point in
intervention studies. But an important precondition for this
application of IMT is that it can predict future risk of clinical
vascular events. They note that a number of longitudinal studies have
examined the relationship between IMT and future events, but different
studies have used different measurement methods and studied different
populations. Furthermore, some studies have investigated relatively
small populations, which resulted in large confidence intervals for
the risk estimates. To gain more robust estimates of the predictive
value of increased IMT for clinical cardiovascular end points, they
carried out a meta-analysis of these studies.

They reviewed data from eight studies, with a total of 37 197 subjects
who were followed up for a mean of 5.5 years. Results showed that
after adjustment for age and sex, increased carotid IMT was associated
with increased risk of both MI and stroke.
Relative risk of MI and stroke with increases in carotid IMT

Risk of                                  Relative risk 95% CI

MI per standard deviation IMT difference 1.26           1.21�1.30

MI per 0.10-mm IMT difference            1.15           1.12�1.17

Stroke per standard deviation IMT difference 1.32       1.27�1.38

Stroke per 0.10-mm IMT difference        1.18           1.16�1.21

"With data of 200 000 person-years in eight studies, the results of
this meta-analysis improve the precision of estimating the risk that
is associated with IMT," the researchers write. "For an absolute
carotid IMT difference of 0.1 mm, the future risk of MI increases by
10% to 15% and the stroke risk increases by 13% to 18%," they report.

In an interview with heartwire, one of the authors, Dr Hugh Markus (St
George's University of London, UK), said this study should increase
confidence in carotid IMT as a measure of future risk of
cardiovascular events. "With the large population included in this
meta-analysis, we can be much more certain exactly how carotid IMT
measurements relate to future risk. If you are going to use a marker
as an end point in clinical trials, you have to have robust data on
how it relates to risk, and now we have such data."

Markus said this study confirms that carotid IMT is a suitable end
point for studies of potential new antiatherosclerotic drugs, and it
can also be used to predict risk in health screening. "The carotid
artery is simple to visualize with an ultrasound scan, as it is so
close to the skin surface, so that a clear measurement of IMT can be
seen very easily, and this study suggests that thickening of this
artery wall by atherosclerosis is a good indicator of what is going on
in the vasculature generally," he added.

    1. Lorenz MW, Markus HS, Bots ML, et al. Prediction of clinical
cardiovascular events with carotid intima-media thickness a systematic
review and meta-analysis. Circulation 2007; 115:459-467.

 

Had my 2nd HRA at owen's clinic. . Dr. Copernicus ( spelling??)  called and said my diagnosis was ASCUS.. which is aytpical squamos cells of undetermined significance .. This is my 2nd yearly HRa with this diagnosis.. The doc says that after 3 years with a ASCUS diagnosis the risk is very very low and even now 95% of people will not go on to high grade.. MY question is what do I do now? nothing? go to another specialist? I called back Owens Clinic and told them to tell Doctor  Copernicus to send the specimen to another pathologist  for a second opinion.  I haven't gotten his response to this request as it was just 30 minutes ago.. He just wants to do another HRA in 1 year.. Should I be nervous? I know the doc isn't  alarmed because last year he didn't even tell me I had a ASCUS diagnosis.or he might have said no real problem.. just watchful waiting... Any ideas??  thanks.. luke

---

Just before Christmas my doc exchanged my Videx for Isentress. My
insurer, Tufts, has refused to cover the perscription. What recourse do
I have to counter this rejection? The nurse in my doctor's practice was
contacting Tufts but because of the holidays I haven't gotten a
response yet. Has anyone else in the group had a rejection for
Isentress? I've never had a problem with Tufts before.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Craig G.

I am newly diagnosed and want to use natural therapies to keep my
immune system healthy. I am wondering how many years others have done
this for before having to start HAART so I may get an idea of what is
possible? Could one actually do this for a decade or more without HAART?
Thank You.
JT.

Hi Charlie,

I'm kind of in the same boat as you as far as drug
resistance goes since I've been poz for 13 going on 14
years in March of 2008.

I was in a clinical trial for another drug and my labs
started to change not for the better so my doc took me
out of the study and told me that I'd need to start
the Fuzeon since my viral load was now about 750,000
and my CD-4 was around 200. Since Maraviroc and
Raltaglavir were not yet available it was my only
option at the time.

The first time you see the entire Fuzeon kit I agree
with you, it IS scary.
I did learn to mix the drug up properly and that part
wasn't a problem at all once you got the hang of it.
Even more scary is the price tag, I second that too.
When I first saw that the Fuzeon was almost
$3000/month I was shocked.

I was started on Fuzeon in April 2007 and I just
stopped the Fuzeon injections at Thankgiving.  I'm
getting ahead of myself here, sorry.

I was also taking Prezista, Truvada, Norvir etc.
Sounds like the same regimen you have.

Since Raltaglavir was now approved and available I
told my Dr. that I had to stop the Fuzeon just because
of the "whole routine" that Fuzeon entails was really
too much for me and my partner to handle and he's an
RN!

Well of course the first time he injects me, I was so
suprised at the pain from the needle stick, I moved my
other arm accidentally and caused him to stick himself
with the needle after he'd injected me!!!!  Talk about
bad luck.
My partner is HIV neg by the way.  So now on top of
all this Fuzeon stuff for me to deal with, our doc had
to put him on the exact drug regimen I was on (Fuzeon,
Truvada, Prezista, Norvir) as a prophylaxis for a
month against him getting my mutated HIV.
So the first month he had to not only inject me but
also himself twice a day.  The good news is that he's
not seroconverted so far and it's been 8 months.  He's
just had his last HIV test to confirm that he didn't
get infected from the needle stick.

Not to freak you out even more but there is a lot to
keep track of when you are on Fuzeon.  First off, I'm
totally a baby when it comes to getting shots and the
thought of giving it to myself was paralyzing and I
literally couldn't do it.  Thankfully my partner
agreed to give me the injections before he went to
work in the morning and when he got home at night.

While that solved my problem of injecting myself, it
created more for him to deal with since I would have
to have him spread this lidocaine cream on the area he
was going to inject so I wouldn't feel the needle.

Many people just stick the needle in, they tell you
"it's not that long", it doesn't hurt that much,
"diabetics do it all the time," etc., for me it was
hell.
After a month or so of enduring the needle sticks I
kept complaining to my doc and he finally said that he
could prescribe some Lidocaine and Prilocaine Cream,
2.5%/2.5% (I think it's also called EMLA cream as a
brand name)

Of course I'm thinking to myself "why the hell didn't
you tell me about this stuff at the beginning since
you know what a baby I am regarding injections???"

The deal with the cream is that you have to put it on
at least two hours before the injection.  Not real
easy if you're out, at work, etc.
Since my partner had to leave for work at 6 AM. he'd
wake me up at 4 AM to put the lidocaine cream on me
and either put a loose dressing over it or I'd just
try to lay a certain way in bed for the next two hours
which didn't always work so well when I'd fall asleep
and roll over wiping off all the lidocaine cream.

The cream doesn't always insure a pain free injection,
it seemed to depend more on what area of the body the
injection was being given in.

However, most of the time the cream was very effective
and you didn't even feel the needle go in at all.
That was the key for my being able to endure the
Fuzeon treatments for as long as I did.  A good
general rule is to put the cream on the area you plan
to inject at least 2 hours even 2 and 1/2 hours before
the time you plan to inject the Fuzeon, that worked
well for me.

My doc told me that I just had to put the cream on 15
minutes before the injection.  WRONG!  It really takes
at least an hour and a half to two hours to really
numb the skin to the point where you don't even know
you've been stuck.  The other thing to keep in mind is
that while the lidocaine cream will stop the pain of
the needle stick, you will still feel the drug "burn"
as it's absorbed into the skin, but believe me, it was
1000 times better having only that pain to deal with
twice a day.

After all I've said above, one of the biggest problem
with the fuzeon injections are the injection site
reactions.  The literature that comes with the Fuzeon
kit shows you three areas to inject, the top of the
legs, behind the arms and the sides of the trunk.

I personally had very bad results with leg injections
since I've also got lipoatrophy causing there to be
very little fat in my legs so any time we injected the
Fuzeon into the top of my leg, I would have a pretty
good sized "lump" under the skin that would be very
hot, sensitive and painful for several days and
sometimes formed bumps that would last weeks before
finally going away.

It literally hurt to put jeans on over these lumps in
my legs from the Fuzeon injections.
Because I was lucky to have my partner administer the
injections, we decided to just stop injecting in my
legs since it was so painful and he could inject me in
other places like around the sides of my back, which
is impossible to do if you are injecting yourself.
Frankly, I don't know how they can tell you in the
Fuzeon instructions that you can self administer the
injection to the back of your own arms.  I think you'd
have to be a contortionist (sp?) in a circus to pull
that off.

We found that i had the best luck with the injections
on my upper arms where the Fuzeon instructions suggest
as well as other parts of the upper arms being careful
to not inject the Fuzeon into your muscle.

I think that they also downplay the "injection site
reactions" from the reality I had.  After injecting
this stuff in constantly different locations, you
start to have these "injection bumps" everywhere.  At
first they can be very sore and painful, somtimes they
don't hurt at all.  I think that the angle of the
needle at the time of injection is a factor as well.

The other thing that does help these "injection bumps"
finally resolve a bit quicker is taking warm/hot baths
if you can.  Showering often helps as well, especially
since you need to keep very clean while on the Fuzeon
since you are constantly breaking your skin with the
needles and the cleaner and more bacteria free your
skin is in general is important.
If you have a bathtub in your house, you really should
get into the habit of taking baths regularly.  When
the injection bumps are painful, soaking in the
bathtub can really help bring you some relief from the
pain as well as helping to reduce the size, redness
and itching that accompanies these injection site
reactions.

If you don't have anyone else that can help you with
the injections you might consider having a VNA nurse
come by and give you some of the injections on the
sides of your back, (below the shoulder worked for me
since there's a lipo pad there),  where you wouldn't
be able to reach in order to give some of the other
injection sites you can reach yourself and will be
using more often, a bit of a break if you need to.

I know this is all not what you'd want to hear and I'm
sorry if this comes across so negative.

The really good news for me regarding Fuzeon is that
it literally squashed my viral load from 750,000 to
undetectable in about 6 months.  So the whole ordeal
was worth it I guess in the long run.
Since I started the Raltaglavir my viral load is still
undetectable and my CD-4 is up to about 290 which is
also very good news.

My doc thinks that since my viral load has been down
this new regimen with the Raltaglavir should work for
awhile.

I also have had some of the side effects you
mentioned, I'm assuming from the Raltaglavir, like an
increase in neuropathy in my feet and hands which like
you I've not had happen since "the old days" of the D
drugs etc.  I've been on the Raltaglavir for a little
over a month now.

I've been reading here on this site that others on
Raltaglavir are having neuro and lipo problems too.
I've noticed an increase in fatty deposits under my
arms, the sides of my face, as well as the "usual"
places like my belly and behind my neck.

I hope some of this helps.

John in MA



      
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Just before Christmas my doc exchanged my Videx for Isentress. My
insurer, Tufts, has refused to cover the perscription. What recourse do
I have to counter this rejection? The nurse in my doctor's practice was
contacting Tufts but because of the holidays I haven't gotten a
response yet. Has anyone else in the group had a rejection for
Isentress? I've never had a problem with Tufts before.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Craig G.

COCAINE AND INTENSITY OF H.I.V. ARE RELATED IN A STUDY OF MICE
By Denise Grady
New York Times 15 Feb. 2002

Research in mice may help explain something that doctors have
noticed in people who are infected with H.I.V.: cocaine use seems to
make the disease progress faster and lead to more of the
opportunistic infections that are the hallmark of AIDS.
The reason is not known. Drug abusers often eat poorly, have
unprotected sex and neglect their health in other ways, so it has
been impossible to tell whether their problems are due to cocaine
itself or to the other habits that often go with addiction.
A new study suggests that cocaine is to blame. In the study, by
researchers at the AIDS Institute at the University of California at
Los Angeles, specially bred mice were inoculated with human cells
and with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, and then given
injections of either cocaine or a salt-water placebo. Cocaine
greatly enhanced replication of the virus and increased the number
of human cells it infected and killed.
Dr. Gayle C. Baldwin, who directed the study, said, "We're talking
about a 200-fold increase in viral load in these animals. That is a
lot."
In addition, Dr. Baldwin said, the mice given cocaine had only one-
ninth as many CD4 cells as the mice given salt water. CD4 cells,
also called helper T cells, help to activate other cells of the
immune system. They are the prime targets of the AIDS virus, and
when they are wiped out, the ability to fight off infections is lost.
The virus also infects other cells, and, Dr. Baldwin said, "We're
seeing that the population of cells that are not killed off are
churning out incredible amounts of virus."
Why that occurs is not known, she said, adding, "We're working on
that right now."
Dr. Baldwin said that cocaine had powerful effects on both the
nervous system and the immune system, and that it caused the body to
produce steroid hormones and other substances that might affect
H.I.V. and its ability to invade cells.
A report on the study will be published in the March issue of The
Journal of Infectious Diseases and is being posted today on the
Internet at www.journals.uchicago.edu/JID/journal.
Dr. Warner C. Greene, director of the Gladstone Institute of
Virology and Immunology at the University of California at San
Francisco, who was not involved in the study, said doctors had
wondered why cocaine users had a worse course with H.I.V.
"The beauty of this study," Dr. Greene said, "is that it really
focuses in and reveals some specific effect of cocaine. One clearly
sees that cocaine is doing something to the infection process."
Dr. Greene also said he thought the study would enhance both
doctors' and patients' awareness of cocaine's potential to
accelerate the course of H.I.V. infection.
"I think it has very significant implications for people infected
with H.I.V.," he said.
Dr. Baldwin said that even though the study was done in mice, she
thought the findings would apply to people.
"There's always controversy with animal models," she said. "But
among people who do H.I.V. research, this is an accepted model. You
can't address these questions in a human population. It would be
unethical. This model offers us something nothing else really can."
Dr. Greene said, "It's a model, but, boy, the effects they saw were
significant."
The mice in the study were inoculated with human cells because mouse
cells do not become infected with H.I.V. The mice in the study
lacked immune systems, and so would not reject human cells. The mice
could then be injected with H.I.V.

I believe I was the original poster back in 2005, and it turned out
that I had indeed injected directly into a blood vessel (either the
nurse forgot to tell me about drawing back the plunger first to make
sure the needle wasn't sitting in a vein, or I missed that information
  among what seemed like a flood of instructions).  When I called the
clinic, the nurse asked the pharmacist on duty what would happen if
you injected directly into a vein.  His response was "Well, you
wouldn't feel too good."  (So much for the learned medical response.)
  I can still remember the almost-instantaneous stinging sensation in
the middle of my tongue -- I still have no idea why injecting directly
into a vein caused that side effect, but it was quite real, as was the
vague nausea as well as a distinctly greenish tinge to my face (the
latter only lasted for a few minutes).  I was later told by my doctor
that if you draw back blood into the syringe, it means you're sitting
smack in a blood vessel and you are supposed to pull the needle out
and choose a new injection site.  BTW, the queasiness had never
occurred when injecting myself previously, and hasn't happened since,
so I'm going with the pharmacist's comment (see above).

--- In PozHealth@yahoogroups.com, John Barrow <pozbod@...> wrote:
>
> "Any feedback on this would be greatly appreciated as I've
> also been worried when I draw blood back into the syringe and wonder
> after I've done so and inject anyway if I am going to die and if I hit
> a vein or what all this means? Here is the post from 2005...
>
> "This morning I was injecting myself with my weekly dose of
> testosterone cypionate (by prescription), and when I pulled the
> needle out, saw three or four large drops of blood from the
> injection site. At the same time I noticed a sharp stinging
> sensation in the middle of my tongue (yes, my tongue!), and felt a
> little queasy. The queasiness is still hanging on, a couple of
> hours later. I figured I must have hit a vein, but the only thing I
> can find online is "Don't inject into a vein, it may cause injury or
> death"! No word as to any symptoms to watch out for, etc., and no
> mention of any stinging sensation in the middle of the tongue. Has
> anyone run into this same situation? I can't believe my doctor
> would tell me it was okay to inject myself if I could accidentally
> kill myself in the process, but I am a little concerned about
> potential side effects of injecting directly into a vein. I'm going
> to place a call to my doctor, but since it's a clinic, I'm not sure
> how fast I'll get a response, so wanted to run this by group members
> as well."
>
> Proper technique should always be observed when injecting.  If you are
> not comfortable doing this, I would ask your doctor's office for more
> guidance.
>
> A slight pull-back of the needle is a good way to assure that you are
> not injecting a vein.  Seeing a drop or two of blood at the injection
> site is not abnormal, and does not mean you are in a dangerous blood
> vessel.   I have no idea why the original poster had an issue with his
> tongue.  I think they queasiness was due to reactions to the thought
> of injecting himself.
>
> JB
>

From what I have read a year ago, the doctor is on the ball.  With
ASCUS you just watch carefully and wait.  If it turns to worse, say
you get a high grade squamus lesion, then treatment would be
necessary.  The doc in NY was testing every 6 months but since
cervical/anal cancer is very slow moving, one year is probably also
fine.

--- In PozHealth@yahoogroups.com, hoppefaith@... wrote:
>
> Had my 2nd HRA at owen's clinic. . Dr. Copernicus ( spelling??)
called and
> said my diagnosis was ASCUS.. which is aytpical squamos cells  of
undetermined
> significance .. This is my 2nd yearly HRa with this diagnosis..
The doc says
> that after 3 years with a ASCUS diagnosis the risk is very very
low  and even
> now 95% of people will not go on to high grade.. MY question is
what do  I do
> now? nothing? go to another specialist? I called back Owens Clinic
and told
> them to tell Doctor  Copernicus to send the specimen to  another
pathologist
> for a second opinion.  I haven't gotten his  response to this
request as it was
> just 30 minutes ago.. He just wants  to do another HRA in 1 year..
Should I
> be nervous? I know the doc isn't   alarmed because last year he
didn't even
> tell me I had a ASCUS diagnosis.or he  might have said no real
problem.. just
> watchful waiting... Any ideas??   thanks.. luke
>
>
>
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