Why does the disclaimer say that without knowing you have the virus you would be showing more serious symptoms within 5 years? I heard this from a doctor on TV this morning too. He said 5 or 6 years, you'd begin to show symptoms but everyone here says 10 years or more. I thought 10 years or more was SUPER super rare without ANY indication. Which is right?

i believe there have been a few known cases that are more then ten years but that is super rare as you said.its hard to put a time on it as it effects different people in different ways. i felt minor symptoms immediatly (as soon as i finished having sex) and drastic ones within days. my partner had shown or felt none at all for a couple of years.
i wouldn't say its wrong,but its sort of impossible to pin point a timeline for something when everyone is different.

Thanks Smiteler! You're great, just thought you should know. I always read this board. Can I ask a personal question, if not no worries, did your partner cheat on you? I'm trying to understand this virus more as my cousin recently passed away from it and there is so much conflicting information I get terribly confused. I know it's not EASILY transmitted through hetero sex, I know it happens, but now often but then there's stories like yours and I get confused? Do you know how your partner got it by any chance?

I wish the best for you and thank your for you time here. It really helps the rest of us learn what we need to learn.

TIA ALLIE

thank you for the compliment!
its really hard for me to know about what my partner really did because of the way she left me,i had no real reason to think she cheated when we were together but i was left with some doubts after the fact. when i got infected she swore she didn't know she was infected her self. i knew for a fact before i was with her i was clean and when i was diagnosed i was told i had recently been infected and she was the only one i had been with for over a year.my story was that we always used a condom until that one time i was too lazy to go get them,i felt we were monagamous for a long time and there was no risk.i was wrong. when it happened she was so sorry and felt real bad it happened and kept apologizing.and after prying confessed that she might have an idea how she got it but would never tell me the circumstance. towards the end of the relationship when things were not going well it turned into how i had slept with a bunch of sluts in the past and gave it to her. it ended when she ran off with someone else who was a supposed friend not telling me a thing just dissappearing after 10 years sort of the cowards way out, never saying its over,goodbye, nothing.. she knew what she was doing because the day before she left she was pumpimg me hard for alot money and i was sort of pissed for other reasons at her so i gave her bearly anything.
i think i wouldn't of lasted that long with her if not for the fear of being alone from being infected but its all in the past now and to say it took a while but i'm much happier being alone then i was with her.
sorry for the long winded reply :dizzy:

Wow, Nice, really nice! I find it very admirable that you aren't bitter (althought I'm sure you were for a while) after she infected you and THEN disrespected you in such a manner. You're sooo absolutely right, you're much better by yourself! But you need not be by yourself if you so choose! Sure you know that too!

I have another question for you? Do you go on meds while HIV+ or do they wait until you have full blown aids?

they go by the viral load and cd4 count in my blood tests
when the levels go to a certian amount i need the meds to keep the the levels down so my immune system doesn't get comprimised.
for me since i got infected, i enrolled myself into studies on hiv.
over the years
they have taken all kinds of fluid samples and i done many different tests.
i have been in the studies for 10 years now.
out of the ten years i have been on meds for about 4 years and off them for about 6 years.i am on a a long streach without them but they have a feeling that i might need to go back on by the end of the year because my levels are slowly creeping the wrong way.:mad:

Smit, have you ever tried the supplement cocktail that jefffrey123 writes about? That seems logical to me. I know HIV+ people are deficiant in selenium and zinc....obvioulsy it's not that simple but worth a shot no?

i haven't tried it yet, i did want to ask the people i know about it and what they had thought,but i didn't see the person who i had wanted to ask the last time i was there so i didn't get the chance. i will the next time i go in for more testing.

I think thats a great idea. You know, why not? Seriously though I really believe they're going to have something for this within the next 5 years. From everything I've read, they're really really close and I just really think it's going to happen sooner then we thought. I truly have no doubts so hang in there, stay well and believe that one day soon, you may very well not have to deal with this anymore.

God bless!

smiteler your a very strong person and you truly impress me. I think a weaker person would have let everything that has happened with your ex and the hiv destroy them inside. your one tough person.

thank you again for the compliments :wave:
i thought life was tough before i got infected and how wrong i was.
its been a rollercoaster, lots of ups and downs.
a good friend commented how i could be so upbeat after all i have been thru and i told her i could of balled up in the corner and cry but it won't make anything better or help,so why waste the time. i will say i'm very hard on myself and put any blame squarely on myself,i made a mistake that so far can't be fixed and i have to deal with the repercussions from my actions.
i could be bitter and full of hate,but again what good will any of that do?
not much but make me an ugly person like the person who did that to me and thats something i do not want or desire to be anything like.
reading comments like that goes a long way in making me stop beating my self up for being stupid,i have a much harder time from doing that, then being bitter or hateful. it does help

smiteler your a very strong person and you truly impress me. I think a weaker person would have let everything that has happened with your ex and the hiv destroy them inside. your one tough person.

I agree! :D