My bf-just found out he is HIV+ and feeling the effects

My beautiful boyfriend of the last one 1.5 years just found out he is HIV positiveтАжтАжIтАЩm not sure what to do. I just need help and experience dealing with this issue from others in Bangkok.

Looking for a qualified and understanding physicianтАЩs тАж. Any contacts of MDтАЩs Bkk?
Resources for getting medications at lower cost
Bangkok support groups

Thanks

If there is any doubt, please get yourself tested.

Resources for you and your friend:

dragoncastle.net/hivresources.shtml (http://dragoncastle.net/hivresources.shtml)

www.utopia-asia.com/aids.htm#thai (http://www.utopia-asia.com/aids.htm#thai)

So sorry to hear that. Good luck to both of you.

Tell him not to give up hope. He can get the meds cheaply and it could be well over a decade before he shows any symptoms. The current meds could easily keep him alive 20 years, and there is really excellent chance by then there might even be a cure or at the very least even better treatments. Best wishes to both of you.

What a terrible blow, cliffhanger. At least it is not as deadly as it was a couple of years ago. Lots of courage and love. I am overjoyed at your response, it is so untypical of foreigners in this situation. Especially considering the high probability that you might also have been infected, I truly wish you both all the best. Your lives are never going to be quite the same again. I hope you find all the inspiration and joy possible in your new one, and as much help as you deserve.

[sjaak327]

My beautiful boyfriend of the last one 1.5 years just found out he is HIV positiveтАжтАжIтАЩm not sure what to do. I just need help and experience dealing with this issue from others in Bangkok.

Looking for a qualified and understanding physicianтАЩs тАж. Any contacts of MDтАЩs Bkk?
Resources for getting medications at lower cost
Bangkok support groups

Thanks

I'm sorry to hear that, but all hope is not lost, first depending on his CD4 count, he might not even need medicine for years, it is important to do that test, so that the doctor can predict and monitor (once every 6 months) the state of the virus as opposed to the CD4 count.

I recommend going to Samitivej (Sukhumvit Soi 49), there is an excellent MD his name is Woraphot Tantisiriwat.

Now trying saying his name with ya mouth full.

What does that pearl of non-wisdom have to do with this unfortunate man and his b/f's predicament? If you have nothing more constructive to say keep quiet !!!

[dab69]

I'm sorry to hear that, but all hope is not lost, first depending on his CD4 count, he might not even need medicine for years, it is important to do that test, so that the doctor can predict and monitor (once every 6 months) the state of the virus as opposed to the CD4 count.

I recommend going to Samitivej (Sukhumvit Soi 49), there is an excellent MD his name is Woraphot Tantisiriwat.[/quote]


I wouldn'y want to wait until MY count was high before i went for meds

[sjaak327]

I wouldn'y want to wait until MY count was high before i went for meds

According to the MD mentioned above, there is no need to start using medication if the CD4 count is above 300.

[allieb]

I am sorry to hear About your BF. I had the same situation in March this year. Only my BF had been keeping it secret for 18 months without telling me and also encouraged me to have unprotected sex which I did on two 1 month trips to BKK. Countless time of exchange of body fluid. I tested negative in June. I was told by the London Clinic I went to that being a bottom without a condom with a known HIV infected person carries a 3 percent risk of the virus passing. Higher in the first 2 months of infection and then much lower in the years before getting sick and then the risk goes up again.

First you must test yourself and get the full picture then count 3 months from the last time you had sex with him and test again to be accurate, I wish you luck. Your BF has been up front with you and deserves all the support you can give him. I was very angry with mine and cut him loose. I have since looked back on the saga and have come to the conclusion that I was a very lucky guy I am healthy and he is having to deal with HIV a burden on a young man 30 years my junior . So 3 weeks ago I contacted him again and am being supportive even though he has another Farang who he had two timed with me.

Your BF can be OK for many years and then medication can control things for an indefinite time. The drugs now available mean that HIV people can now die of old age. Unlike before when they stood no chance at all. Give him all the help you possibly can he will be very confused for quite a while. The recommended period for testing Viral load and C4 cells is every 3 months but the doctor will give you all the details. Eating well, avoiding excess booze and if he's a smoker then he should stop will increase his chances of staying well.

I have been told by the other farang that when our mutual BF needs medication, it will cost about 4,000 baht a month. although that may be many years down the line. Nothing to us but a fortune to a Thai. By the way the other farang involved is not as stupid as me he never had unprotected sex with the boy at all. So wasn't as put out as I was upon the news.

I was told by the London Clinic I went to that being a bottom without a condom with a known HIV infected person carries a 3 percent risk of the virus passing.Is that a typo ... 3 percent? Sounds like an odd statistic, and am curious if it's what you meant to type.

I pay 3000 baht a month for my boyfriend's medications but that's not just the anti-virals. He's had a lot of problems recently finding a combination that he could tolerate and has had to go back on an earlier treatment regime after a very dramatic drop in his blood count ("I down, down" as he says). He has a bronchial infection at the moment along with the retched meningitis which just won't go away and isn't doing too well but is home and looking after himself. He's being tested every two weeks after his recent poor results after an attempt to stretch the gap to six weeks proved to be a bad move.

My boyfriend was very ill before the HIV+ was diagnosed and his health wasn't good anyway so he's not a good example for what someone who is diagnosed early and who is healthy. The outlook for them should be good and I have no complaints over the treatment available in Thailand once you get into the system.

Just to make it clear again my boyfriend is not a good example of what a healthy, early diagnosed person can expect. The outlook for them should be good.

I never had unsafe sex with my boyfriend so although I still had a test I didn't have too much trauma worrying about the result which was negative.

I wish you and your boyfriend the very best of luck for the future.

[allieb]

I was told by the London Clinic I went to that being a bottom without a condom with a known HIV infected person carries a 3 percent risk of the virus passing.Is that a typo ... 3 percent? Sounds like an odd statistic, and am curious if it's what you meant to type.

Yes 3% is correct. They also gave me a booklet based on new information collected on the latest study of gay behavior.
It is now known that the risk factor goes up and down according to the following.

1 72 hours after getting the virus a person is very highly infectious This continues until the person gets antibodies which suppress the virus.

2 At this point a person is very low infectious. ie very difficult to pass on, its all to do with viral load.

3 The person remains low infectious to others until he starts to get sick with symptoms of Aids, when he is highly infectious again.

4 During this period of low infectiousness a person can temporarily become highly infectious if he goes on a drink or drug binge or had the flu or common cold when the immune system is busy handling the drink or drugs or cold etc. ie the viral load goes way up for a while.

Over all they put the chances at about 3 in a hundred. More in the first and third period and less in the middle period I am living proof of this as at a ball park guess I had unprotected sex with my HIV BF 40 to 50 times with him coming in me and vice versa. I tested negative

I quess it seems possible as if you think about the amount of sex going on, the amount of people getting HIV is quite low compared to the huge amount of unprotected sex people seem to be having at the moment. I have learned my lesson and would not risk unprotected sex again with anyone however special he is.

Thanks for that clarifying information, allieb. The whole HIV transmission issue is much more complicated than I ever realized.

[Up2U]

....Over all they put the chances at about 3 in a hundred. More in the first and third period and less in the middle period I am living proof of this as at a ball park guess I had unprotected sex with my HIV BF 40 to 50 times with him coming in me and vice versa. I tested negative......


.....curious why you would take that risk and why not use a condom. You may be one of those few people that has an immunity to the virus.

[Impulse]

Your out of your mind if you have unprotected receptive anal sex in thailand.That is the easiest way of becoming infected.If your not going to have safe sex then just keep it to oral sex as the risk is much less.Hiv is probably never going to be cured in our lifetime as it becomes part of our own dna and can only be controlled with expensive drugs with terrible side affects.So be careful.