My Continued Journey Living with HIV

My Continued Journey Living with HIV

I know it has been a while since I posted but I have been going through a lot of health changes. It seems these days, that when I get through one another one comes up. Some days I even wonder if it is worth the fight. Yes, that is a bit negative but I think God understands that I am human and sometimes I just get tired of fighting. With that being said, I want to say that I am here and I am still fighting and will continue to fight as long as I have the strength and faith in my Creator. 

I ended 2015 with surgery to remove skin cancer from my face and being sick for over a month from my liver giving me fits. I learned from one of my dear friends who have lived with this thing called HIV for over 30 years that I can calm my liver by taking a natural herb. After being sick and hurting for over a month, I saw my primary care physician, who informed me that my liver was not doing well from all the medication. Of course she wanted me to see a specialist and at the time I was so tired of seeing specialist that I decided to talk with my friend who has taught me so much about this disease. She told me to start taking milk thistle {a lot of it} and it would calm my liver down and help me not be sick. So I have now been on milk thistle for two months and my liver has calmed down and I can eat without getting sick. I told my PCP and my heart doctor both what I was doing and neither of them knew anything about milk thistle but said I could continue taking it because it was working. So far so good and I will not be seeing a specialist, who would have probably put me on some other man made drug anyway. 

I have decided that 2016 will be the year that I start getting off all the man made drugs that make me feel so bad and start treating my body with the natural herbs that God has put on this planet for our bodies. That being said, I will continue to take the HIV medication because I definitely want to keep that under control, but all the other complications that I have will be treated naturally. The HIV drug I am on again is ATRIPLA, which I hate because of the side effects and damage it is doing to my body, but I do not want to go through the chance of weight gain like I did last time I switched to the newest drug on the market. When I switched drugs a year ago to Triumeq I gained fifty pounds in a short period of time and I am now fighting to get it off. 

HIV medications cause so many things to change in your body. I think this must be the reason so many people decide not to take them. The downside to not taking the medications is certain death so I think it wise to take them even though they have side effects. Every man made medication causes side effects. Knowing this going in makes it difficult sometimes to even try to stay faithful to the medications. 

There are days that I feel I do not have the strength to carry on with all these changes. It seems though when I am at my weakest and wants to give up that God allows someone to say just the right thing that gives me the boost I need to carry on. Yes, I hurt a lot, mentally and physically, but carry on is what I must do. I do not want to be another statistic; I want to be a survivor. I know the only way to be a survivor is to survive. The days that are dark and life seems hopeless serve to remind me that there is a light at the end of it all if I continue to press forward. I will be tested again at the end of February to see how the HIV medication is doing so I have to keep a positive outlook for that time. For now I say to God be the glory for all that He has done for me. I know that without the support and love of my family and friends, and the strength that God has given me to fight I would not be here today. I thank God everyday for His love and mercy and for giving me the support system to press on. Stay tuned for more to come, from my continued journey living with HIV.

 May God bless and keep you, David